Friday, September 9, 2011

The Vintage Fur Debate

Someone brought to my attention that it is unfortunate I sell fur (as seen in last blog). For being pescetarian and a huge animal lover, I wanted to think this through further. My first winter at the shop I had people asking if I would sell their vintage fur coats for them and I was pretty opposed to the idea. Somewhere along the way, I was brought smaller pieces with hints of vintage fur on them and got more used to them. I liked the idea of the item being re-used and not filling up a landfill, which would not seem to honor the animal who gave its life. That's why I have decided that if I do come across an item with vintage fur, I will donate a large percentage of the sale to an animal charity. Perhaps for every vintage fur sale, one less new fur will be purchased, and one day one can only hope, produced.

2 comments:

jesse.anne.o said...

I think a lot of vintage sellers have this stance.

The flipside, which I'm sure you know already, is that the more fur that is sold, the more socially acceptable it is and the more likely people are to buy it vs. phasing it out completely. Also, while some vintage pieces are obviously vintage, there are some that look like newer styles or repro styles so it's hard to say that the average person viewing the fur will recognize it's a "reuse" instead of a new one.

From the reuse perspective it's definitely better than real fur. I think the person's outlook depends on the larger goal. (My overall outlook is I'd rather not see it at all and look forward do a day where it's verboten. Of course, no offense to you or other vintage sellers - I know everyone has their own perspective on this.)

jesse.anne.o said...

In this sentence I meant "new fur" instead of "real fur". I just realized as it was posting!

From the reuse perspective it's definitely better than real fur.

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