What do you think of faux fur vs real fur?

[Lisa0825]

Since I know that DU has a lot of animal lovers and environmentalists among us, I thought this was good place to pose the question. I know someone who is considering adding faux fur to her business model, and she asked me what I thought about it.

On the surface, it seems like an easy question. No animals killed for our vanity is a good thing, right?

But then some anti-fur groups say that the newer, better faux furs are so good that it makes it too hard to tell the difference between faux and real, which lets people get away with wearing real, whereas in the past it was easy to target and shame people for wearing real fur.

Now the real fur advocates are trying to play the environmentalist card themselves... they say that real fur is "sustainable" and "green" and quality fur is often passed down through generations, whereas faux fur is *gasp* made from petrochemicals!

I don't buy it. I admit to owning a couple pieces of leather. I am not a total purist. But I can't believe that they are trying to portray fur as the positive envirnmental choice in comparison. Do you think that faux fur is just as bad or a complicating factor, or is faux fur a good choice?

[Skittles]

1. I thnk fur only looks good on animals

[Lisa0825]

2. I have never had real fur in my life.

But I admit to feeling it and thinking it was really luxurious. Now that faux fur is very close in mimicking the feel and look, it is tempting, but I do take seriously the arguments against it.

[Coventina]

3. I have to say I'm against both faux & real. I want to change the paradigm

that furs are desirable.

[Quantess]

4. Just look at how China treats fur animals.

I'm talking about dogs and cats and raccoons. Sometimes, these animals are skinned alive in China. Look it up, I'm completely serious.
I saw a video of a raccoon being skinned alive for its fur.

[Quantess]

7. and the poor animal was not put out of its misery after being skinned alive.

It was just left there, discarded.

The animal is not worth anything anymore.

Not even worth killing it, once and for all. No, just let it suffer without its skin. Die slowly.

[Seedersandleechers]

21. I saw a film from China do the same thing with cats

Made me :puke:

[Mimosa]

5. Wear Nutria and Save the Wetlands

There is one fur which is called righteous: nutria. Read about it here:

http://grant.btnep.org/default.asp?id=31

[KamaAina]

22. Also, it's the only fur-bearing animal that is also a minor-league baseball mascot

for the New Orleans Zephyrs, of course.



http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/team2/page.jsp?ymd=20070130&content_id=167401&vkey=team2_t588&fext=.jsp&sid=t588

Boudreaux D. Nutria and his wife Clotile are not only the New Orleans Zephyrs official mascots, but they have become King and Queen of Zephyr Field and the ambassadors of baseball for the entire south Louisiana area.
This lovable, fuzzy husband-and-wife tandem has become the most popular nutria in Jefferson Parish, an area that has often greeted nutria with open fire instead of open arms.

Boudreaux has made Zephyr Field his home since 1997 when he was found lost in the swamp exhibit at the Audubon Zoo. The Zephyrs adopted Boo and put him to work as the official mascot. He has charmed and entertained hundreds of thousands of fans throughout the region and was the New Orleans' most celebrated bachelor...until 1998.

That's when he met the former Clotile Picou when she answered a Gambit Weekly personal ad the Zephyrs placed for Boudreaux. It was love at first bite, as Clotile accepted Boudreaux's marriage proposal in front of a sold-out crowd on April 11 1998. They were married at Zephyr Field on August 16, 1998 in front of a then-record crowd of 11,012. They have expanded their family to include Beauregard, Cherie, Claudette, Jean-Pierre, Noelle and Thibodaux. It's a six-pack that can't be beat and the Zephyrs most enduring gift to the children of New Orleans.

[mykpart]

6. What about Teddy bears?

Are they OK?

[tigereye]

8. interesting question - my grandmother had an old beaver coat - that's the

only one I've ever seen. It was really warm. So people are saying that old "real" fur is ok?

[mucifer]

9. Apparently some "faux fur" from China can be REAL fur . Link from BBC

A US animal protection organization said the hooded jackets at Macy's were lined with raccoon dog.

Raccoon dogs, which are not kept as pets, are bred in large numbers as their fur is like that of the raccoon.

Macy's said it was removing the items to comply with its policy against selling any dog or cat fur.


more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6205093.stm


I'm a vegetarian. I don't use faux fur.

[kimi]

10. I'm reluctant to use any "faux" fur

some of it looks too real. And I don't want it out there that ANYONE supports the use of any fur, for any purpose other than, hey, covering your body if you live in the Arctic or Greenland or someplace. Even then . . .

I just don't see the point.

[unpossibles]

11. I don't mind faux although not crazy about it either

I actually do not like real fur except on my cat or dog or other place it belongs and is alive. Fur clothing always has some icky feeling about it, imo. Not sure what it is, perhaps the oils in the fur? Never liked it.

[Lisa0825]

12. Thanks for the input.

As far as faux fur not being faux, the supplier she is looking at using actually manufactures it, so they know 100% for sure that it is all legit (unlike the Macy's situation).

About "old fur," yes, the fur industry is trying to say that quality made furs can be passed down through the generations and therefore are "recyclable."

I'm pretty much undecided on faux fur. It's not a dead animal, but I do understand the argument about it indirectly promoting real fur.

I wouldn't despise someone for wearing it, the way I would real fur, but I am not sure it's totally guilt-free.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. I don't have a problem with it. Fur, real or faux, looks good, feels good, and is warm...

that's why it was always used. Now that we have alternatives, why not use them if they work the same way?

Even with real fur, if you eat meat, you have no real argument against fur from farm-raised animals like minks. No more than against leather shoes, pigskin footballs or horsehide baseballs. Yes, clubbing baby seals, leghold traps, and boiling live animals like they do in China are barbaric and unacceptable in modern times, but unless you forswear all uses of animals for food and benefit, arguing just against fur makes little sense.

[Lisa0825]

14. Well, in addition to the arguments about inhumane practices, my objection

is that animals shouldn't be used for their skin, and the rest wasted. I have less issue with leather, because it comes from animals who are used for food as well. But the thought of taking a pelt and discarding the rest just seems very wasteful to me.

[TreasonousBastard]

19. The "rest" of the mink isn't discarded, although...

it's fair to argue about how it's used. Admittedly, the first use of a mink isn't food, but then there are all those arguments out there that cows are not the most efficient food resource.

Mink farmers argue first that mink diets consist of a lot of expired cheese, eggs, and other products considered unfit for human consumption. Then, mink waste is used as fertilizer.

Other than the pelts, mink oil is rendered and the meat and byproducts are used for things from fertilizer to dog food, so the carcass is hardly wasted.

Just passing this along-- I don't really have much of a personal position in this one way or another and have no interest in fighting over it. I have never bought, sold, given or worn mink.

(Or beaver or seal, or any other fur for that matter, except I do have a rabbit fur hat I bought in a moment of weakness.)

[InvisibleTouch]

25. That's my take on it too.

I don't have a problem with leather, because it's a byproduct of food production - and as long as the animals are raised and killed humanely (and I realize that's a big "if" sometimes, and something we very much need to work on as a society), I don't have a problem with the natural food chain. Animals in nature kill each other for food. They *don't* kill each other to strip off one another's skin or scales in order to feed their egos.

[Deep13]

15. I don't have either.

My Sweetie would disown me if I had the real stuff. Not that I would anyway simply because it isn't very practical. I don't wear anything that requires refrigeration. I don't have anything against fake fur because I have no intention of harassing people who wear the real stuff. Still, I don't have any.

[hamsterjill]

16. Neither for me.

If someone wants to look chic or fashionable, in my opinion, there are many other ways to do it.

[Fleshdancer]

17. I personally have no problem with faux fur

I only have one thing with faux fur on it though and it's not going to fool anyone anytime soon (vintage trench with a faux fur collar).

[Roon]

18. My mother wears fur

coyote..rabbit...now she is gunning for a mink. I wouldn't wear fur even if i could afford it.Some people get very angry and verbal when they spot someone wearing fur. Besides, animals are for loving, not wearing. :-)

[lunamagica]

20. I love animals, and I like the look of fur. I'd never own

real fur, I don't see the trouble with faux. They are made of petrochemicals? So, if you own faux fur and take good care of it, can't it last as much, or maybe even more than the real thing?

Stella McCarthey is a big animal activist, and her activism plays a big role in her designs. She uses faux fur and faux leather. I imagine she's done plenty of research on the subject and she's an expert, so maybe the faux stuff isn't that bad to the environment?

[Lisa0825]

30. I did not know that about Stella! Interesting! :-) nt

[Hell Hath No Fury]

23. I love faux fur --

and have worn it, including the stuff that looks really really real. I find it very warm, comforting, and I don't think there is much wrong with having one or two really good pieces of it in your wardrobe. No animals were harmed and it can be passed down as well.

[InvisibleTouch]

24. I'm tremendously against real fur as "fashion"...

...but I love faux fur, especially when it's colored in such a way that you can tell it's not the real thing (even if it feels almost identical to the real thing). Fluffy purple-spotted snow-leopard-looking faux coat would be perfect for me. My only concern is that if it looks too real, people who see it may like it so much they go out and buy real fur. Thus my fondness for far-out colors.

My mom has several heirloom fur coats, passed down from elderly relatives. Her rationalization for wearing them is that those animals were killed decades ago, the coats already exist, she didn't buy them so she didn't financially support the industry herself, the coats are in her closet, so she might as well wear them. I always point out that she may be planting the seed of desire for such a thing in someone else, and thus propagating the bloody industry. I won't walk with her in public when she's wearing the damn things.

[kimi]

28. Yeah, my mom too

And she makes a point of telling me that she's leaving her big old mink coat to me when she passes. Beyond the fact that I don't like to think of THAT point, I really don't think I'll ever actually wear the damn thing, it gives me the heebie-jeebies. What does a vegetarian do with a mink coat?? :shrug:

I guess I could give it to the cats as a bed-liner. I just won't ever wear it, that's all.

[bigwillq]

26. I think fur is tacky

whether it's faux or not.

[flvegan]

27. DU's crankiest vegan checking in...

I have nothing to say against faux fur. I don't like it, but so long as it is truly faux (*ahem* China) I can't state that someone shouldn't wear it. No animals were directly harmed, and since I eat faux bacon, I'd feel just a bit hypocritical.

As for real fur...with the information available today, I'd question the character of someone that chose to buy and wear fur. Inuit, inheritance, charity all aside.

[EternalOptimist01]

29. Nothing wrong with it

There's nothing wrong with wearing fake fur. I prefer it.

[hippywife]

31. Not interested in either one, actually. n/t

[Moondog]

32. Not in favor of either. n/t

[Bennyboy]

33. I have a full length white faux fur coat.

and hat. Makes people laugh and girls can't keep their hands of of it.