Lyn, Monkey Fur Street Style
When I take a really great street-style photo, usually one of two things happens. I either rush to put it up within the next week or I set it aside for a really amazing post. Normally it’s the latter, which is what happened with this photo. Aside from Lyn’s natural beauty and a stunning Wicker Park background, the best part about this image is her authentic vintage monkey fur vest from the early 20th century.
When I complimented her on her extraordinary goat fur vest, she hestiated for a moment. Then she told me that it was in fact monkey. I first felt a strong wave of digust. For a split-second I considered yelling “people are skinning monkeys now!!? What the hell!?” but then I realized that was probably (and indeed is) vintage fur. I try to keep an open mind and stay positive around my subjects so when I pried a little further, she told me that she had purchased it from a reputable vintage seller. I held onto this picture for a while, not knowing how I would position it. It’s an incredible vest and looks amazing. Then I saw the Refinery29 boot/fur ethics story this morning and it got me thinking.
Is wearing vintage exotic furs ethical? I mean, the animal has been dead for a long time and not wearing the fur isn’t going to bring them back. It’s almost a waste to not wear the fur… which is sad. I own a Mongolian lambswool fur coat which is leather-free and gathered by shaving (not killing) the animal, but I would considering owning other vintage furs too if I could afford it. I don’t know, I mean the more I thought about Lyn’s monkey fur vest the less angry I felt. I feel bad that monkey died decades ago but no amount of self-righteous pontificating is going to bring it back. And is owning a monkey fur garment really that different from owning a mink fur coat? Is all fur equally bad? What do you think?
Bottom line: monkey fur or not, Lyn looks amazing in her outfit!
Great post! In the case of vintage fur, I agree there's really nothing you can do about an animal that was skinned decades ago, so I guess it's an issue of whether or not one wants to pay homage to something that many people feel is a cruel industry.
Personally, I don't know why having a mink coat is any different than having a cat or dog coat. Either skinning animals for garments is cool, or it's not. It's the picking/choosing that doesn't make sense to me.
I do think fur is aesthetically stunning and beautiful, but don't like my garments to cost a life:)
Super cool!
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Your blog is always an awesome read, but since you asked the question, I had to answer. 🙂
The truth is, whether you wear new OR vintage fur for fashion, it is still promoting the idea that wearing animal fur is trendy, fabulous, luxurious- whatever… but what people forget (or rather, many choose to ignore to spare them of unhappy thoughts, oh pity them..) is this is a commodity that was obtained through the hunting or torturous lifelong confinement and subsequent violent murder of defenseless animals who actually need their fur to LIVE (not just to look FAB) and who is then skinned, sometimes still alive, then discarded to be forgotten forever. The glorification of this commodity by wearing any fur piece is silencing the fact that an animal who very much wanted to live once died a terrible death (and no, they don't humanly put down these animals people.) so that someone could make some money off of them, all to end with a woman walking around thinking she looks so very stylish.
Yes, it is too late to save that one (or more likely, several) animal that died for that vest, but you can choose to save or condemn the hundreds of thousands more that will die this year because of a trend that you are helping perpetuate by wearing your "vintage" fur.
If you choose to wear fur, that's your decision, just don't try to make yourself feel better by insisting it is vintage, lest we forget that what you are promoting by wearing any animals' fur is their reckless, selfish, and terrible murder for fashion.
Please ladies, there are SO many other ways you can and do look fabulous. You don't need it to survive…they do. Skip the fur.