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?

Why is breeding animals solely for fur any worse than breeding them solely for meat? We don't need fur but we don't need to eat meat either.
I eat meat and wear sheepskin and leather and would wear a rabbit fur coat if I had one. I don't see why one is more morally OK than the other.

If fur was exclusively taken from animals who were used for meat, slaughtered as humanely as possible, then it would be similar to leather. Unfortunately this is not the case.

I can see why some make allowances for vintage fur. But
1- how are you meant to verify vintage status, and that it's not a newer item that was imported?
2- you're contributing to fur (real fur) being seen as fashionable again

Vintage pieces may look tempting, but it's safer to just avoid altogether rather than contribute to that industry directly or indirectly.

I inherited an astracan coat. I buried it.

I'm interested in this question.

I would never buy new fur but I did buy a fur jacket years back in a charity shop for the reasons in the OP.

It's about using resources... the more you use from an animal the better for the environment. Use the meat for food, bones for food (stock & gelatin) horn and hooves makes excellent glue. Fur for clothing...

Fine with vintage fur, better for the environment to reuse a coat that will last for decades more than buy something new. Also fine with new fur if its reindeer as they live a free life then every part of them is used.