Winters are just around the corner, which means that it is time for you to update your wardrobe. There’s no point in wearing layers of sweaters when you can wear a stylish fur coat. You don’t have to give up style for comfort. So, it’s time to buy your first real fur coat. You know that it will set you apart from the crowd and that it is a lifetime investment. So, how can you be sure that the coat you chose is made of real, high-quality fur?
Here are some important things to consider before you proceed with the purchase.
- Real or Fake?
Here are the differences between real and faux fur: .
- Real fur is very soft in comparison with fake.
- Real fur has labels that indicate where the pelt came from.
- Check inside the lining to feel the back of the fur.
- Real animal hairs taper to a fine point.
- Make the burn test. Remove a few hairs, hold them together and light them with a lighter. Burning animal hair smells like burning human hair. Fake fur, which is commonly made from acrylic or polyester, smells like melting plastic when burned.
To see what a real mink fur coat should look like, check here!
- Cropped or full skin coats.
In most cases, when a tailor makes a fur coat, only the best parts of the skin will be used, those with higher density and a softer feeling. Those parts are the back and the belly of the animal, while the legs, tail, head, and some damaged parts are removed. Furriers use these parts to make platers (squares from fur pieces), and they use the platers to make coats, vests, and jackets. So a fur coat made of whole skin is much more expensive and has higher quality material than a cropped one. You can recognize a cropped fur coat from the pattern, as the pieces are not symmetrical or identical to each other.
Here are two examples of cropped fur clothing.
- Quality and origin of the Pelts.
There are several kinds of fur types, the most common are mink, fox, chinchilla, sable, and lynx. The best quality pelts are sold in the certified fur auctions, NAFA in Canada, SAGA in Finland, ALC in the USA, KOPENHAGEN FUR in Europe, and SOJUZPUSHNINA in St. Petersburg. When you see one of these labels on your coat then you know that it has been made with a very good quality raw material.
These 5 famous fur auctions gather pelts from certified farms and sell them to the furriers. In every auction, there are several lots for the same fur type and color, because some farms produce better quality pelts than others. Every auction has its own system of labeling and uses several labels to identify every quality. For example, in mink pelts, Kopenhagen offers 4 qualities of pelts. The finest of the finest is the Purple Quality. The second, best is the Platinum Quality. The third is the Burgundy Quality and the Fourth quality is Ivory.
Mink: When a woman purchases her first fur coat, it’s almost always mink. Mink is officially the highest-selling fur worldwide, due to its lightweight, decadently soft texture, unique sheen and incredibly long life. Coats made of female skins (smaller, lighter and softer) are considered more desirable. Most recognizable in a rich, chocolate shade of dark brown, this fur varies vastly in price, from under $1K to well over $50K. Usually, the best quality mink pelts are sold in NAFA and in Kopenhagen Fur.
Sable: A sable fur coat is one of the most coveted on earth, revered for its silky pelt, which retains its smoothness regardless of which way it’s stroked. A demure jacket can start at around $4K, but a top-quality silvery coat can easily run into six figures, or upwards of $150K.
Chinchilla: Recognized for its glamorous slate blue-gray color, the chinchilla is about as prestigious as it gets. It’s extremely lightweight, yet bears the highest hair density of any animal, so no other fur is softer or warmer, or looks more lavish. Chinchilla is difficult to work with (one of the reasons it’s so expensive) and requires a lot of care. Prices range from $3K to $100K.
Fox: Fox, which comes in many natural colors, is found all over the world. Because of its long hair and distinctive coloring, its popularity depends on fashion trends, especially in the US. The best quality fox fur pelts are from the SAGA fur auction.
Lynx: Only limited amounts of lynx pelts are sold, which is the reason for their high price tag. In addition to having an exceptionally fluffy snow-white coat with subtle black spots. It is also the only long-haired fur that won’t shed. The belly of the pelt is usually whiter and has longer fur, and garments made only of belly fur are therefore more expensive than those made from whole pelts.
- Check inside the lining.
The best way to determine the quality of a fur coat and whether it is real or faux is to examine underneath the lining, checking the back of the fur itself. Sometimes there will be an opening in the lining at the end of the coat. Other coats have a zipper on the lining so you can see easily inside. Find a place in the lining where you can either see inside or at least feel the underside of the fur. It’s a fairly simple matter to open up a seam in the lining just an inch or so to feel the back of the fur. Genuine animal pelts will resemble smooth suede leather and are often sewn together in strips, sections, or pieces like a patchwork quilt.
- Labels.
We need to clarify that the absence of a label does not mean the fur is bad quality or fake. You can’t depend on the Fur Label Authority tag in every instance. If you want to be 100% sure of the quality and the origin of your fur, you need to search for the labels below.
- Brand label.
This label indicates the origin of the pelt. When the furriers buy pelts from auctions, they provide them with original labels of the particular auction, NAFA, SAGA, Kopenhagen fur, ALC, and SOJUZPUSHNINA. So if you see one of these labels, it means that the pelts are certified. In some cases, furriers use pelts from independent farms that are also of good quality. Every auction has its own system of labeling and uses several labels to identify every quality, as we explained above.
- Manufacturer’s country label. The fur associations of every country provide furriers with authority labels. For example, in the USA you will find the FLA tag. The best manufacturing countries are the USA, Canada, Greece, Denmark, and Italy. So, search for those labels.
Now you know exactly what to look for! Have a look at our premium real fur collection below!
