Sunday, December 13, 2015

Forbidden Fruit

Theda Bara and furry friend
 
Fur is the forbidden fruit in fashion. Beautiful to behold, soft to the touch, to me it says "look but don't buy". Thank goodness the days of owning a mink to show the world you've made it are no more. Never mind that mink is incredibly warm as it rests feather light on your body. We're over it.

Gloria Swanson in a fur burrito

For a long time vegan leather was dreadful to behold. Not the case today. The handbag selection at TJ Maxx will have you guessing what's what. Only a look at the price tag will tell you for sure. Same with fake fur. While the stuff's not perfect, it's much improved. I picked up a faux sheared beaver chubby a few weeks ago that brought me right back to my childhood and my mother's beaver pride and joy.


Unfortunately, I didn't need to see them in person to have been stopped in my tracks (bad animal pun) by these gorgeous fur coats in the Fall 2015 Saks Fifth Avenue look book (generously left by someone at the gym). Do you know how you can get hungry looking at beautiful pictures of food? I felt the same about these— knowing how soft they would be to the touch and how decadent wearing one would make you feel. Forget that I never would. I'll hold one of my kitties instead. The "leopard" (itself an alpaca blend) is $19,500 and the dyed mink a few dollars more at $19,950. I can't even go into the chutzpah it takes to dye mink.

So what primal urge had me give these pictures more than a cursory glance? Is it the insouciance of the casual black pants, top and loafers thrown on with that leopard? Is it trying to imagine where our lady in her "copper and tobacco colorblock dyed mink" is setting off? Do I even wish I had $20,000 to throw away on a coat? If you have that much money you better be doing some good stuff with it. The burden of responsibility involving those coats is a hefty price to pay.

Easier to pass up was the "brown dyed crocodile bolero with detachable sable collar and sable skirt" for $102,450. It would definitely make my hips look too big.

3 comments:

  1. I wore a fur coat--an old muskrat from a friend's attic--the winter I did research in Moscow. Strange to say, I found it quite impractical. Of course it was fabulous on the street, but when I went indoors to the subway (and I spent a lot of time on the subway) I would sweat like crazy. So I must say that fur holds no charm for me. If I doesn't work for a Moscow winter, where does it work?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Therein lines the conundrum. Have you ever worn mink? It is incredibly warm while being very lightweight. And I hear sable is even more so!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete