What type of fur is this?

Looks like mink to me too...

Good Lord, what kind of animal rights activists would release domesticated critters who have no instincts left that would enable them to survive outside otheir cages?

Totally agree...

Ughhh, if you'd been around them, you might think differently - my aunt and uncle owned a large mink ranch when I was little, and decades later, can still remember the huge barns filled with somewhat disturbing rows of cages, the fetid odor almost unbearable.

~Cheryl

 

start of the 80s there were youth riots in the city and Mom went to the theatre , mink, croco shoes and handbag and her cloud of Chanel 5. by tramway of course, because she didn't have money for a taxi .
on her way home tramway again, a youngster with color cans sitting beside her and asking if it was a real skin ... PETA in fashion... she laughed and said of course, which was taken as a joke by all around...
then the riot police stopped the tramway and started to tear out all youngsters and she had to leave as well. when she saw how the young ones were treated she started to shout at the police that someone give her a rifle to shoot them. so the police threatened to arrest her and she left and took ... the next bus at the next station because her ticket was still valid...

 

Yes, it is absolutely gorgeous, but if I were you I would pretend it is fake fur (faux), unless you want a huge back-lash for wearing fur, even if it was killed several years ago. At first I thought maybe silver fox, because of the length of the pieces, but it could be mink, judging by the stiff guard hairs over the top of the pile. However, I can't see any joins in the long pieces. I always thought mink came in small sections, and that was quite obvious - but I am no expert. NO - do not shorten it. Part of it's beauty is the luxurous length, and the fact that it will keep you warm from top to toe. I hope you have cold enough weather to wear it. Here in UK we never get cold winters now, so furs and sheepskins have been abandoned. Pity - as I have some beautiful sheepskins and a really lovely shorty white mink jacket. And, no, I would NEVER admit to wearing real fur - even though mine is from the 60s. I am vegetarian, but I still say if it was killed some decades ago, it would be a real shame if all those animals died in vain, when we can still admire the beauty that they sacrificed their lives for. I certainly hope daveydempsey is wrong about Denmark and the minks. I understood that fur farms had been outlawed a long time ago in civilized Europe. I certainly know that fairly recently fox fur farms in Russia have been abandoned, complete with the foxes, which were left to die of starvation, because there is no call for furs any longer. It sickened me to the stomach. PLEASE only ever buy vintage furs. Wear with pride in memory of the animals, but keep your mouth shut about their origin!! Lorna

 

Hi Davey, I have just looked up about the mink situation in Denmark, and you are absolutely right. I am horrified - I had no idea that they were still being farmed in Europe. I wonder where they are headed - it doesn't say in the newsreel. China or Russia, I imagone? Lorna (in the UK)

 

So ignorant, sort of counter-intuitive to 'save' animals by releasing them to starvation and predation - would you release dogs from puppy mills to fend for themselves?

My aunt and uncle left their Minnesota ranch for southern California after receiving a good-size settlement from the government for their baby minks dying because of sonic booms from Air Force jets, but a quick look online finds there are still lots of mink ranches here in the US, kept very private, to keep the animal activists away...

~Cheryl

 

I have my Moms mink coat bagged up deep in a closet....& Dads rabbit jacket too..& an old beaver coat.....
am I a bad person...?

 

Totally agree with all you said! It is the same for ivory, I wear old\antique pieces as a tribute to those magnificent animals. Modern simulants are perfects for modern items, no more slaughtering needed

 

Ahhh yes......but it still goes on !!!

& all those burned tusks could have been sold....to pay for many many more Rangers & choppers to patrol the parks for poachers.......IMO..

 

I wonder who should wear these anymore ? perhaps as hats for reincarnations of Janis Joplin ?

 

sure would... But if totally forbidden, and no new ivory on the market it should be zero value for poachers\vendors. (How make the difference between these stocks if sold and directly poached sold ivory)

 

as long as the Asians believe the BS of tusk as aprhrodisiaca and medical means there will always be a market. and don't forget how many Chinese companies are buying up Africa...

 

Those short jackets are an interpretation of the 1940s chubby coat. Very popular in the gotta-go-disco era and a style frequently revived. Here's Bette Davis wearing one in period and Naomi Campbell in 2002 wearing a green one designed by Yves Saint Laurent 1971.

Debora

 

At the local thrift today was a karakul jacket with a darker fur collar, something sweet and not curly. Stopped and looked, all satin lined with the owners name embroidered inside (I recognized the name). A beautiful 50's-60's stylish piece. I left it. I did look up ebay sold prices. Discovered there are NEW karakul furs coming out of and around Russia, but they are selling (those that sell) for diddly.

Linda

 

Oh wow!!!! I wish I could have it! How cool! How much was it?

 

Well, in my humble opinion, as a dedicated vegetarian for over 30 years, it is quite OK to wear sheepskin. Since it was killed to provide meat for consumption, and hoping that it was raised and killed in a humane way, there is no reason to throw away the useful skin. The same for leather shoes. Someone ate the animal, so why waste the hide? However, farming animals specifically to kill for the furs, is a step too far, in my estimation. There are lots of other things we can wear instead of fur - and faux fur is really very convincing and very warm, if you still want the "look".

 

No, of course not a bad person. Why? They are from a different era. We are more educated now, so hopefully these are not being produced any longer (but it seems they still are!!) Wear them with pride. If necessary explain their origins and that you would never sanction these items being produced nowadays from farmed animals. (See Dragonfly's comment above.) Or make them into cushions or hats, as someone else suggested.