Today I bought a beautiful 1940s/1950s mink stole from my favorite place, Chelsea’s, on West 116th & Detroit. I’ve been considering purchasing one for a while now and it was on sale and I loved it and it all just seemed to come together. Wearing fur is a controversial biz. I am against the modern-day killing of animals for fur in fashion. It still happens, it’s bizarre to me that it does, and I would never support it (even if I could afford new fur).
However, vintage fur bothers me less. I guess I understand the argument that by wearing vintage or even faux fur, you are furthering “fur as fashionable” and propelling the fashion industry to make NEW fur. Well, I don’t know. Maybe. I think they’d do it anyway. But you’d be horrible to buy a brand new fur stole because there are like zillions to be had second-hand from the mid 20th-century!
Animals made the sacrifice half a century ago. People didn’t realize or care about the cruelty towards animals. It’s done. So what should be done with all that fur? Throw it away? That seems wasteful. We don’t throw away clothing that has been made in brutal sweatshops or Apple products that drove people to their suicide, do we? Um, no, we do the opposite!!!!
Additionally, if anyone is against vintage fur, they shouldn’t wear faux fur – and considering that so many coats and things come with faux fur trims, I don’t see many people abiding by that rule! Also, people who eat meat. That mink who suffered 50 years ago is more valuable than the millions of livestock that are cruelly kept and killed today? That’s the thing about animal rights activism…so many things to consider. Products tested on animals, secret animal-based ingredients in not only food products but medicinal, leather belts and shoes, is honey vegan? Do you kill ants in your house? I’ve only ever met one person who was really considerate of ALL of these things and well, he was slightly looney tunes!
Anyway, I love this look and if buying vintage fur makes me a horrible person, so be it!
xoxo,
k
