Fur.....the difference between vintage and retro.

With fur being the big thing this winter and all the rage, it is essential that you know how to indentify the real thing when you come across it. Generally the rule about vintage is if it has reached the grand old age of thirty years then it is considered a vintage item. Although nowadays some people will class things from several years ago as vintage - it's not, it's retro. It's also retro if it's trying to look vintage.

1. One of the first things you need to do is identify the species of fur you are looking at. This will give you a clue as to how old the item is, as we all know and rightly so some species are endangered because of their fur culling and hunting ethics and so cannot be now used to make friviolus fashion items. This is commendable and totally the right way to go about things for the future and generations to come. However this doesn't solve what to do with all those old vintage furs that are still out there. Do they get burnt and wasted or used and appreciated? Everyone has their own opinion on this, and no one is right or wrong - it's still a matter of hot debate between the best of friends.
Ok, some furs went in trends some were always elitest. You can as a rule of thumb tell a real fur from a faux fur by it's feel. This is something you have to do for yourself with practice. You have to stroke real fur and faux to get to know the difference. It's not that hard once you've been stroking a few coats believe me. The oils in the real fur are still there and it will feel soft, silky and luxurious. The faux fur, although getting better still doesn't have that absolute snuggle me and love me forever feel to it yet. Nearly but not quite.

To add with a little help - there is also a smell. Real fur will have at some point in it's life have been looked after and introduced to moth balls. They leave a soft lingering smell in the lining. Sniff around the pockets and neckline where they would have been stored or hung.

2. Look for a label. Sounds easy enough. But real fur is still sold, so you have to know which stores still sell furs. Chances are that you will come across an old label that you've never heard of before. This could mean that it's from an old store - as they change their names over the years. Knowledge of this and from the era of coat you are sourcing helps. Gen up on what it is you are looking for if it is a specific make, style or era. Knowledge is power.
Also look for initals sewn in. Often furs were made to order in select fashion houses. Remember years ago only the rich could afford real fur. Usually the woman had her initals sewn in as part of the service.
Also if the label says wash at such and such degrees - it's faux. Real fur should never be washed only dry cleaned at a specialists.

3. Know your eras and their styles. Look and research a certain era of coat. 1970's and 1960's furs will be a totally different cut to a 1930's 1940's coat. For example in the 1950's the coats were often shorter sleeved, called a bracelet cut - so the lady could show off her diamonds as well just for that extra money sniffing effect. In the 1940's coats tended to be more long sleeved. It all depends on what you are looking for. The answer here is research, research, research!

4. Look for sand. Evidence of sand tells you it is old straight away. Feel the weight. A real fur naturally will be slightly heavier than a faux fur due to the hide. Especially if it is vintage. Years ago in some they used to place sand in the lining of the coat to help combat damp and weight it's hang. It's also to do with the process of the furrier.

5. Look at the fur in a good light. Seems obvious right, but faux fur is manufactured. It will be perfect and often a repeat pattern. Think about it - it's a mass produced product right. Real fur like us is made with imperfections. Patterns and colouring will be random. Simples.
If you want to take a magnifying glass along and look at the individual hairs. A faux fur will have the same couration all the way along on each one, a real fur will be individual. Try it and see.

6. If in doubt, here's one my Granny taught me. Take a pin with you, get a single hair folicule and pierce it with the pin. I'm serious. If the pin passes through easily it's fake, if it resists and is difficult it's real.
Another one is if they allow you to, you can ask to snip a very small piece of the fur from under the collar, on the inside or once you have purchased it, if you love the coat for itself. Hold the snipped fur to a naked flame in a pair of tweezers. The faux fur is made from synthetic plastic it will smoulder, then burn with a chemical smell. Real fur will smell like your own hair when it get's caught in the hairdryer and create a clumped smouldering ball. Please though, remember to do this test away from the rest of the fur item so it doesn't all go up in flames!!

7. Remember real fur will be attached to a hide, faux fur won't. Check the lining of the coat if in doubt. Also if it has a head and a tail, feet even - more than likely it's a real pelt.

Fur - The BIG Debate.

I am a vegetarian. I love animals. Goes without saying. I did not choose however to become a vegetarian, I was born this way and then raised as one. I am allergic to the fats and protein in meat. They make me sick, literally.
Now, I don't like touching meat full stop, which I think those who you who know me will I'm sure of heard me mention before. Can't stand it. Reminds me a a corpse on a slab and I don't like it. Yet I still cook and prepare meat for those I love every week. It is their choice to eat meat not mine.

Simone D'alliencourt. Loius Vuitton pic by Henry Clarke 1930's.

Okay.........fur. It is the bi-product of the meat production, both for animals (cat and dog food) and humans. Leather is a bi-product of the beef dishes and burgers fast food joints and rabbit fur is the bi-product of all the tins of pet food consummed in their billions every week. An where do you think the fleece of the lamb or mutton goes after it's been killed? Into any kind of wool product industry they can sell it to of course.
There are some furs that I won't wear though, I absolutely don't agree with killing an animal for it's fur coat alone, like cute baby seals, foxes, minks, leopards, bear, tigers etc - but I do wear leather and wool. I love leather coats, bags and shoes. I love knitted dresses and scarves. However I don't agree with using animal skins either just for the sake of it, I'm thinking crocodile skin bags here and the such like.
I don't agree with killing an animal just for it's skin or fur alone is what I am trying to say, but if it is a bi-product of the meat eating industry then it I've come round to the conclusion that it's okay for me to wear it. Use all of the animal, don't waste it's life......Or.......... and here is where some real controversy may kick in -  if it is vintage. And I mean at least fifty years old. Where the animal has died long ago and it seems a sin to just destroy the fur, otherwise the animal really did die in vain. Of course these are my own personal opinions and everyone else is entitled to their own. To some it may seem like I am muddled in my ethics but to me they make absolutely perfect sense.
I already own faux fur coats, boleros and wraps and I did own two adorable full length fur coats when I was a teenager. Vintage 1920's white mink and a 1930's brown rabbit, but I was a teenage kid, I looked too frumpy in them, I hadn't quite matured into them yet. Then when we got stuck for money as a young loved up married couple, I sold them to a vinatge clothes dealer for good money. Hurrah, we could pay the mortgage that month!
Only, I really regret selling them now, because I want another fur coat. I have always missed them, always thought rather fondly off them, and now I wish I had them. So along with my other three coats I desire, I am adding a fourth to the list - a vintage fur. Or it could be a faux fur - I don't mind - it would be much easier to look after.
Oh yes, a real fur needs constant care - I learnt that as a small child from elderly relative's wardrobes and their  furs, they were like Narnian Wardrobes of delight for me as a tiny nipper. You have to keep them at a constant low temperature, (to avoid moulting and moths......yes really, it will moult but not grow back!), never store them in a plastic bag - as they need the air to circulate around them, try not to wear shoulder strap bags as this can wear and rub on a vintage fur shoulder, if it gets wet in the rain - just shake it off and let it dry naturally - never use heat to dry it, place cedar moth balls in the pockets and hang some in a bag on the hanger to keep them safe from moths, gently smooth it and love them as you would almost real human hair otherwise you will end up with a patchy bald fur coat - not very attractive.

The big craze this winter in all the stores is the fur. They are everywhere. Topshop have some beautiful faux fur coats at the moment and they also have some amazing faux fur capes , faux fur stoles glam rockette style, and their fur wrap tie collars. Other stores such as the divine  Oasis 60's style Peggy coat  both stores are filled with extremely stylish and reasonably in priced stroke-able items. I just wish I didn't have to choose one, because I could easily purchase them all. Oasis has a whole heap of faux furs in store and online. I will definitely be checking them out come the January sales!!!
Meanwhile I am on the hunt for vintage 1940's furs. It's my pre-Christmas Winter gift and I will know the coat and wrap when I see them. It will be my special, special - I can wear a slinky little Summer number underneath, even in the cold heart of Winter, coat. My, have to look after it for life coat.