What to do with mink coat

[LEMtheoriginal]

Please don't turn this into an anti fur debate, i hate the fir trade as much as the next person.

I have my mum's fur coat, she died at Christmas.

I don't know what to do with it? I gave a faus fur coat to a friend but obv dudnt want the fur. Just tried a vintage clothes shop and i swear youd have thought i wanted to sell her the scalps of murdered children

It was my nans before that. The poor ctitters are long passed.

It feels wrong just to discard it for two reasons.

1. It belonged to my mum and as such there is emotional atrachnent.
2. It seems pretty disrespectful to the poor bloody mink to just discard it.

I don't care about money, will a charity shop be able to mske use of it?

Any thoughts? I don't want to keep it - feels wrong

If you don't want to keep it then put it on ebay. There is a roaring second hand fur market.

I have my grans royal Chester beaver coat and I will not part with it. I very occasionally wear it, though it is a 60s style so not very timeless. The animal is dead, and I think its life was worth more than to go to landfill.

FWIW I will not and do not by new fur.

Sorry for your loss. There are some vintage clothing shops which specialise in fur which might be interested in buying. I'd have a Google and perhaps give them a ring.

Keep it and wear it. Everyone will presume it’s faux. Or go on a winter holiday to Italy and wear it there, like the Italian women do.

www.wsj.com/articles/the-awkward-heirloom-no-one-wants-grandmas-fur-coat-11580121002

www.thevintagehq.com/fur-and-furrier

www.thelondonfurcompany.com/buy_vintage_fur.htm

www.philippalondon.com/product-category/vintage-fur/

britishfur.co.uk/fur-services/list-of-members/

There are specialist furriers who can re-use vintage fur items.

It's worth ringing around.

Storage and maintenance of a fur coat is a bind, as moths and other bugs love it.

Christ, I'll have it!

Vintage fur sells for good money in advance of things like Goodwood Revival and events like that. Some people take it very seriously and only wear vintage items and they don't have issues with old pelts. Sell it on ebay then treat yourself to something nice to remind you of your mum and grandmother, maybe a vase or frame?

I'm vegan and think it's bonkers a secondhand place won't take it. I bet they'd take leather bags and probably go home and eat meat?! Bizarre to me.

Could you try and sell on eBay and give proceeds to a charity your mum would've cared about? So sorry for your loss.

Turn it into a cushion?

Animal rescue charity! Give back to the animal kingdom.

Sell it on Facebook Marketplace! Plenty of people are still happy to wear real fur. You can donate the proceeds to an animal charity if you feel bad.

@fallfallfall

If you have the money have it reworked. Fur on the inside, gortex on the outside. Lightweight and incredibly warm.

This is a great idea!

And I know I'm not the first but I'd have it if you're giving it away!

Another vote for animal charity/sanctuary.

Much as I'd also like to shout "I'll ave it" the idea of an animal centre using it sounds good?

I was a teenager in the 70s and my grandmother gave me her fur coats. They were ancient then. This was long before it was unacceptable to wear fur but I did feel guilty. I decided they were long dead and wore the coats for years. Then I gave them to the local theatre group.

I had to do a few astronomy nights for the teenager and came home from one of them to look up fur coats on Ebay because I had been so cold.

If you can see yourself standing on the sidelines of a football pitch in the future, Keep it and use it. Tell people that it’s false if you want because would they know the difference? But I’m not one for throwing out something useful.

Wear it and enjoy. Just one of those things that’s gone isn’t it

I have seen a few for sale on here ,on vintage stuff places. Some people seem to collect real fur coats. Charity shops won't take them, unless they are fake fur.

My late Grandmother gave me her real fur coat many many years ago, in the 1970 era, and I made a fur collar off it, and sewed it on one of my coats, and made two little furry rugs from it, one for me, and one for my late Mum. My grandmother would have approved, as she was always making things from other things.

My friend inherited a fur coat from her deceased grandmother... I remember her swooshing around the local bars in it.. "I KNOW! You'd be forgiven for thinking it's REAL wouldn't you?"
I think wearing vintage fur is very different to buying or endorsing the current fur trade. But the idea of having it repurposed is even better.

Plenty of people are still happy to wear
real fur.

Exactly, how many people do you see with Canada goose jackets?

I don’t see the fuss TBH. I have a mink coat that belonged to my Granny (from the 1950s) and I definitely won’t be disposing of it..... ever!

Vintage fur is probably more environmentally friendly than fake and new fur. Although I’m the same as you and would not feel right about wearing it.

I second the poster who said to donate it to a wildlife charity. Some wildlife charities use them in their anti-fur campaigns so that might help them, although they might only use endangered species.

I don’t think you should feel bad about keeping it if you want to. You didn’t buy it, if your mum loved it then it’s a way to remember her. You can store it somewhere for safe keeping.

I wear mine, I have two. Not popular I know. Mink steal swans eggs and eat ducklings, They are vicious. The coats will last me a lifetime. Im not replacing it every year with something made of synthetic materials that males up land fill

*make

Sell it to a reenactor/ reenacent group. You'll have no problem :)

I'd wear it too MrsSprogget

I'd wear it but its about a size 8 at most and i am, well, bigger!! I quite like the idea of making into cushions though.

I'd not give a penny to PETA barking mad fanatics. I say that as an ex hunt saboteur. Maybe a local cat charity if i sell it.