Inherited Fur Coat

studentmidwife

Hi There

Does anyone know how I can find out if a coat I have inherited is made from real or fake fur? I have tried searching on the internet but nothing comes up.

The coat belonged to my grandma and it appears to have been made to measure as there are no labels in it and from pictures it could possibly be mink. My grandma was quite well-to-do so it would'nt surprise me if it is real!!

I don't like/don't agree with wearing real fur and I'm not sure what to do with it.

Any advise would be appreciated?

iieee

Try these:
http://www.api4animals.org/articles.php?p=453&more=1

It's best not to rely on labels anyway, there was a lot of stuff in the press last year saying that items labelled as fake are often in fact real.

I think I would give it to a charity shop in your situation... I wouldn't really want to profit from it but on the other hand I was brought up by a terrible hoarder and find it hard to chuck things away.

studentmidwife

Thanks for that. I will have a look at it later and try and work out if its real or fake.

frivolous_fay

Scope don't accept fur, not sure about other charities.
I don't agree with wearing fur either, but there's a school of thought that says that the animal it came from is long dead, so someone might as well make use of it, as it's slightly less insulting than if, say, someone burned it in disgust and it was useless and gone forever

DGJsaver

frivolous_fay wrote: »

I don't agree with wearing fur either, but there's a school of thought that says that the animal it came from is long dead, so someone might as well make use of it

And why , do you think , is it dead in the first place :rolleyes:

frivolous_fay

DGJsaver wrote: »

And why , do you think , is it dead in the first place :rolleyes:

Well, I thought I made my opinion clear in the first line?

You can't turn back time! The animal is dead. People who like fur buy it new. Someone who doesn't like fur isn't going to do that. OP didn't buy it second hand, so they're not supporting the fur trade or creating demand.

Which is better?
kill a pig, prepare the chops, then decide it's immoral to eat them, and throw them away?
or to kill a pig, eat the chops, and throw the rest away?

Mandles

Ladies in places like Russia will buy it from ebay off of you (someone i know sold hers on there).

I don't agree with real fur either, especially anyone who would buy a new fur coat, unless they live in the coldest countries and can't pop to the shop for a super warm fleece! , but if it is an old fur coat that i had inherited i would sell it on to someone who wanted it. It's just my opinion but seeing as someone killed a load of poor little animals to make it i would feel bad bining it as they died for absoloutly nothing.
Maybe donate what you get for it to charity. This may help http://aspcacommunity.ning.com/video/video/show?id=658300%3AVideo%3A80507

whitewing

I think as it is a family 'heirloom' you should feel quite okay about selling it. You could try on a vintage clothes shop on a 50:50 basis. I think Foxtrot (?) in Salisbury is very good (we got OH's wedding shirt from there).

studentmidwife

Thanks for all the replies. To be honest whether its real or fake I will sell it. It will only sit in my wardrobe forever otherwise. I just don't want to sell it as fake if its not and vice versa.

I am going to try the tests on the website and try and determine whether it is real or not.

I will have a look at vintage clothes shops - had'nt thought of selling that way.

hev_2

I inherited my great-grandmother's fur coat - it was probably about a hundred years old and not in the best state. I wasn't sure whether I should get it cleaned or just give it a decent burial :rolleyes:

I would see the sort of reaction people selling real fur on ebay are getting from animal rights people before listing. If you don't want to risk it, or it doesn't sell, are there any museums local that have 'period' galleries, like the Castle Museum in York? They may be able to use it.

HTH

geri1965_2

Real fur is easy to spot - I can tell by the feel of it, although that isn't much use to you!

I would burn it, personally.