What to do with a Vintage 1970's fur coat. Cost 4k

[BeerBaby]

It's a 14-16. Gorgeous. Practically new. I'm an 18 and it's unlikely to ever fit. What do I do with it?

If you do wear it, be ready to get some abuse. People will call you out on your choice, vintage or otherwise.

(I'm not advocating violence or abuse BTW!)

Fur generally depreciates in value. You'd also need to determine if it is permissible to sell it. For me I'd give it to an animal shelter to be made into comforters. You can't repair the damage already done, but you can give back to a similar cause.

Aw, thank you, katymac
We've been 'adopting' snow leopards for years - well before I became aware of this tainted 'inheritance'.

I have been tempted to wear it, pretending it's fake

I don't think I could ever wear real fur, even vintage (I know it's dead a long time and all that) but still... I'd feel so very guilty.

If it was me I'd sell it to s fur specialist (if there is such a thing) and give the money to an animal rights or endangered animals charity. Maybe the WWF. Ok I'd keep a little bit (say £100 if I sold it for £1500, I'm only human!) but I know I'd feel it was the right thing to do.

If I wore it I'd feel guilty and also you might run into someone who doesn't appreciate it being worn. You really can tell real fur. I have seen lots if real furs (my grandmas) and I adore fake furs and although the fake furs are very good you just know the difference and an animal activist definitely would.

I know
And you are right.
i feel guilty even considering it

I own a fur coat, bought second hand. Rabbit so no guilt any more than wearing leather shoes.

The animals are already dead, in the case of lots of coats are rabbit so a) not endangered and b) likely eaten depending on age of coat. Would make me twitchier with an endangered animal but ultimately it's already died, so we may as well get as much use out of that death as possible- just like using all parts of a chicken when cooking so there's less waste.

Specialist auction I would imagine- definitely get it valued. Fur coats seem to go for very little on eBay etc so I think you'd need to go specific.

Fur is certainly a big thing in cold countries where fake fur just doesn't keep you warm enough. See if you could post it on Russian eBay

Etym- with the animal is already dead argument I can see what you mean but, but... it's still wearing an animal likely bred and skinned for its fur as a fashion item. Unless you live in hugely freezing and icy environments (and even then there's modern fabrics) it's a fashion item. Possibly as a by-product of but likely not. Even skinned rabbits won't have then been passed onto a food factory and made into food. It's not the same as leather coming as a by-product of meat for food preparation. Meat is not/was not a by product of fur preparation. It's a nice but naive idea to justify the wearing of fur but it's not true of the luxury fur industry.

My mum had a rabbit fur waistcoat & we know the rabbits were eaten as they kept my mum's family fed during the war

Katy- with respect, that's not representative of the luxury fur industry is it. Your mum's (hand/home-made?) rabbit fur waistcoat is not comparable to factories manufacturing fur coats as luxury items on a large scale. Even in the war, a commercially produced fur coat would have been an expensive and luxury purchase.

Oh I agree & she stopped wearing around the time I became aware of the fur industry

Worse (imo) are those awful cats we had in the 70s which were covered in real fr (I hope to god not cat fur)

I know what you mean re the cats, there were some stuffed toys made from real fur that I've seen. There is also some intricately carved antique ivory (boak) in our family. I don't have it and I hope I never see it again.

My GM asked my DM to sell two real furs for her, they were circa the same age.

She struggled a bit but then found a dealer in London who buys them and sells them to certain countries where fur and vintage fur is very much still desired to be worn. She got a reasonable price for them too. My DM is staying with me on weds. If you want me to try and get the details from her PM me so I don't forget. Dealer arranged for courier to collect and paid her in advance by bank transfer.

Happy all round (most particularly my vegan DM who had the coats hanging in her study for a month and wanted rid!!)

wear your beautiful coats. the animals are long dead. I would love love love a fur coat if any of you want to donate one to me.

The animal is dead sure. But the fur represents a nasty trade & if you wear the coat you will be showing support for that nasty trade and making a statement that fur coats are desirable. If enough people start wearing their grandmothers coats then how long before the trade starts to come alive again? You can argue 'it's already dead - no one would support new fur farms....' But would it really take much to persuade that the 'new' farms are kinder, more humane etc etc as the advertisers slowly work their magic and with people seeing their peers wearing furs... it's a slippery argument. But aside from all that - that coat represents a horrific and barbaric trade. I don't care how warm, beautiful, or expensive - it would not find its way around my shoulders. And I would be disgusted if I were to ever see anyone wearing such a thing.

If you feel you are prepared to pay homage to a vile trade - wear the coat or sell it. If you would rather show that you support the death of the trade and want to pay homage to the animals who suffered and the people who eventually got the trade banned - donate it as others have said.

meh. can't see how it's crueler than eating a big Mac myself.

But we have zero need to eat meat either. Being a by product of another industry that causes the unnecessary death of animals doesn't somehow make it more moral.

New fur isn't moral, but nor is eating meat or going on foreign holidays or flying or running a car or wearing industrially produced cotton, or having a gas or oil boiler or buying dairy products, or spending excess cash that could be given to charity. Most people in the "west" are doing immoral things every single day - a second hand coat is not the worst of these.

Nothing changes by the use of a coat that is already in existence. Slippery slope arguments are flawed, particularly in a case such as this where there is a clear divide between new and old, rather than a gradual difference, say with distance driven.

It's entirely legitimate to choose not to wear it, but I really think excessive concern about the morality of second hand fur vs any other immoral act is entirely unnecessary. I would argue that air travel is vastly more immoral from the POV of animal welfare: climate change will cause the extinction of thousands of species and the suffering of thousands more, but it in no way carries the same stigma as a second hand fur coat.

If I was an apathetic person, I wouldn't want to draw attention to that fact by sporting something symbolic of a most gruesome death.
At least if you donate to PETA, the fur could be shipped to freezing refugees who aren't looking to make a fashion statement.

Ety- although you have some good arguments there, two wrongs don't make a right as my mum would say. Take wearing of fur on its own merits. Is it right? No. Is it necessary (except those in extreme circumstances of need?) No. does wearing it make air travel ok or not ok? Is it ok to wear fur if you don't travel by air? Can you do a trade-off on some other moral issue to justify wearing fur? No. It's wrong.

I think one if the main issues with fur us yhatvuts just so.damn.vain (to be). "I know, I'll take this dead animal (or forty) and wear them on my back for no other reason than vanity (except maybe selfishness). Warmth doesn't count (except in extreme circumstances). Fur is not a by-product of anything else. Most animals used are bred specifically for fur and those that aren't are usually too wild to be kept for commercial breeding proposes.

Vintage fur wearing prolongs this unnecessary, vain and outdated fashion.

I had my mums full length fur coat shortened into a 3/4 length and wear it occasionally.

Although I don't always "broadcast" that's it's real fur and have been known to outright lie...... 😬😬

My mum had this when my grandma died - she had some of those awful stole things with eyes and feet!

She gave them to the Royal Shakespeare Company's wardrobe department. Got a lovely letter of thanks but I did wonder if they get this all the time and quietly dispose of them.

I have a fair few too. Mink, tick; snow leopard, tick; fox, tick. No idea what to do.
Some are still hideously 70s, some our too small for me and the ithers, well I can't bring myself to wear them but then again neither to throw them away.

Having said all that on a recent winter trip to Italy I thought I travelled in time: lots of fur on shop windows and lots of young mums wearing it (in nicer cuts). I was horrified.

I always suspected they were expensive, I do remember the kind if shops we went to get them, but blimey...

If anyone in England wants to know a zoo that has a display of animal items for education I can PM you one if interested. (I'm in South east)

I live in the US, my neighbor is a fur trapper. He eats the meat of the animals he catches so nothing is waisted.

It's a hard life, but he is so in touch with nature it's amazing to watch him out in the woods.

If you find a furrier you can have it expanded quite easily to your size.
Mine is fur (muskrat) on the inside and waterproof gortex on the outside. Light waterproof and warm.