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?

They're vintage coats, they're there, might as well wear them. It's not like you are encouraging the manufacturing of real fur coats in any way.

It would be a lot more environmentally unfriendly to bin them, and buy fake ones instead.

Most people don't have a clue if it's real or fake fur, the way they don't have a clue if it's real or fake diamonds.

Don’t bin it, it’s gorgeous. Wear it, it’s vintage and it’s not as if you can bring the animal back to life by not wearing it. I wear vintage fur and have never been confronted

This.

At least vintage fur coats were made by skilled craftspeople, rather than children or modern day slaves. Nobody blinks twice about Shein or Primark clothing but let’s worry about the mink that died 50 years ago.

I think the wearing of any cotton is worse than old fur from an ethics pov.

the water required to grow enough cotton for even a pair of jeans is phenomenal and the devastation cotton farming has caused around the world is genuinely shocking.

You don’t look ‘bang on trend’ in that photo - you look like something from 1980’s TV series `Dynasty’

Oh bless

Leather isn't a byproduct.

Slaughter is not humane.

And we all know how such guarantees very, very often turn out to be bogus.

A friend had a beaver fur she had inherited from her grandmother. It was gorgeous. So soft and velvety and a marvellous nearly black but not quite deep brown colour.
An expensive vintage shop near me has a gorgeous silver fox fur in the window, over a lovely silver dress. It’s so soft with impeccable silk lining.

I agree with others that the animals are long dead and the best way to respect them is to make use of their sacrifice.

If anyone asked I’d say it was fake, obviously, though, just to avoid argument or being doused in tomato soup.

I would never dream of wearing a coat from newly killed fur animals. I do however wear leather shoes, handbags and have a suede jacket. I eat meat and have a sheepskin rug in the bedroom.
Still, none of that justifies killing endangered species in a most cruel way just for their pelts, so obviously new fur is a big NoNo.

I absolutely could not wear the fur of an animal that has been tortured and suffered greatly to create that coat...
I inherited a fur coat years ago (and an ivory necklace) , I destroyed them and donated some money to PETA bought myself a faux fur coat instead. Not on my watch!

It's vintage, I can't see any moral problems with wearing it.

You are not funding any horrific modern day industries by doing so, unlike some who would screech at you while wearing clothes made by abused children.

Oh dear

You absolutely can. Not wearing it won’t make the animals alive again or prevent other animals being killed for their pelts.

you might get something thrown at you though, a girl once spat on my Muk boots. I don’t wear those anymore

So 60 years ago several minks were killed for sake of fashion and to keep someone warm. I think most reasonable people would agree that to do the same thing today would be ethically unacceptable.

However we cannot turn back time, the mink are long dead. To now throw away the coat (when someone still wants to wear it) would in my mind mean that the killing of the minks was even more pointless.

I don’t really understand why it would be deemed acceptable to kill animals for their inner flesh but not their outer. Both are luxuries in most parts of the modern world.

But farmed and humanely killed would be fine. Except that humans are not rational.

By which argument we should ban eggs and coffee.

If only there was an eye roll reaction for half the posts on this thread 🙄
Wear it - you look great.

Of course you CAN wear it-but I would judge.

Wear them. If anyone asks, tell them they’re real, they were from your grandmother, or just tell them it’s none of their business.

Don’t lie—it would be disrespectful to your grandmother.

I have my own fur, and my own story, but this about you. Wear your furs and feel your grandmother every time you do.

No but it brings comfort to other animals which is more important than wearing fashion

I think most reasonable people would agree that to do the same thing today would be ethically unacceptable.

Maybe so, but unless they are vegan (and all else being equal e.g. farm life and slaughter method) it would be interesting to hear them attempt to defend this position.

Not really. I was not referring to a ban, but to the proposal that a new dawn for furriers could come if mink and sable coats were labelled as ‘Humanely sourced’.
First out of the traps would be international criminal networks with every intention of skinning alive every animal in sight, not some nice ‘old hippie’ animal-loving fur enterprise in rural Wales.

I woukd be willing to bet more animals die from the faux fur trade (loss of habitat, pollution etc) than from vintage fur

Ugh no. Ugly item produced by very ugly means.
Just chuck out.

Leather is not a byproduct of the meat, or dairy, industry. HTH.