real fur gilet - your thoughts?

[ohmygoshandgolly]

I have been given a beautiful cropped gilet/shrug with a ribbon tie, it's really lovely and yesterday I tried it on over a black maxi dress. It looked perfect for a special evening out.

When I checked the label it said that it is 100% rabbit fur. So, what do I do? I have never worn real fur and I admit I feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea.

WWYD?

I have been searching online but can't find a decent fake fur alternative.

Can you help?

i have to confess that wearing a dead animal around my shoulders wouldn't really appeal to me either...though i do wear them on my feet and eat them...so this is slightly illogical.

its hardly an endangered species though is it...so from a moral point of view there's no issue.

why does it have to be fake fur? whats wrong with cashmere?

Gilet...yuk
Dead animal.....Yuk

It doesn't bother me. Would it bother you if it was leather? Rabbits are bred for food, using the fur seems common sense, otherwise it's just going to end up in landfill.

If you don't want it, flog it on ebay and buy a nasty petrochemical alternative fake fur gilet instead.

I've got one, it's so warm.

I've got a cardigan with rabbit fur on, it's lovely but doesn't fit me at the moment :(

It's a very personal thing, you have to ask yourself whether you will feel comfortable wearing it or not.

Personally I couldn't.

I think you have to be aware of people's possible reactions to you wearing it.

I think it's up to you and we make our own decisions depending on what we feel comfortable with.

I eat organic meat from the butcher and buy leather and feel ok with that. But am avoiding fur on purpose. Even though there is a beautiful MaxMara coat that caught my eye.

Oh and while some rabbit fur is a by product of meat farming, most will have been specifically bred for their fur.

Some information here. (Nothing gruesome, just a fact sheet ).

I have to say that in all my years of wearing fur I have never had a negative reaction to it from anyone in the streets. The red-paint brigade may have existed in the past, but these days they're just an urban myth. I was in London a few weeks back and there were loads of women (and a few men) wearing mink coats with no hassle from anyone.

wherethewildthingsare it's not just a fact sheet, it's a propoganda item from an anti-fur organisation.

Thanks so much. I really appreciate your comments.

dreamingofsun cashmere may well be the way to go after all.

I stand corrected, I meant it as - don't worry it's not horrific images of skin being pulled from living, screaming animals.

I did look for the 'Hey it's okay to wear fur as it comes from animals who lived a wonderful natural life and then gently went to sleep so we could make you a coat' pamphlet, to balance the argument, strangly I couldn't find it .

I always thought they gassed the animals but they skin them alive and chuck them in pile to die, which can take a few hours apparently.

I was so upset whe I read the article (daily mail, the shame) I set up a donation to animals in asia.

I used to be quite pro fur until then.

here

That's all well and good worldgonecrazy, but seeing as so many clothes are produced in asia these days it's pretty likely that a lot of fur, especially the less expensive garments, are also produced by the chinese fur trade which is the absolute worst, most inhumane and barbaric of them all. I had to explain to someone that although they thought rabbits were used for food, and overpopulated (due to breeding like, er, rabbits), that her garment was made in china and that even if they had no qualms about wearing rabbit fur on that basis, buying it was still funding the chinese fur trade who do skin animals alive as described in earlier posts. The jacket was from The Gap by the way, so my comment about a lot of fur, or fur trimmed, clothing sold on the high street being from China is pretty valid.

I think you would really have to go out of your way to make a special effort to find and purchase fur which is "ethically" produced.

I have noticed a lot of the brands say 'fur: China' these days. Like this. Is it a good idea generally to avoid fur from China?

Wth do they skin animals alive?, that is so awful. I cannot understand why any person could do this.

To save time & money killing them I guess, Marsha.

They gas so them so the pelts are not ruined by knives etc.
If the gas doesn't work they'll trample them between boards, so I'm told.

I feel pretty benign about 2nd hand fur, I have to say. Likewise I only wear 2nd hand diamonds. Stupid & illogical, I'm sure.

Shudder. Poor little things.

There seems to be more fur around these days. Maybe Peta is losing its influence over designers.

I imagine those that buy fur would want an ethical product. It would be good if there was a way to ensure it could be identified.

There are some really interesting, thought-provoking comments on here. I didn't start this thread to be controversial. I promise!