You've Come a Long Way Baby - pt 2

In yesterday's post, I showed you some of the photos from the American Furrier magazines that I was pleased to save from certain death in a paper shredder.   Today I am going to share the controversial part(s) starting with this photo and the copy that goes with it.

"Aunt Ingrid is pretty.

Aunt Ingrid is pretty smart.

She set out to seek her

fortune in a little red

fleecy lamb jacket with a

cute little hood on it.  Today

she came back in this bog

scrumptious Saga mink

(the kind that comes from

Scandinavia), with a 

Ben Kahn label in it (the

kind that comes from New

York).  I know, because when Mamma sent me out of the room, I sneaked into the closet and into the mink, and took a good look around.  It was delicious.  Anyway, being out of the room just then, I never did hear the middle of Aunt Ingrid's adventure.  Except that somewhere between the lamb and the mink, I believe she met up with a Mr. Wolf.  And that's no fairy story.  That's a Saga"

SAGA - The more sumptuous mink from Denmark, Finland, Norway

It is a full page ad on the inside back cover, and it caught my eye because "Ingrid" seems like quite a young woman to be wearing such a large fur coat.  In my mind set, large fur coats were for the 55+ age group, but maybe they bought them when they were 20 and just wore them that long.  I doubt it.

This ad makes me recoil for a number of reasons beginning with the little girl's admiration of her auntie because she is able to shag snag a mink buying husband.  I guess those were the times?  A young woman seeking her fortune was required to gussy up in the best fur she could afford to attract a man who could afford to keep her.  That's woman smarts according to this ad. sad.  

Secondly, the loving family knew enough to send the little girl out of the room when trampy Aunt Ingrid, who earlier had run off with a large amount of money and a small car from her responsible, and reliable older sister, announces she's gotten hitched and is now Mrs. Ingrid Wolf.  None the less they have instilled enough snobbishness in their offspring, that a designer label is impressive to a primary school-er.  Am I reading too much into it?

Wonder how the story turned out?  Still... I like the coat.

Yes it does say "Somali Leopard"

Now let's have a look at some more designs that thrilled the pretty and smart ladies of 1960's.

Here is a knee length swing coat that I think is a really versatile piece in a wardrobe.  It is long enough to be warm an full enough to fit over some of the fuller skirts that are popular for evening now.  Yet, just and chic over peg leg trousers, or with boots!  And the leopard print is a nice kick of style in a wardrobe that has a lot of black or khaki.  Wait.  No, that's,  oh, really, that is real leopard skin!  Sigh.

(Incidentally, I have pet a live leopard. 'Tis true.  At a mall where they had a petting zoo they had a leopard, the black on black kind.  I petted it and it was not the kind of fur you want to wear for a coat.   REALLY coarse.  Like a horses mane and tail.)

The model's expression is, "Endangered species?  Mr. Wolf, they say my coat is an endangered species.  But that can't be right, because I have several more of them at home!"

I have to admit that it was a bit of a shock thinking of an "animal print" originating from the actual hide of the animal.  Embarrassingly naive I know, but really, would you wear a fake leopard coat now that you know people were prancing about wearing the hides of several leopards on their backs.  

I am being a hypocrite because I have no problem with wearing rabbit, wolf, coyote, raccoon, fox, mink for that matter.  These are furs from closer to my neck of the woods.  And most, are cute only in small, manageable numbers, but given half the chance their population will balloon and then you are over-run with pests.  Coyotes eat your livestock, raccoon's eat your garbage, foxes aren't too bad because they hunt rodents,  but if they ever discover that you keep your dog food in the pail outside the garage you'll never keep them out of it.  Mink?  Can't say I've ever run into a mink in regular life.  Rabbit's eat the bark off the trees in winter when the snow is deep, and wolves really scare my darling, incredibly manly husband.

A quick bit of research indicates that leopards are in fact of Near Threatened status which is between ok and pretty good on the numeric scale. 

Arctic Seal - a Canadian classic

The last two are slightly less controversial because the hides they are made from come from animals which are harvested for meat.  One of them is really unusual so I am going to leave it for you to guess in the comments.

Guess The Fur! - Name it in the Comments

As the runways and magazines show us that we are beginning to embrace the comfort and romance of fur again.  I hope that we can be more responsible with the fashion of fur, realizing there is more than a fad at stake here.

Tomorrow, I am going to show the pattern diagrams and technical information inside these magazine gems!  Sewing geeks look alive!