Does anyone else remember or miss the full-length Fox fur coat trend of the 1980s? - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Does anyone else remember or miss the full-length Fox fur coat trend of the 1980s?

Katie Edwards

Member

Okay, I was born in 1954 and raised and spent my entire life in Minneapolis Minnesota and one thing about that time was full-length Fox fur coats were huge in style. I remember in the early 1980s seeing ads on tv and in the newspaper of women wearing full-length Fox fur coats and I would also see women on the streets wearing them a few women from my office that I worked with had them and I was so jealous of them.

I remember back in 1983 my mom got a full-length silver Fox fur coat and then in 1984 my sister got a full-length shadow Fox fur coat for her birthday then I remember come December I went with my mom and my sister to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and out of the three of them I was the only woman without a fur coat. I remember standing in line in a sea of full-length foxes, minks, sables, and lynx’s and I remember hating being stuck in my cloth coat in a crowd of women in beautiful furs.

After that, I was determined to get a full-length Fox fur coat by next Christmas so I saved up as much money as possible and reached into my savings I took my husband with me to several fur coat stores and I tried on a 100 full-length Fox fur coats until I found the perfect full-length golden island Fox fur coat. My husband agreed to help me pay for it and we were able to get it on a monthly payment plan we were able to buy it and I got it as an early Christmas present and I will never forget the feeling of joy I had said goodbye to my cloth coat and hello to my beautiful full-length golden island Fox fur coat.

I will never forget my sister’s jaw-dropping when she saw my coat and then she became the one jealous of my fur. It also felt so good going to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra the next year with my mom and sister and the three of us all going decked out in our full-length Fox fur coats. I remember wearing the coat so much to work and to as many possible places. I just loved wearing that coat so much and I haven’t been able to wear it since like 2009 since full-length Fox fur coats have gone completely out of style. I honestly wish I had a time machine so I could go back to 1986 and wear my full-length golden island Fox fur coat on the streets of Minneapolis once again.

General

19 replies

Latest reply was from MsMaven

Sloper

Veteran

I’m sure the foxes don’t miss it!

LJP

Veteran

I remember the era well but it wasn’t something anyone I knew wore . Actually now that I think of it , I had one friend in university at that time who did have one . Fur has honestly never appealed to me and now I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole .

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Wow, interesting! I’m a decade younger than you, and grew up in a different climate (the milder mid-Atlantic) so it wasn’t so much of a thing for me, and I never wanted one at all. I do remember fur having enough of a market to warrant a couple of local fur shops, and it was present in the local department stores as late as the 80s. My mom had a short fur jacket. My grandmother had a big mink coat, which was falling apart when I took it out of storage, so it went to an animal rehab and rescue organization.

Joy

Veteran

I remember them. They were so warm. Now you can't give them away.
my late SIL bought them at thrift stores and made furry bed covers and throw cushions out of them.

Peri

Veteran

My mother and grandmother had fur coats. We did give them away. As to whether anyone took them, I don't know, but I expect Joy is correct.

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

I have a vintage fox fur cape, from the 1950s or 60s (going by the label and lining). I thrifted it for $20 at Goodwill about a decade ago, and I've used it for a couple of theatre productions. It's absolutely beautiful, and looks magnificent onstage, but it just isn't my bag in real life. It's a bit fussy and the last time I wore it (for a winter funeral in Ontario in 2015) it made my eyes itchy.

When I pause to think, I realize that the last time I noticed anyone wearing a full-length fur coat, was at the Atlanta Opera in 2012. It was beautiful, but Atlanta doesn't really have the climate for it - and coat-check services aren't really a thing at most of the venues here.

I certainly understand your nostalgia for something that you saved for, and made you feel beautiful! Have you considered recreating that feeling, with something iconic such as a beautiful classic handbag or designer piece?

Synne

Veteran

Nostalgia! My late aunt had a silver fox coat, and I remember it was the most beautiful garment I had ever seen. The texture and colors. The craftmanship. Simply stunning. She must have acquired it in the late 80s, or early 90s. I remember she told me she had saved up and bought it as a gift to herself after graduating. I wanted so badly to own one of my own when I finaly was grown up! Well, obviously that never happened... Furs became things non grata during the mid to late 90s, and are now UNHEARD of.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Katie do you think you would be persecuted if you did wear it? I have heard of that happening?
My best friend and I wore her great-aunt’s (who is dead for a number of years now) short fox furs to 1920s dress-ups and did not get persecuted, but we don’t live in the US.
Maybe you could find an 80s dress-up event or plan one?
I wouldn’t buy fur myself now but didn’t feel guilty about my friend’s furs since the foxes had been dead about 70 years.

Anonymous

I was born in 1960, grew up in Florida, and lived there for 50 years. Very little cold weather there but I do remember in my 20s that rabbit fur coats were big. My mom had a really nice black wool coat with a mink collar, probably purchased in the 1950s when she lived in colder climes, that now hangs in my closet. It needs to be cleaned but honestly, even though it’s a really nice coat, I don’t think I’ll ever wear it even though I’m now farther north in a 4-season climate. No fur coats being worn here. It’s a big outdoor activity and gear area and very casual and sporty so puffers dominate.

kkards

Veteran

I remember a college friend obsessed with a fox coat…I also remember another friend, from Korea, who had a great coat, from the outside it looked like a “ski jacket’ But inside was fur lined. And I remember after getting my 1st job finding a fur lined rain coat on sale 50% off, and hemming and hawing for 2 weeks trying to decide if I could afford it. Ultimately I decided that I could not, but I regretted it for many years….
anyway, I guess my question is, if you still own the coat, why not get it remade so that the fur is the lining, and not visible. Then you’d have the warmth and no one but you would need to know anything else about the coat.

kate

I grew up in Alaska, so furs were practical. My mother, brother and I all had fur coats or parkas. Later, when my husband and I were in Denmark we went to a furrier and I bought a full length mink coat. I do still have it, but in this non-fur culture I can only wear it after dark to walk the dog!

Jules

Veteran

I was a kid in the 80s here in Canada but I definitely remember being very aware of the big fur coat (whether fox or otherwise, I’m not sure) being very much a status symbol for some women in my neighbourhood. It was not my mother’s thing, probably for both class reasons and because her own mother who she rebelled against was quite proud of her mink coat. Thank you for sharing your memories from the other side of things, I enjoyed reading them.

I have somewhat complicated feelings about fur - I’m a meat eater and consume mass produced dairy; I respect Indigenous ways of life and believe in their right to sell fur to settlers; yet somehow, fur is taboo. Here’s an article about the state of fur in Canada which mentions it peaked in the 80s.

https://www.bcbusiness.ca/the-.....de-revival

cat2

Veteran

I inherited a mink trimmed coat. Faux fur has gotten so much better, and coats with a wide variety of faux fur collars were trending. No one even noticed when I wore it, because they assumed it was fake.

Gail

Veteran

I worked in NYC in the late 80's and many of my friends had long mink coats. I borrowed one for a function and it certainly was warm.
I remember at that time I was sort of envious but would never have been able to afford one. Fast forward 30 years my Mother passed away and I have her long rabbit fur coat , a mink jacket and a mink hat. I can't see myself ever wearing any and quite frankly I'm a bit skeeved out but can't bring myself to donate right now as I know they were all very special items to her.

Sal

Veteran

I have two vintage furs - one is probably from the 30s I think and one from 1980. I rarely wear them - one is a bit small. One I have worn to costume parties.

I can understand the nostalgia for the glamour and treasured piece.

I wouldn’t buy a new fur here but I do have leather shoes and bags.

lyn67

Veteran

A decade younger but have my foxie (mine is short to hips only- was inherited from SIL and tailored to my size) and a custom made grey midi shearling (hooded!-which was also a thing back then in my neck of the woods) stored in my attick just for fun. Wore these in the 80's for dressy events in the winter and felt fab, but never again from back then unfortunatelly.

Lmh

Member

I have 2 mink coats, a mink scarf and an astrakhan coat, all REALLY old so I don’t feel guilty, I wouldn’t buy new though. I love them all

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

If you're interested, I have seen full fur coats for sale on Etsy - depending on the seller, they're usually either gently used vintage, NWT with authentication (many from the 60s, 70s & 80s) or brand new (custom).

I wouldn't buy any new fur myself - just don't have the lifestyle or climate for it (subtropical humidity lol). Maybe if I lived somewhere like Alaska I could see the need for it - even with cotton, linen & silk I can feel the difference between natural fibres & synthetic 'dupes'.

MsMaven

Veteran

I remember those coats! In the mid-80s I wanted a fox fur, fingertip length, with a coyote collar. Fun, kind of sporty. I dragged my husband to the fur salon at Macy's and tried it on. I loved it--he didn't like it. He wanted me to try on a mink.

Because he loved the full length mink coat on me we bought it. It was much dressier than the fox and more, well, bourgeois. I didn't wear it a lot and in summer I had to pay to store it. Then Macy's stopped selling/storing fur. Found another place.

My son moved to the Chicago area in the late 90s and I started wearing the coat there for winter visits. Then he married and so I started storing the mink in a near-by storage place because the one here also shut down. Eventually I asked my son't sister-in-law to sell it for me. She did. $75 + her commission. (She bought and sold stuff online and from gift shops.) Bought in mid-80s, sold in 2010 or thereabouts. If it weren't for holidays in Chicago I wouldn't have worn it a dozen times.

I wish I had stayed strong for the fox. I would have worn it a lot because it was more casual and sporty and my type. I felt matronly and kind of fake nouveau riche in the mink.

I'm happy the anti-fur movement came along.