Can I wear fur?

[CosmopolitanCocktail]

I have two fur coats previously owned by my great grandmother.
I have kept them in my wardrobe for the last 20 years.
One is a short mink coat so now bang on trend.
I am a total animal lover but these animals died 60 years ago and the pelts are beautiful. To just discard them seems wasteful so truly torn.
So would I AIBU to wear it?

BU in what respect? If you mean will someone throw paint on me most will assume it’s fake (and you can just tell them this)

morally- that’s for you and you alone to decide, surely?

Wear them, say they’re fake if challenged. As you say the animals are dead and you won’t unalive them by discarding them.

I would. It’s a waste otherwise. People will just think it’s fake anyway

I personally think there is a lot of hypocrisy over fur. Most people have leather shoes, most women own at least one leather handbag. Some people have leather jackets. You're either ok with wearing the skins of dead animals or you're not. I wear leather shoes and boots

Be prepared for criticism though.

The passage of time does not erase the nature of the abuse.

It's environmental more ethical to wear old fur than new synthetic fabrics

It's been ages since we've had a grandmother's fur thread, they used to be quite common and cause quite the outrage! 😁

My (entirely made-up but internally consistent) policy is that I would wear anything that I would eat, as long as it’s vintage.
So, cowhide, rabbit, mink, grey squirrel - yes. I would eat all those things.

Fox, pony skin, cat of any kind - no!

So I say wear the vintage fur coats. It seems like a terrible waste otherwise. I don’t think you’re endorsing or perpetuating the demand for new fur by doing so.

Updated to add: I don’t actually own any fur but do wear leather shoes.

Leather is a byproduct of animals that have been humanely killed for the food chain. Fur absolutely is not and involves the unnecessary and cruel death of animals purely for their coats.

I would wear it.

I donated my grandmother’s furs to a wildlife charity, they use them to provide warmth and comfort for orphaned baby animals

I wouldn’t but nor would I criticise anyone for doing do as long as antique fur

Doesn’t bring them back to life though does it?

Fur farms these pelts came from were likely pretty horrendous.

However, it does seem crazy that you wouldn't just wear them now - the damage is done long since, the fashion industry now is horrific in other ways, its a bit wasteful otherwise. It's not like you're influencing others to seek out mink coats or creating a market for them.

I’m not sure I understand your point?

I would wear then but say they are fake. Perfect for the upcoming cold snap!

If you like it, wear it. Anyone's asks say it's fake.

I'm not quite sure that's the result the PP was hoping for?

This is coat. To bin it seems awful

It wouldn’t bother me but I’d be worried about how whack jobs would react.

It’s much more environmentally friendly to wear vintage fur than to buy a new fake one. Plastic fabrics, including fleece, terry and fake fur shed a lot of microplastics into the environment.

For those saying they'd say its fake, why would you say its fake rather than vintage?

I couldn't wear them, it would play on my mind the whole time.

I wouldn't look twice at someone else wearing it though and would assume it was fake.

I wore MIL’s 1960s suede coat today. It has a mink collar.
Once I would have thought there was no way on earth I would wear fur particularly something like mink that might have been badly treated while alive, but I don’t see that anything is going to be achieved by my removing the collar or even binning the whole coat.
I am not such a trendsetter that people will be inspired to kill mink to emulate my look….

Who's him?