https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sat, 25 Apr 2026 09:07:40 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-484596 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:13:39 +0000 Suz 484596@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So glad you found a way to please your mother. These ethical decisions are never easy. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-484586 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:03:19 +0000 ironkurtin 484586@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Making your mother happy about this is a mitzvah, you'll never regret it. I'm glad you found a way to make it work! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-484578 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:49:26 +0000 rae 484578@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Sounds like a perfect resolution! It seems your mother felt very strongly about this, and that is the most important. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-484555 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:47:36 +0000 morethanbeige 484555@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Sounds like you handled this delicate situation with finesse. So glad it turned out well. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-484545 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:35:40 +0000 Ana 484545@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hooray, Claudia! Thank you for updating us. I'm so glad you were able to work through this situation and everyone is happy. : ) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-484531 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:25:54 +0000 MsMary 484531@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yay! I love a story with a happy ending! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-484529 Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:24:46 +0000 Claudia 484529@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>My mom came over for dinner last night and we talked about the fur coats.</p> <p>The bottom line is that I made her deeply happy by accepting them and telling her that I valued that they had memories and meaning attached to them and that I'd keep them in the family and pass their stories down too.</p> <p>Thank you to those posters who mentioned my mother's feelings: you were really right.</p> <p>Everyone made great points here and thank you for sharing your thoughts. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483855 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:23:15 +0000 mamaKate 483855@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>While it's true, Claudia, that furs can send an outward message to others (strangers), so, too, does accepting (or rejecting) a gift from your mother send a message to this person whom you love. </p> <p>If it's still hard to stomach accepting these as the gifts they are intended to be, put them away for a few years and wait. You might (or might not) feel differently after some time. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483835 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:05:21 +0000 rae 483835@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>My personal views on animal products are sort of middle of the road - if I would eat it, and enough other people eat it, I'm fine wearing it. This kind of goes in hand with your comment about domestic herd animals vs. fur industry kills. Even though I have a coat lined in rabbit fur (bought secondhand, and I didn't know it was rabbit until it arrived and I touched it), I still don't feel bad about it. </p> <p>IMO, the source and age of the furs mitigates the fact that they are not "food" furs. Still, I could never ever wear cat fur, because I value cats highest... I think you should ask yourself if you are at all excited at the prospect of using the coats, if you are mostly deterred by outside forces, or if you are mostly swayed to keep by outside forces. </p> <p>IK's suggestion to keep for a while to make your mom happy seems pretty good. You don't have to wear them necessarily, and you will have more time to consider. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483822 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:51:24 +0000 MsMary 483822@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>If I lived in a climate where wearing fur were appropriate, and I were otherwise in yoiur situation, I would take the furs and wear them. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483817 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:27:30 +0000 Claudia 483817@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Also in thinking more about this, I wanted to mention that my great grandmother lived on a farmstead. She had direct, daily contact and care with the animals that were killed for their food. My mother loved visiting and staying with her on the farm as a child. She had to come to terms with befriending the farm animals and knowing that they'd eventually end up on the dinner table.</p> <p>In some ways I feel like a hypocrite for going to the sterile grocery store and picking up my cellophane wrapped meats and never having to think about the ultimate source. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483816 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:25:59 +0000 Janet 483816@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have an inherited fur from my mother, which was my grandmother's. My mom had a short rabbit coat too, which one of my nieces claimed. </p> <p>So far, I've just kept the fur in a cedar chest, figuring I'll probably give it to that same niece sometime down the road when she settles into a home of her own. I can't imagine ever wearing it. </p> <p>Kim, I totally understand whay you're saying. I am a big supporter of animal shelters and charities. I wear leather, and I eat meat, but somehow fur is where I don't care to cross the line. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483811 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:16:06 +0000 Claudia 483811@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It is very tricky and complicated. My thoughts on some of the comments, and I really appreciate the discussion.</p> <p>Cow, sheep and pig leather does not bother me in the sense that these are from domesticated herd animals, which are very different from wild animals in temperament, and the skin is a by-product of the food and wool industry. I appreciate that no part of these animals went to waste. These industries are regulated and inspected for cruelty with some effort in an attempt to ensure the physical and mental well being of these animals.</p> <p>The fur industry is something else entirely, especially when the fur comes from with countries with lax or non-existent oversight like China.</p> <p>Fur animals are for the most part not domesticated animals. Most are predator species. These animals suffer greatly mentally and emotionally being caged, bred and overcrowded in captivity. It is a complete, unnatural horror of a life for them. By comparison, a wild trapped or shot fur animal at least had a normal animal existence prior to being hunted and captured.</p> <p>None of this makes for very glamorous fashion, does it? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483789 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:41:37 +0000 Sarah 483789@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I heard that about furs for the animal shelters, Angie. I think that's amazing.<br /> It is a tricky situation. I mean, if the coats have already been purchased, you aren't generating more business for the industry.<br /> HOWEVER something Bryan always asks me is, what message are you sending?<br /> So I may choose to or not to wear something depending on where I'm going or who I will be with. I may know that the fur is second (or third) generation, or second source fur, but the person next to me probably would not.<br /> My grandma gave me several eelskin wallets and handbags, and I HATE what they mean, but I have used one of the wallets. I donated the bags. I just don't want to give the impression ever than I'm flippant about this issue.<br /> I do have leather items, and may carry fur or eelskin, but not without realizing what it means. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483788 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:41:34 +0000 ironkurtin 483788@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Here is my five cents. These animals have been dead for a long time. These coats come from an era where wearing fur was a necessity and not a luxury. They may be beautiful objects in their own right, and wearing them in a spirit of honoring the animals that once wore them is not out of the question. I think you need feel no guilt in wearing them, even the seal one.</p> <p>However, if they will do nothing but make you unhappy, make your mother happy by taking them, then pass them on. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483785 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:39:53 +0000 Kim 483785@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I have a genuine question here, and I'm not trying to be trite, but do you wear leather? I do, but I still have a hard time getting my mind around wearing real fur. I'd wear real shearling if I could find one at a good price that I adored, but other than that fur has become taboo for some unknown reason. It seems I'm only half on board with the animal rights thing...</p> <p>And for the record I love animals, have adopted plenty of pets from the shelter and gave them a good forever home, but again I have no problem eating meat.</p> <p>Crazy isn't it?? Sorry if I just added to the confusion, just wanted to share my own! LOL </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483782 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:31:18 +0000 Angie 483782@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Tricky situation. </p> <p>I found myself in a similar but less tricky position, Claudia. I inherited all my grandmothers and mother's furs (about 5 coats) - but they had already passed away so I could do with them what I pleased. I am personally very uneasy with real fur (my Mum knew this), so I passed them all on to the Salvation Army the day after my Mum passed away. I found out later that you can bring real fur to an animal shelter to keep the animals warm, and I wished that I had done that instead. </p> <p>As far as sentiments go, I have plenty of items from Mum and Oma (granny in Dutch) that I have kept and use daily with a *very* happy heart. I do not regret passing on the real furs for a second. </p> <p>Claudia, I am not judging you or anyone else for wearing or keeping real fur. I merely wanted to relay my story on the off chance that it may help you. At the end of the day, you have to go with what's in your heart. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483771 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:13:59 +0000 Ana 483771@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Claudia, I also generally don't feel comfortable wearing fur either and I know this is a difficult situation for you. But if I were in your shoes, I would tell your mom that you would like to have the fur coats. You don't have to tell her you're going to wear them if you're not, and you can give them away if you want to. But these things are obviously precious to her and represent a lot of family history, and she wants to pass them on to you. I think that's what's important. Not necessarily that they are fur coats. I consider myself a fairly practical person, without a lot of room to store extra things, but I have a couple of items that I don't ever wear that belonged to my grandmother. And I will take them out and look at them from time to time, and imagine her wearing them, and then I fold them and put them away. I'm glad I have them, that I have something tangible that was hers and reminds me of the time we got to spend together. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483769 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:13:49 +0000 modgrl 483769@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I also inherited some vintage furs that I've worn here and there. I wouldn't buy a one new but I don't feel bad about vintage furs. I don't feel bad about the ones that are not endangered and bred specifically for fur worn for warmth in very cold climates. I would not be comfortable with the seal coat ever, under any circumstance. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483765 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:03:58 +0000 Suz 483765@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh, Claudia! I am so curious about how others respond; I have exactly this question. I don't actually have any furs to inherit, but I had wondered about buying a small fur faux fur collar, and then wondered about real fur (a vintage piece), but had all the feelings you describe about that. Plus, my step-daughter is vegan and I wouldn't want to offend her. </p> <p>It's such a tricky situation, isn't it. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/what-are-your-thoughts-on-inherited-vintage-fur-coats#post-483761 Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:00:02 +0000 Claudia 483761@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I don't know how to answer my mother. She has asked me if I want her fur coats. I am her only daughter. For decades they have sat in a professional fur storage facility because she has been shamed into not wearing them (I was one of those loud voices). Two were her beloved grandmother's on her mother's side and two were her mother's that she had inherited. </p> <p>Black seal, silver fox, mink, and a pony fur (I think that's what my mom said, it's an unusual wavy silver grey short coat that the furrier at the storage and care place said was rare and valuable). They are all in beautiful condition and of a simple, classic style of the eras. Two are long, two are short lengths.</p> <p>Back in the day, as my mother explained, these were not only a rare piece of luxury in the family, but also needed for their warmth in traveling in cars that had no heaters when speed limits were low and a trip by car took time in rural New England. My great grandmother was born and raised in Russia where fur was normal outerwear.</p> <p>I am an animal lover, well aware of the horror, suffering and cruelty that are part of the fur industry. I am revolted and upset by it. I would personally never pay for a new fur item and support this industry.</p> <p>BUT these unfortunate, beautiful animals already paid the ultimate price. What would you do with them? They are very sentimental to my mother. And I can remember her wearing them to church on Christmas when I was a child and stroking her arm as I sat next to her.</p> <p>I don't think I'd ever feel really comfortable and without guilt wearing them. But I do have mixed emotions on some level.</p> <p>What would you do? </p>