Fur Real?

I have completed Lucy Siegle’s To Die For which I must say I thought was a well researched and easily accessible introduction to sustainable fashion and becoming a more intelligent and informed fashion consumer. The leather and fur industries associated with fashion are areas I have not researched prior to opening this book. The chapter ‘Animal Prints’ drew to my attention these industries, in particular the fur industry.

Although barely out of my Ellesse tracksuit during the mid-nineties and below the age of 10, I strongly remember images of the PETA ‘We’d rather go naked than wear fur’ backed by the supermodels of the era. I wouldn’t start flexing my fashion muscles until at least 2002 when I swapped my tracksuit for flared jeans and a bright pink jacket. Another purchase during this period was a denim jacket with a detachable faux fur collar and faux fur poking out of the cuffs.

I believe this must have been the start of the infiltration of fur back into the wardrobe, or at least the playground. Eskimo coats with fur (definitely fake in my hometown of Coventry) trimmed hoods and pompoms along with jackets similar to my denim variety were a staple for the teenage schoolgirl during the colder months.

Looking back at this period I do not recall considering the PETA fur campaign while sporting my jacket. However I do remember removing the collar due to hating the scratching, cheap quality of the faux fur against my neck. I couldn’t remove the fur at the cuffs as this was sewn in, which frustrated me as the fur clumped together and matted. Several brushing attempts could not revive the fur back to its previous glory.

I can safely say that jacket didn’t last beyond that season; however I do believe it is still at my parent’s house hidden in the depth of the cupboard under the stairs.

Since 2009, fur has officially been back on trend and being used as the main fabric for gilets, jackets and coats. The main focus on this fur trend was the real kind which all the celebs were wearing and could be easily picked up by your average consumer in the trendy vintage shops.

During my 6 month (over the winter of 2010-11) stint at working in a vintage shop in Camden I certainly saw the consumer interest in fur sky rocket. We sold both real and faux and in order to maintain my minimum wage job I had to pull in as many sales as possible. The fur always seemed to do this job well and I kept telling myself and the customers ‘vintage is better, faux is better’.

But is vintage really better? Is it justified that an animal was skinned (potentially still conscious) many decades ago to make it ok to were that pelt now?

And what of faux fur? Animal welfare is maintained, but is it still ok to plummet resources into recreating a product that already exists?

Faux Vs. Real

Here I have tried to compare real and faux fur with the help of Lucy Siegle by evaluating the pros and cons of both (I hope you can read my scrawl):

 

Personally I struggle to evaluate where my opinion swings on this subject as I find both to be just as bad as each other. The shear amount of chemicals used for both faux and real fur makes my skin crawl (this phrase is probably more literal for the workers processing the material).

I have always struggled to develop an opinion on whether fur (faux or real) actually looks good to wear. Our species spent thousands of years shedding our fur as it was completely unnecessary for our survival. It is however now acceptable to throw fur from another animal onto our hair-less frames for fashion’s sake. Cool, eh?

I believe I have developed my opinion: fur is…. pointless.

Anyone Fancy a Vintage Shopping Challenge?

The Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) have partnered with both M&S and Oxfam to launch London’s first Sustainable Fashion Lab. Set in the backdrop of the ultra cool and creative Truman Brewery in London’s East End (just off Brick Lane) the Lab will launch tomorrow and run for 2 weeks:

26 April – 9 May 2012

10am-5pm every day (except Mondays)

Open to the public, for entry bring along one item of unwanted clothing.

Image source: CSF, Michelle Lowe-Holder and Noel Stewart

Today CSF have set their first challenge: M&S Heirloom Challenge this Friday at Dray Walk 3pm. The challenge is simple, you get given £25 to hunt out a beautiful, vintage M&S garment over the weekend. Less of a challenge, more of a treat in my eyes (I’ve managed to collect quite a few St. Michael garments through scouring the charity shop rails).  You will, of course, be expected to hand over your find to the Lab to be placed into an exhibition (along with your name). Your chosen garment may also be selected for inclusion in the M&S archive.

Image source: Mike McSharry

I wonder what the purpose in creating the M&S archive is: potential design inspiration? Quality and performance research? Consumer care habits?

Sound like the perfect challenge for you? Well, the only hitch is that you need to be available on Friday 26^th and Monday 29^th (unfortunate if you are full-timers, like myself). If you’ve the time to spare, be quick there are limited spaces: click the above M&S Heirloom Challenge link to find out how to enter.

Happy shopping (never thought I would ever say that!)

‘We’re all mad here…’

Have you ever dreamt of filling Alice’s shoes and attending a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party? Perhaps you want to play the Mad Hatter and stage your own tea party but don’t own enough eclectic tablewear and equipment? Well look no farther than Wonderland Tea Parties.



Ok, I’ll be honest Wonderland Tea Parties is ran by my brother and sister in law after their fabulously extravagant Alice and Wonderland inspired wedding that sent guests through the rabbit hole back to their childhood. During the build up to the big day, Mark and Belinda spent a vast amount of time trawling shops up and down the country to collect vintage crockery, glasswear, accessories and furniture to stage their own Mad Hatter’s Tea Party inspired reception. Collected they certainly did, they managed to find almost 200 crockery items along with potion bottles, numerous vintage alarm clocks, beautiful lanterns and various Victorian styled accessories. (Might I add, I found the most adorable miniature tea set in a charity shop in Kenilworth that was added to their collection)





Finishing touches and accessories really brought the tea party into Wonderland, for example Mad Hatter tea bags, ‘take one’ sweet jars, ‘drink me’ potions, oversized playing cards and hand made (by me, using recycled fabrics) bunting.



Photography Copyright (c) 2010, PH Weddings

With such planning and articulation the wedding day went off without a hitch and received fabulous comments from the guests. This ultimately inspired the happy couple to help others hold a Wonderland inspired Tea Party, as Belinda says:

‘We had a great time planning our wedding. This inspired us to continue our love for all things vintage by deciding to hire out items from our large collection of crockery and accessories to people wanting to create a uniquely vintage event of their own.’

Wonderland Tea Parties are open for business hiring out their ever expanding collection of vintage crockery, accessories and furniture for any event; big or small. Hire now until 28th February 2011 and receive 10% off your total hire charge, there’s no better way to transport yourself to Wonderland.