Fur on Men

[Briscoeteque]

So what do you fellas think about a fur lined coat on a man? Wool on the outside, fur collar and fur lining. I ask because I live in Maine, and am having trouble finding classic alternatives to the big puffy down numbers everyone else wears. However, is fur just too feminine? I like the look, but don't know if it can really be pulled off any more, and it definately seems more like a top-hat type thing.

 

[shindeco]

I suspect it would depend heavily on the tailoring. I think a well tailored coat with a fur lining would be not that different from a regular coat: very sharp (and very warm).

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Fur can look good. But it can also come across as a bit too showy. Depends what fur you mean. Sheepskin, obviously, looks great on some jackets. Others can be a bit hit and miss.

And you'd be likely (rightly or wrongly) to get paint thrown at you if you stepped outside the US wearing it.

Or you'd risk ending up looking like my avatar ...

bk

 

[geo]

A fur-lined wool overcoat is a classic.

I've never understood the paint-throwing. They should instead throw black paint on all polyester, nylon, microfibre, etc. garnements, because they are produced by the oil and petrochemical industry, which is destroying whole species, not just a few sheep or foxes it takes to make a coat. Someone should explain to them that plastic comes from oil.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

A fur-lined wool overcoat is a classic.

I've never understood the paint-throwing. They should instead throw black paint on all polyester, nylon, microfibre, etc. garnements, because they are produced by the oil and petrochemical industry, which is destroying whole species, not just a few sheep or foxes it takes to make a coat. Someone should explain to them that plastic comes from oil.

Funnily enough so does the paint (or at least the solvent used to mix it). It's a petrochem conspiracy, i tells ya!

bk

 

[scotrace]

So what do you fellas think about a fur lined coat on a man? Wool on the outside, fur collar and fur lining. I ask because I live in Maine, and am having trouble finding classic alternatives to the big puffy down numbers everyone else wears. However, is fur just too feminine? I like the look, but don't know if it can really be pulled off any more, and it definately seems more like a top-hat type thing.

Glad you asked this - I'm also curious.
Aside from Raccoon coats or buffalo, when were these popular? What styles are seen? Could they be dressed upward or downward, say with calf gloves, silk scarf and homburg vs sheepskin gloves and a fedora?

If I could nail just the right one, I'd grab it in a heartbeat. I don't think they're feminine at ALL. But what IS the right one? Until you see exaples, who knows? They would also carry condition/funk issues unique to them.
Marc Chevalier? Anything in your endless treasure chest?

 

[Havana]

Wearing a tailored fur lined coat with a hombourg hat would be sharp.
In these sad times, wearing a long fur lined coat will probably get you plenty of "check out the pimp!" comments.

 

[Section10]

I live in a part of the country that has a lot of wintry weather, yet you rarely see men in fur. Truthfully, I've never given it a lot of thought. It doesn't seem like there'd be anything wrong with it; in fact, it may be a good idea.

 

[Naama]

(real)fur isn't good, on anyone who has less than 4 legs!

Naama

 

[Wolfmanjack]

A yearly event in this area (northern Midwest) is an antique sleigh rally. The drivers and passengers wear clothing appropriate to the age of their horse-driven sleighs. Many, male as well as female, are laden with fur. I assure you, the men do not look the least bit feminine.

Briscoeteque, I don't think you will risk looking feminine, but you may indeed look a bit 'in costume'. Then again, that is a risk we all take when we don a fedora.

Regards,

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Fur lined trench coats

Fur lined jean jacket

http://www.hicksfurs.com/hicksfurs/JeanJacket.gif

Fur lined trench coat

http://www.hicksfurs.com/Cat8.jpg

The site

http://www.hicksfurs.com/restyled.php

When I live around D.C. I saw alot of mens fur lined trench coats mostly seal or mink. The fur stores in D.C. always had mens trench coats made that way and they were very warm.

 

[geo]

(real)fur isn't good, on anyone who has less than 4 legs!

See my post above. Fake fur is made of oil and chemicals, which together are destroying an entire planet full of 4 legged creatures.

 

[Naama]

See my post above. Fake fur is made of oil and chemicals, which together are destroying an entire planet full of 4 legged creatures.

Well, then I'm happy to wear neither of them, I wouldn't want anyone to even think that I'm wearing fur. And by the way, do you know what they do to the animals? Can you look at pictures from fur farms?

Naama

 

[geo]

I haven't seen pictures from fur farms, chicken factories, or any animal processing industry. I've seen fish with 2 heads and frogs with 5 legs swimming in the Great Lakes, thanks to the chemical polution. My point is that people have to wear something, and animal farming is more environmentally sound than synthetic fibres. Fur is easy to protest against, because it comes directly off an animal's back. Plastic, however, is not as obvious, but a lot more damaging for the planet. People caring about the environment should be more concerned about polyester than about fur.

 

[SHARPETOYS]

Mens fur jackets

http://www.overland.com/mens/fur-coats/

 

[Ferragamo]

I was just in Nordstroms yesterday and they have a cashmere blend over coat that has a fur lapel. Its really nice. We have another small mens store here in Cleveland that carries this as well and I was thinking of buying one but I had a peak lapel cashmere over coat made and dont want to spend any more dough on over coats this year.

 

[Naama]

People caring about the environment should be more concerned about polyester than about fur.

Sorry, but I just don't think it's right to kill and to torture animals, sorry..........

Naama

 

[Briscoeteque]

I'm talking about one in particular, it's 30's, black wool and lined with brown mink. I figure, how can you really object to wearing something with old fur? The animal's been dead for eighty years, and I'm not contributing to the modern fur market at all.

And if not fur, what else besides synthetics can I wear outside in -5 degree weather?

I'd show it to you all, but due to recent rules, I cannot, (nor want more competitors)

That said, where I live no one really has paint on hand, though I expect if people really want to avenge two minks from 80 years ago by wrecking the property of a poor college student, they can go right ahead.

Though my Ushanka has yet to get painted on, though that's fake (doesn't look it though).

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I'm talking about one in particular, it's 30's, black wool and lined with brown mink. I figure, how can you really object to wearing something with old fur? The animal's been dead for eighty years, and I'm not contributing to the modern fur market at all.

That sounds like a nice jacket - and, incidentally, just the kind i thought you were talking about. My wife has a suit with a similar collar trim.

I agree on the fur thing, but i'm with Naama on new fur. It's really quite a nasty industry, and i wouldn't support it (i'm also against petrochemicals). I look at vintage fur this way: The animal has been dead for 80 years. What shows more respect for the animal? Wearing it, or throwing it on the skip? I'm for wearing it (well, not me personally: if it's not sheep, i hate the feeling of fur.). One of the biggest animal rights people i know has come around to this way of thinking.

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

If I could nail just the right one, I'd grab it in a heartbeat. I don't think they're feminine at ALL. But what IS the right one? Until you see exaples, who knows? They would also carry condition/funk issues unique to them.
Marc Chevalier? Anything in your endless treasure chest?

Scotrace, this raises a painful memory :cry: for me .

Near where I live, there is a Goodwill administration building. As you may know, Goodwill Industries has been operating thrift stores since the 1930s. What you may not know is that for all those years, it has been "cherry picking" certain clothing items -- usually the finest -- and putting them into its "permanent collection." The only time Goodwill shows this collection to the public is via "clothing through the decades" charity fashion shows which it puts on throughout the country. However ...

Back in 1993, the Goodwill Industries folks decided to have a one-time sale of hundreds of clothes from its "cherry picked" hoard. Apparently, they had stockpiled too much over the last 60 years. I went to the sale, which occupied the admin building's entire parking lot. What I saw was amazing. Incredible things! I was looking for items to sell, and ran into two 1920s opera coats for women: both in velvet, with Art Deco and Japanese gold and silver embroidery. One for $30, the other for $20. And I also saw ...

A six-button, double breasted herringbone overcoat from the 1930s, complete with a half-belt in the back. Made for Saks & Co., Fifth Avenue. It fit me perfectly. And here's the kicker: its peak lapels were covered in fur ... and the entire lining was fur. Nonetheless, the overcoat did not look bulky; in fact, it had the trim lines characteristic of '30s menswear. Condition, as far as I could tell, was perfect. The price? $150.

I didn't buy it. Why not? Because I lived in sunny California, and could not justify the "decadent luxury" of owning a coat I might never wear; because eBay did not yet exist, so I had no access to buyers in colder climes; and because the women's opera coats would be easier to sell. So I bought those and left the overcoat behind. Needless to say, SOMEONE ELSE got it.

That "decadent luxury" still pops up in my memory. What a coat. I'll probably never run into one like that again.