To wear a fur coat in this day and age?

[Relevanceiskey]

Having a debate with a friend so thought I would hear other people's opinions! It was triggered by a fur coat we saw for sale in a vintage shop in Canterbury. Neither of us have a particular side of the debate, we have just been discussing for and against together. The two arguments are:

Against: The killing of animals for cosmetic reasons is disgusting. Even using animals skins for cosmetic reasons is selfish and parading them round is barbaric. Even faux fur coats endorse the "look" of wearing dead animals to look good (not to mention the faux fur strands are awful for the environment and are similar to glitter or microbeads in cosmetic products).

For: Although it was agreed buying a new fur coat is feeding into a cruel and inhumane trade, buying a vintage coat from a secondhand shop is ok as you aren't funding the trade, the coat will be juggled between owners until it is unwearable with no more animals dying in the process. Also it takes away from buying an artificially made, plastic coat which are unsustainable and terrible for the environment.

We also discussed something I saw a while ago, where a woman was heckled in London for wearing a fur coat, being called a "fur hag" over and over despite actually having inherited the coats. What are your thoughts on this too? Is even wearing fur that wasn't bought by you or bought by anyone any time recently awful?

This. Whether we eat the animal, wear the animal, exploit the animal or promote the history of these exploitations we are wrong. Humans no longer need to do these things, we(mainly) have evolved by science and ethics to have gone beyond exploiting our fellow creatures, why promote a cruel history? Just bury the fur, return it to nature

I occasionally wear my vintage fur coat. It's older than I am and smells of the aunt who left it to me.😊

I know some people are bothered by it, I'm not.🤷‍♀️

I have a rabbit fur coat that I got in Italy at a farmers market many years ago. The old lady who sold it to be had eaten the rabbits and kept the furs from the coat back in the 70s. I see it as being no different from leather. The cost is the warmest thing I've ever worn! However I certainly don't wear it as much as I used to as perceptions have changed so much. This is the only circumstance that I could wear something like that. A mink. Or similar is just repulsive as it purely for the fashion and not a by product etc.

In theory being second hand it's not directly contributing to this awful trade (unless it encourages others to go and buy them) but in reality I think I'd just be reminded of the animals' suffering every time I wore it so I wouldn't get any pleasure from it.

@TwoMonthsOff Yes, I know. So?

I think it’s an interesting debate and one that is symptomatic of an argument where the virtue signalling of the position is taking too much time and energy that would be better directed into the issue itself.

I’m late 40s. I was an animal loving teenager when turned vegetarian when I left home (not now, though I only buy meat from local high welfare farms, I drink organic milk, but am a hypocrite as I eat ‘bog standard’ mass produced (but British) cheese, so support our Dairy industry which is better than many other countries but I accept it’s double standards - if I had limitless money I’d only buy organic British milk and cheese from calf at foot dairies). We have our own chickens for eggs, the chickens will be cared for until they die regardless of if they lay or not and we have eaten the roosters we raised (though struggle with this for squeamish not ethical grounds!). I have never and don’t think I would ever wear fur, because I associate it with the argument in my teens - when it was seen as acceptable.

Vintage fur Im a hypocrite on. I personally wouldn’t wear it because I wouldn’t be able to disassociate the wearing from the animal so would gain no joy from doing so. But I wouldn’t judge anyone for doing so, far from it, I think once an animal is killed we should get as much use out of it as possible, as long as that use is not benefiting a cruel system. Vintage fur sales aren’t going into the hands of the mink farmers so I think we should wear the coats for environmental reasons. But I’m not comfortable and wouldn’t want to wear the coats - I have a friend who does though and whilst I feel the ‘ick’ this is my internal hypocrisy as I don’t think ethically there’s anything wrong with it.

false fur: I have a bobble hat with a very obvious false fur bobble. I like it. I’m not trendy, not into labels and don’t put much time into my appearance. I bought it because I needed a hat and liked it and there wasn’t an option I liked that fitted and was the same without the bobble. Yes it’s synthetic and in an ideal world I wouldn’t wear any synthetic clothes but that’s not the world I live in. I will wear my (very obviously) false fur Pom Pom hat until I lose it, wear it out, or die. My concern with false fur is that some cheap false fur was actually real fur dumped from China. I’m not sure if this is still going on. But there are certainly a lot of fur farms still operating overseas - where is the fur is going to? I think the time and effort that goes into virtue signalling our position on this would be better off routing out and stopping that. Ceremonial bearskin hats for example - we still use them in the UK. It’s time to stop. But let’s not rip up all the hats we have. Let’s come up with a solution for any new ones made and slowly replace them.

for using bullshit phrase virtue signalling.

I think wearing animal furs is a completely natural human instinct if you live somewhere cold.
If it's purely for fashion then not so much.
I also think it depends on the animal.
I have a vintage shearling coat. I wear it and nobody has a problem. Loads of people wear Uggs or have sheepskin rugs. Why are sheep valued less than rabbits or foxes? Often sheep breeds raised for their soft wool are different to meat sheep.

I inherited 5 vintage furs, ranging in date from 1930s to 1970s.

I gave one to a vegetarian friend because she liked it and I couldn't wear it as its too small for me.

The others haven't seen the light of day in 15 years. I don't go to the sort of places where wearing one would be required, it's not like I need to wear one to pop into Lidl.

Someone else I know has expressed on interest in seeing them with a view to buying one from me. She proclaims to be an animal lover but says not wearing it would be worse than wearing it iyswsm.

Also, if I did ever wear one, and if someone was nosy enough to ask if it was real, I'd say it was fake. No one's ever asked if any of my leather coats or shoes are real.

I got a vintage sobering squirrel fur, beautiful, perfect condition. Didn't want it though, made me think of all those poor squirrels killed for fashion. Couldn't sell it on and charity shops wouldn't take it. Even tried animal shelters. I put it in the clothes bank.

Some points.

80% of leather comes from the food industry

Silk is just as bad as fur. Why doesn't silk get a bad press like fur?

Sobering? Should be Siberian!

Have we? I think we’re still very cruel and do heinous things. We’re hypocritical and stupid. Bit of ground rhino horn for your headache anyone? Animals are hunted, tortured, eaten, beaten, and bred for death. Never mind what we do each other.

The human race is a bloody abomination, the sooner we make our planet uninhabitable for humans, the better.

I wear mine and I love it , it's very special to me
I've never had anyone comment

I volunteer for a charity shop and we have a "no fur" policy. Whether it's a modern trim on a down jacket's hood, or a vintage coat. All fur has to go for recycling.

I do agree with the point though that telling real fur from a good quality fake is not easy. You have to get out the magnifying glass and part the fibres to see the base. Fur as a natural product does not grow in regular lines, you can usually see the skin. Fake is woven into a fabric base.

I would also assume that fur I see these days is fake and do agree with the point that it seems ridiculous to throw away a perfectly good coat when the animals involved died decades ago.

Anyone who condemns the wearing of fur but eats meat is a massive hypocrite. We don't need either.

How long does fake fut take to decompose out of interest

Wasnt there a consumer rights show recently that tested some faux fur trim on clothing and it actually turned out to be real fur? But being marketed as faux as that would be more popular. I'll try and find a link.

I think we’re wasting and polluting more if we buy cheap plastic shoes, rather than a good quality leather which lasts years.
I grew up wearing sheep skin lined boots, because it got to -15 from November to March, you’d lose your toes if you wore boots without. And sheep skin lined coats. And hats. These items last for years and years, whereas the fast fashion you wear a couple of washes and then you have to throw away. Yes, I want to know if the animals were treated right and will pay more, but I would still wear fur if it means I need it to survive.
I’m veggie.

Agree with this.

www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jan/09/asa-real-fur-fake-faux-boohoo-zacharia-jewellers

www.hsi.org/news-media/mis-labelled-fur-uk/

I've leather boots that are 40 years old . many artificial clothes are made from fossil fuels.

From an environmental point of view I'd say fur all the way! Especially the vintage ones.

I can't think of any items made from crude oil (plastic) that are still looking good and can be worn regularly 50- 80 years later.

From a moral point of view, no, we should not breed animals specifically for their fur ... so mink, fox and squirrel are definitely out.

But some furs are from animals that we use & eat like for example reindeer or rabbit or even a lovely sheepskin. Maybe we should have an other look at these.

Doesn't that comes down to your own belief? If you are comfortable, wear it. People somewhere in the world still do. You are not actually buying new from the shop, you are recycling. Nothing wrong with that.
But then, you maybe seen as a person who doesn't care, if the item look certain way, rather than people trying to use the resources they have to stay warm.
I eat meat. I wear leather boots. I'm no one to judge anyone wearing a fur coat. But personally, I wouldn't wear it even if it's cheap, because I don't need fur to stay warm.

I think it's OK...

... if you're an Inuit living in the Artic.

Very valid point.