Monday, October 19, 2009

Furbags?

Since I live in an upstate town with limited shopping, I lead a very sheltered existence with respect to fashion. I was really not prepared for the wild and bizarre offerings in the purse department of the TJ Maxx in Boston.



New to me was the idea of a bag made from fur, a furbag if you will. The name alone should have tipped designers off that it was a bad idea. Fur hats, coats, and so on at least have the purpose of keeping someone warm. What do people want to keep warm in their purses? (The one below was also poorly constructed, and all bunched up.)


Even though they were at TJ Maxx, the furbags were expensive, like five or six hundred bucks-----down from initial prices like $900. Given that the purses were even at TJ Maxx, I suppose that people have cast their dollar votes, and the furbags lost.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't understand this "trend" as well or the continued need for fur that isn't man-made especially considering how the making and quality of synthetic materials for warmth and "fashion" has evolved.

kerfuffler said...

I have mixed feelings about the whole fur thing. I wear leather and eat meat, so I feel like I am being inconsistent if I say that using fur is somehow inherently off limits.

Certainly clubbing baby seals is unacceptable. But using the pelts of muskrats, rabbits or beavers does not seem necessarily off limits-----as long as the animal populations are not endangered I suppose.

I don't plan to buy a fur coat ever, but I think we may be judging fur wearers too harshly. As long as it is for warmth and comfort, not a status symbol.

Unknown said...

I am against fur because we are wasteful. If we hunted rather than bred, ate and used as much of the animal as possible that would be one thing, but I don't know many people who eat mink, chinchilla or even fox..but if you hunt and eat seal, deer, moose or rabbit well then...

kerfuffler said...

Many years ago I experienced just how soft beaver fur is after being sheared and could not help but think it would be nice to have a small scarf like item or a shawl collar made from it. But full size coats do seem excessively extravagant and wasteful.

djinn said...

I confess, I like fur. I even have a sheepskin bag, fur on, bought from a perfectly preserved French woman who told me that she purchased it 60 years ago from the shepherd who made it. I also have other fur items. Ahem. Please don't pour paint on them.

My daughter apple blossom also loves (thrift-store) fur. When she was vegitarian and called on it, she used to say:

"I don't eat animals, I just wear them."

I love her.

Steve said...

These have yet reached Washington, DC, thank god! haha.

I don't really like fur, but kerfuffler is right, if all of us that eat it, that means there are lots of non-edible parts wasted. Turning that into clothing or other uses seems to make the most sense. If you go to a true cold region, like Scandanavia or Russia, EVERYONE has a fur coat and it looks fantastic.