tell me about fur

[hydeparkhottie]

but I don't want to pay ridiculous amounts for it...why is it soo expensive? I've seen it on ebay and at markets for cheap cheap--and then everywhere else, it's super duper expensive...

whats the difference?

I don't think the op has received abuse, people are just incredulous that in this day and age someone can be so naive about the fur industry.

you make mass sweeping negative assumptions about who we all are and what we do.

^^. This.

I used to work in a very well known shoe shop, we had a list through the back that lists the animal out "leather" shoes we're made from. It's not just cow, it was pig and pony skin as well and that's a world famous brand.
I don't see how the thin scrap of fur on a hood is any different from cheap shoes with a leather upper for example, both are a cheap product with a scrap of "luxury" which is after all, what people want.
I think a big problem with fur and leather is that people want to brag about having the best, and fur is still seen as being a luxury item nd a status symbol.
I so actually find it hypicritical of meat eating, leather wearers to go off on one about fur, leather is not a by product of meat and even if it was, so what? The animal still died In pain so that you could have it's body. And as I said, most people don't even know what leather is or where it came from, nor do they care.

But that is exactly the point I was making.... All the fur haters were making mass judgements about someone who doesn't know, for whatever reason, about a topic and was simply asking a question and it seems entirely unacceptable in this thread to have an opinion that differs to the views of most of you.

And the OP hasn't gone off in a strop, I think anyone would be upset about whole crowds of people (who largely don't know accurate facts themselves) basically implying she's thick. There are lots of things you can learn about on the internet but people still want to learn and discuss on these forums and should be free to do so without being made to feel bad.

I'm totally baffled by this thread. The last time I checked UK was a country where a part of the population goes shooting for fun during the weekend...

I'm from a place where wearing fur is appropriate given the climate and much more traditional and sustainable than raising cattle. I have some vintage fur items passed down from my mother and grandmother. The feel of it is totally different from static, plasticky fake fur, and much warmer and more windproof and water resistant. It's warm and supple and soft. I treasure these items and will try to take good care of them. Fake fur, especially one season wonders like this year's animal print craze, is deeply unethical to me - in fashion this year, at your local landfill next year. If you know how to recycle it responsibly, please let me know.

In Italy, real fur is still very much present on the streets and there is no stigma. It's far too warm generally but people wear short-sleeved fur coats and gilets. I went to the school Christmas play today and members of the audience were decked out in various fur items. People do wear astrakhan although it's process is a bit nasty too (fetal lambs?).

On the global scale, leather is a huge problem. The main reason why rainforests are burned down in Brazil because pastureland is in high demand. And that's because both meat and leather are in high demand. Leather is not a byproduct, it's a valuable commodity on its own. Cheap leather feeds fast fashion. Tanneries pollute rivers. Here is PETA's take on leather production - let's get that sorted out first.

Loving PETA's site - wool is associated with cruelty too and lambs cause incredible ecological damage in fragile ecosystems. And check out down, cashmere, angora... Silk production involves massive killing and cotton has caused massive ecological damage and pollution and its production in Uzbekistan is associated with forced labor. A handy PETA fact sheet here for everyone...

I think a lot of people who know about horrors associated with fur, are ignorant toward leather. I don't recall anybody I've ever spoken to about leather, that knew it WASN'T a by product.

Shooting isn't comparable, however. I don't think being skinned alive or being electrocuted up the anus or in the mouth as a death, is on the same scale as being shot.

I used to live in Brazil, and the scariest landscape I saw there were huge, industrial monocultures of genetically modified soybean. Wild ecologically diverse pastureland used by grazing zebus was replaced by those fields. Those fields and the burning rainforests and scarring strip mines and the polluting leather industry helped the nation to grow economically and lifted millions of people from poverty. With the new money, people bought fridges, motorbikes and cars, further fuelling global warming. And some of the most economically forward regions of the country were built around the shoe industry, fuelled by cheap leather from the rainforest. In those regions, more people could have a living wage and decent schools and better healthcare.

Our lifestyle is associated with lots of tricky ethical issues. Few things are very clear cut. I honestly don't know any more what is good and what is bad.

FrugalFashionista
Thank you for your posts - very informative and intelligently written, i enjoyed reading them (sorry if that sounds patronising, it isn't meant to!)

I think the nice thing about some of these posts is that they're written by people who have considered some of these issues and surely the first steps to making better choice are thinking, discussing, and educating ourselves