Friday Fur - Chanel, 1934

Leave it to Coco.  Here she takes a simple brown wool coat and turns it into a face framing beauty with a huge sable fur collar and matching trim at the sleeve cuffs.  Even the little hat is sable.  Photo from 1934.  By the way, if you've been looking for a sable hat, we've got one for sale at Couture Allure.  Check it out!

Friday Fur - Maggy Rouff, 1953

I've been puzzling over the construction of this white mink jacket? stole? for the last couple of hours.  Designed by Maggy Rouff in 1953, I think this is is a jacket with splits in the sleeves at the elbows so it looks like you're holding a separate muff.  But it could certainly be a separate muff.  What's your theory?

Friday Fur - Chombert, 1969

In 1969, world famous French furrier Henri Chombert created this red, white and blue patchwork cape in sheared rabbit fur. 

Outrageous Furs, 1964

I am a firm believer that if you chose to wear fur, you should always chose vintage. That keeps coats and stoles already in existence out of our landfills and at the same time doesn't support the unneeded slaughter of today's animals for fashion. In showing images of vintage furs on this blog, I hope to inspire you and show you how beautiful they can be for the modern woman. These outrageous and unusual furs are all from 1964.

Ankle length Saga mink fur coat worn with a matching fur hood by Adolfo. Booties by Herbert Levine.

Saga Norwegian blue fox tunic worn over gray satin stretch pants. Silver sequined boots by Herbert Levine.

Revillon mink lounge dress for at-home wear.

Eric Lund gray squirrel fur tunic dress.

A long, long stole made from varying colors of Emba mink fur pelts worn over a silk chiffon gown by Hannah Troy.

That Touch of Mink

I love these ideas from 1949 for wearing just a touch of mink. At a time when most women wore stoles of the entire mink pelt, including the heads, feet, and tails, these fur scarves are a refreshing change of pace.

If you have a damaged fur coat or stole and don't know what to do with it, making a scarf like this can preserve at least some of the pelts. If you prefer not to wear real fur, there are lots of high quality faux fur fabrics on the market.

Even the narrowest length of fur can be tied in a jaunty bow at the neck. Fun!