What To Look For In Furs

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30839, 26 August 1965, Page 2

What To Look For In Furs

The world’s fur buyers are now in Leningrad for the yearly Russian fur sales, to buy luxurious sable, squirrel, Persian lamb, bilch (doormouse) ermine, seal and, of course, mink. The luscious fur we will soon be trying to wheedle as a Christmas gift will probably be among their purchases, writes Stella Bruce from London. But the prizes they bring back look pretty horriblepiles of pelts turned inside out to protect the fur, and displaying a yellow, crinkled skin, hard and dry as cardboard.

To you and me they look identical—and disgusting. To the fur dealer, a member of what is claimed to be the oldest trade on earth, they are as different as chalk is from cheese. That is why he might pay 10s each for some and up to £6 for others. It is said that the true expert can look at a skin and place it to within 100 miles of its source of origin, be it

Russia, China or South West Africa. SILKY FUR What should we look for in a fur? First it should be dense, bright with lustre, and the hair should not come out —although this happens on the most expensive lynx or leopard coats. Make sure the fur is silky. As they get older, furs fade and have a tendency to turn red or yellow. One should also look opt for bent hair, or what the trade calls “singiness,” sometimes caused by excessive sun on the pelt, or by poor dressing or making up. Do not be afraid of dyed furs. Indeed dyeing has its advantages—it repels moths. Some furs, however expensive, are automatically dyed. STATUS SYMBOL Canadian squirrel in its natural state has a thick stripe of red, the natural colour of marmot is often a hideous yellow, and only a tiny proportion of ermine skins are anything as white as they are thought to be. Even Persian lamb, although naturally black, would look very dull and uneven if not dyed a pure black before being made up. A fur coat is still a status

symbol, and yet how few of our men know how to buy properly. More than half the money spent on fur clothing last year went. on garments costing less than £5O. “But don’t buy furs as an investment,” warns one leading furrier. “Buy them to wear. A coat never worn will still eventually wear out —the colour will fade, the natural oils dry up and the pelt ultimately become brittle. “If you put it in the bank or in the fridge, it will not—unlike jewellery—appreciate in value/’ Fur coats are made to be worn—not stuffed into cupboards—and look better if they are. In fact furs like being worn if the wearer is kind to them; the hair “comes up,” and glows in the daylight.

Most women want a mink coat. Eighty per cent of money spent annually on furs goes on mink—and more than 10,000,000 pelts a year now go to the auctions. Wild mink is still more expensive than the ranched variety though this is largely snob value; there is the minutest difference in terms of appearance or hard-wear-ing qualities. As a general rule, the darker the pelt the more it costs—although pale colours, especially pastel, are popular at the moment, in spite of their tendency to fade. There are also all kinds of exotic variations ranging from beige pearl, to “cameo,” a whitey-grey shade. The newest gimmick is a longhaired mink called “samisaga”—so thick you can bury your fingers in it.