I have a fur that I inherited from my great-grandmother. It’s not the same style as that one, it’s just a panel and the collar that are fur. I’ve only worn it a handful of times and it’s always been super cold and something fancy. I would never buy a new fur, or even a vintage fur from a consignment shop…but I inherited this one and it has sentimental value so I’ll pass it down to my children or grandchildren.

I have inherited furs from my grandmother, and my Mum passed them to her sister, who WOULD wear them and get some use out of them, as I would not.

I don’t see an issue with it. It’s like my piano has ivory keys – does this create a market demand for ivory piano keys? No.

Then again, ivory isn’t produced legally anymore.

the fact that it’s vintage does change how it was made, and what it is: horrible and cruel.

wold you wear a necklace made from the teeth of human orphans if it was second hand? Probably not.

Fur is still fur, no matter how you put it – recycled/used or not, it doesn’t matter!!

Besides it’s really corny…

I really don’t understand how some ‘women’ (I so want to write an insulting word to describe them…) like it! I’m a man so probably I will never understand it!

Anyway it’s still wrong! It’s the same as buying a second-hand object made of an elephant’s tusk! The elephant still had to be murdered in order for the tusk to be obtained (poachers don’t exactly remove the tusks and then let the animals go free)!

It’s just a lame excuse to wear fur!!

There are ‘millions’ of different fabrics… Why insist on wearing fur? Would people who like fur continue to love and use it if thousands of fur coats would be donated to homeless people (as mentioned above)? Doubt it

Change and evolve… Let it go already!

*sigh deeply* …

In response to Whoever…men wear fur. Lots of men. It’s very popular in the black community.

I think Discerning Brute hit it on the head (head of lettuce, that is).

No one knows your coat is vintage, no one cares. It’s a look that other people will covet and think is ok. If everyone is wearing it, how bad can it be, right? The banality of evil…you think you’re just going along with it because it’s already happening.

Think of it this way: it is NOT a fur coat. It is a pile of dead animals. You are choosing to negate the life of each animal that is sewn together to make that atrocity you are putting on.

There is no reason at all to wear fur, real or recycled anymore. With more awareness in our society of the impact that our choices have on the environment, the animals and the economy, why would anyone want to wear a walking talking billboard that says “not only don’t I care about causing an animal to suffer, I also don’t care about the environment, I will spend money on a luxury that could easly be used to do good and look ugly doing it.”

Jamie Lynn

No need to be torn..(or for the fur coat to be torn “L’s” link (which I’m linking again because it wasn’t click-able) was freaking fantastic. I’ve been giving to and support HSUS for yrs but didn’t know they had this program!

http://www.hsus.org/furfree/campaigns/c4c/

that is freakin awesome!

If I’d ever owned fur hells ya I’d give to them… Wow what a beautiful concept.

That’s where I’d love to see everyone donate their fur coats/wraps right now!

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!

E

hi jamie, i dont think the animals would feel “honored” if we decide to wear their fur because it is “vintage”.
its all arguments why vintage fur should be “okay” because it doesn’t create a “demand” etc.(which, isnt true, vintage fur is a small step away from the idea that there is “good fur” and “bad fur”.)
anyway, fur is fur, making arguments that it could be okay is just that, arguments.
would we also seek arguments to make exeptions at other dispicable thigs like child porn ? like, dont destroy confiscated porn but recycle it, because that way the need for making new child porn is less and so there will be less child victims.
sometimes we shouldnt argument too much, fur is fur and its cruel, period. why seek argumenst to wear granmothers fur ? she’s dead so is her fur.

Here we go again… Another fbr?

Where do these people crawl under from?

And then they have the nerve to claim that ‘we’ are being irrational and emotional and that our arguments aren’t valid!!! They are so blind that they’re the ones who don’t present any valid argument and actually insult us from the (fake) pedestal they think they are on!! They do exactly what they accuse ‘us’ of doing!! Now that’s what I call a “not a very intelligent way to debate.”

Doug – news flash – it’s because of arrogant people such as yourself, who think the world and all its resources is ours to use as we see fit, that the planet is at the edge of the abyss – climate change (there are still ignorant people who refuse to accept this – when it’s already been proven by the majority of the scientific community – and thus going against the rational thinking they defend), an increasing list of endangered species, the depletion of natural resources, pollution of rivers, oceans and air (water and air – 2 things we can’t live without), over fishing and hunting, poverty and hunger because some have too much while others have too little… and I could go on!

So please don’t claim that we’re being irrational or emotional. Our eyes are open and we do see what’s really going on around us!

Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the likes of you!!

Ever watched how animals are skinned alive, suffocated or electrocuted for their fur? Watch this first:
http://www.peta.org/feat/ChineseFurFarms/index.asp
and then come back ok?

Oh, and I also recommend ‘Earthlings’ – that is if you really want to open your eyes and see the truth!!
Or you can just keep living in your blissful ignorance!!

Marisol, Whoever…, and Brute:

The people you’re arguing against (or trying to enlighten, depending on your AR pursuit), think you are absolutely INSANE when you compare the suffering of humans to the suffering of non-human animals. Speciesism is still the norm.

So it really doesn’t do anything for your argument. In fact, it works against you. Too many people (!) stop watching Earthlings when the plight of the Jewish people, along with sexism and racism, is compared to the suffering of farm animals. It might be more than true in your mind, but it COMPLETELY LOSES people who were otherwise willing to listen!

Walked right into it didn’t you “Whoever”. Precisely what I said. Run out of emotional argument and you have to resort to insult.

You don’t know who I am from Adam, so you can say what you like and it makes no difference whether it is right or wrong. Which really makes it all rather pointless.

Your rant about global warming is totally irrelevent to the question here. But since you bring it up, of course I recognise global warming. I;ve studied ecology for the past 45 years for chrissake, I should know what I am talking about. How you got the idea from my post that I think the earth’s resources are there for us all to use up is a mystery. It is the complete opposite of my life’s passion.

Your “newsflash” rant is in fact a little irrational, mixing up a number of things in one muddled paragraph, that has nothing to do with the fur trade, which is what we are discussing here. Sort it out and I might answer it more logically.

Getting back to fur. Of course I have seen the PETA vids on the chinese fur farms, they are years old and half the world must have seen them by now. Do you seriously believe that anyone in the West condones that sort of treatment?Every sane person including fur wearers abhors that treatment of animals, it is criminal, and it always mysifies me as to why the makers of the vids have always kept the source secret.

Where we differ, is that I recognise that those horrors exist, but I have also seen vids of how proper Western fur farms are run. You make your choice as to which you believe to be the norm of responsible practice. You choose to base your argument on a vid of what is obviously not a properly run fur farm, and is made by an organisation intent on promoting its own agenda and you choose to ignore any other evidence to the contrary. I accept both sides, and have to make my choice on a balance. You dont tar a whole industry because of the illegal actions of a few. if we did that there would be no industry at all.

that last line was pretty dramatic, wasn’t it? haha

” Anyway it’s still wrong! It’s the same as buying a second-hand object made of an elephant’s tusk! The elephant still had to be murdered in order for the tusk to be obtained (poachers don’t exactly remove the tusks and then let the animals go free)! ”

In response to Whoever, I own a second-hand piano with ivory keys. I know the elephant was murdered, but to tear all the keys off and throw them out only to be replaced with plastic (the production of which would be obviously harmful for the environment) would be wasteful. Granted, this is somewhat different from fur because I don’t parade my piano around on my back all winter. I play it, it is in my own home and no one but me notices that the keys are ivory.

Maybe one day when the use of animals for fur is completely abolished, second hand fur coats will be okay to wear because even if there IS a demand for fur, there won’t be anywhere to get it. I agree that at this point they contribute to the demand for fur, but so does faux fur, really, and faux leather contributes to the demand for leather. Herein lies the problem.

I don’t claim to know the solution, and I don’t think anyone does!!

i would NEVER EVER wear fur NOR fake fur!

I don’t want any one to think for ONE SECOND that i support that cruel and disgusting look.

Once I said something to someone wearing a full length fur coat. i always open my mouth. and the person insisted it was fake (and they ALL say that) I asked if i could touch it and sure enough it was fake and it looked incredibly real.

I would NEVER WANT ANYONE TO THINK THAT ABOUT ME. I NEVER want to promote the look of heartless cruelty. NEVER.

Not to mention the whole fake fur=petroleum products argument.

Of course, if you just HAVE TO look like you support cruelty, fake is the way to go….but i chose to do neither.

Hehe very dramatic Maraia, and well said. I have to assure you though that as a person I am not proud or arrogant, my friends would die laughing if they heard you say that!

A fur coat an abberation? Your entitled to that view, but the majority of people in the world don’t agree.

I think you have misunderstood my point. I’m certainly not being frivolous here. I’ve spent my whole life marvelling at and studying this amazing planet, and the incredible web of life that it supports.

But that’s what it is. Everything alive (and dead) is a resource for every other living thing on this planet. The system just would not work without it. when an animal dies, it’s skin is STILL a resource, whether for bacteria, moulds and fungi in the soil, or eaten, (our cats eat the WHOLE skin as well as the rabbit when they catch one), or it can be preserved a bit longer and and used for clothing other animals (us). Before it is eventually returned to the soil where the bacteria etc. STILL get it. Whatever happens to it it is still a resource to other things, which still goes on long after the animal has died.

It’s not flippant at all death is the basis of life, there’s no two ways around that. you will die, I will die. As humans we fear death (why?). There is an amzing wonderment at being part of this endless cycle of life.

But we all exist only as a resource. When you go out into wild places, you are potentially a resource, nothing more for Bear, Cougar, Lion, Shark, or any other natural predator. They wont even care whether you are dead or alive before they start eating you.

The question was. Is it OK to wear vintage fur, simple question, simple answer yes! The pelt has already been made into a coat. If you throw it away, you are rejecting its usefullness as a resource providing warmth and comfort. you are not depriving the final outcome of the coat, that will happen anyway.You are merely extending the usefullness of the skin long after the original animal has died.

A fur coat may last two or three generations. faux fur, cotton or wool wont. To get the same amout of usage out of other materials than you would from a fur coat would ultimately involve wastage of even more of the world’s resources. My argument would be that once the coat is made, it would be even more flippant to say “Well its got more use in it yet, but I wont wear it because it came from a dead animal.

You may not support the killing of animals, but believe me, all animals do it, it’s pretty natural, and if you stop to think about it you would be amazed at the amount of animals that die every day to support your lifestyle (and mine).

Food for thought – Two species per day are being wiped out (whole species, gone…forever) by the clearance of rain forest, not just for grazing, but for soya, coffee, sugar and oil drilling.

There is no right or wrong, we make our choices by thinking things through, and balancing our judgement. If someone else comes up with a different decision (as long as they’ve seriously thought about it rather than acting emotionally), then thats OK we should all respect that. There should be no need to shout at and insult each other.

The arrogance in fact comes from the people who say “I am right, you are wrong”. There is no right or wrong to this question.

No I would not wear a fur coat whether it was recycled or new.

I don’t even like the concept of wearing ‘synthetic look-alike’ fur because I think people take it out of context still thinking that the fur look is pretty. I gave away a leopard print jacket because even then I didn’t like the fact that I was promoting that fur skin look is cool on people.

I think the fur coats for puppies is good. I don’t think anyone throws furs into the landfills so that argument seems pretty out there except we should think about all the other things that end up in landfills.

No one HAS to wear fur. To think that grandmother’s coat was the only wearable option is ridiculous. Also there are usually about 75 coats at Goodwill to the 1 fur coat at Goodwill.

I just think fur looks bad and when I see someone in one – I think how ignorant and unattractive they are for wearing it. I have yet to see someone wearing a fur coat that looked down and out and was just trying to stay warm.

Inga I can’t believe you said that! Our whole lifestyle is based around and depends on things that are made of plastics, chemically produced (petrochemical)or chemical sustained (fertilisers/ insecticides etc), and you pick on fur as having bad energy? How in touch with energy are you? Have you been “out there” – on “The Land”?. Fur, Leather, and wood etc – These are the things that bring us close to the natural, sustaining and energising energy of the natural world and the miraculous web of life of which we are part. Just becuase we may live away from Nature now, doesn’t mean we should reject it. As I said above, death is natural. Life and death are one issue in Nature. Do you not feel for the wolf, the seal, the tiger? even though these wonderful creatures base their whole life on, and depend on the violent death and destuction of other creatures? Has your so called “bad energy” rubbed off on them? Should we reject them because of this? Of course not, it is not bad energy, it is the energy that supports and sustains life.

Catwrangler – You may think fur is unattractive, ok that is your choice, dont wear it if it doesnt suit you. But as you also recognise in your comment about faux, many people do think fur is “Pretty” as well, and recognise it for its natural beauty warmth and practicality.

Just because these people have different views from you doesnt give you the right to insult them by calling them ignorant. Most fur wearers have thought about what they do, know all the facts and make their choice out of inteligent thought not ignorance.

I personally believe that most so called animal lovers act purely out of emotion and listen to rhetoric and propaganda, but I wouldn’t call them ignorant en masse. I certainly believe that they need to continue to think for themselves and get a REAL grasp and insight into the workings of the natural world. They are not ignorant, it’s just that they look at things at the value someone else with an axe to grind has thrust into their minds. Don’t alllow your emotion to taint your humanity.

Also – 75 coats at good will compared to one fur coat? Kind of shows that fur is a long lasting and valued product, whereas other coats usually containing a lot of synthetics are short lived, and people discard them and buy another at a whim, without any regard for the sustainability of clothing and the eco destruction their choice of garment has caused.
Not seen the down and out keeping warm in fur? Just look harder. They sure are there. although maybe some dont’ want to be stignatised as poor and in poverty by wearing one of PETA’s paint marked furcoats that they give to the poor. How crass is that? just give them the undamaged furcoat, why stigmatise them as “everyone look at me, I have paint on my coat, I have to wear handouts.”