Sunday, December 14, 2008

Animal Magnetism

If fur is not your thing, then best to skip this post...

On Friday, I went back to Club Monaco (that sale of sales is being sporadically reintroduced and the prices are so crazily good I have been on the hunt). More to come on that soon...

But speaking of being on the hunt: While "not looking", I found this tremendously, fantastically, unbelievably sexy fur vest at Rudsak.




I won't lie, I've had my eye on it for a while. Like in a "there is no way I will buy this decadent thing but I bet it would look great on" kind of way. But when the price went down by 30% - and everything but XS had sold - I decided it was time to pounce, or lose. Having recently passed on a full length, perfectly fitting vintage mink - in mint condition - because I didn't feel like paying a totally reasonable $150.00, I really didn't feel like this one should get away.

(OK, enough with the animal puns...)

Within 5 minutes I thought of 16 ways to wear this with everything, turning it into the most practical garment in my closet. Did I mention it makes me feel like Stevie Nicks in the good days? Or that people everywhere have been asking me to try it on? Or that it's blissfully warm - and slim - under everything?

I haven't made such a thrilling purchase in a long time. I can tell this thing will long outlast the "fur vest" trend for me.

Amusingly, the SA advised with the slightest undertone of pinch - when I commented I was surprised (frankly) that fur had sold so well in Rudsak's demography - that apparently "Americans have been buying them". Hilarious. I mean, if he'd said that Russians or Scandinavians or, hell, residents of northern Quebec were snapping them up - well, that would seem plausible. But now I have this vision of hoards of chilly, chic Americans at customs explaining to the guards that they've been visiting to cash in on the great fur vest deal happening in TO this week. There's nothing like openly judging your client base for wearing merch you sell. Especially if it allows you to get out a bit of cross-cultural prejudice!

18 comments:

  1. I love this: "There's nothing like openly judging your client base for wearing merch you sell."

    Really. Maybe they're not selling it here. I haven't been in, so I don't know.

    Anyway, I'm sure it'll be fab on you, everything always is! :D

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  2. I love fur…. I’m into the fur trend very much.
    But I’m also a vegetarian and I sometimes see myself with some fights inner me about animal skin. Furthermore I’m vegetarian with a philosophy of life…
    What I buy now is faux fur, because there are some great faux furs that almost seem real. Also try to wear faux leather.
    But I’m not fundamentalist, what I’m against is the way animals are treated and what they do with them and the way they suffer just to take their skin. Vintage fur is something that don’t shock me because it wasn’t that massive killing. Also we have to see the conditions, for instance at Alaska people need to be warm, so they had no other solution than kill animals to dress, but they also ate their meat. It wasn’t such an umproposed thing.

    Anyway your fur vest is to die for and I'm soooooooooo sure you will look stunning in everyway you would wear it.

    (I think I'm infected, darling. The holiday spirit is starting to touch me a bit ;) )

    xoxo

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  3. haha i am still in giggles from your post below... hehe KLine.. that was sooooo funny, but loving the fur, you could pair this vest with so many, brown suede pants.. they are calling your name..

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  4. Please watch the filn "The Witness" before you wear fur again.

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  5. I'd love a fur Kruschev hat, but I live so far South that I would only get to wear it once a century.

    The only animal protein that is comfortable enough to wear here is silk and occasionally very light wool.

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  6. Fur with just a touch of salesperson attitude! LOL.

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  7. It's GLORIOUS. Hope we'll be seeing some of those outfits you've built around it ...

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  8. I like this. I've also seen some gorgeous short curly fur vests out there . . .

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  9. Hey All: Just want to start the comment replies by saying that I appreciate we all have different feelings about wearing fur. It is never my intention to upset anyone - least of all my much loved readers and commenters.

    E: I do feel fabulous wearing the thing, and if that has anything to do with looking good then I'm on the right track :-)

    Seeker: Great points about how to work the trends without getting into a moral quandry! For what it's worth, this is the first "new" fur I've ever bought and it's not something I would do on a regular basis (not that I'm so opposed that I didn't do it). I do prefer vintage for so many reasons. Not least of which is that it doesn't harm animals anew. There is a new code (can't remember the name right now) furriers are using to denote animals killed respectfully - of course, you've gotta be comfortable with the killing in order to feel ok about it.

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  10. GJ: That is animale-plus (said with Fr. accent!)

    Monkey: I've looked it up on the web and will try to find it at my video store. Thanks for caring about the treatment of animals and bringing this DVD to my attention.

    D.: No gloating allowed :-)

    Wendy: That's how we roll here!

    Sal: No doubt you'll see far too many, knowing me!

    Miss C: Oh, I know. The mongolian style ones...

    Hammie: So sorry to have offended you - other fabrics to come! Promise.

    Maegan: So nice to see your comment. I've been loving your blog, btw, which I've just recently discovered.

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  11. LOVE love love it.
    I let go a similar fur vest, backed in chocolate brown leather, a couple of years ago and I still regret it!

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  12. I want that fur.. real or not I do like fur..

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  13. Ooh, this looks amazing! So warm...

    I am looking for a (real) fur collar at th the moment, having decided that yes, I can do it – not so much for my own bad feelings but because I am a teeny bit scared of other peoples – strangers – reactions...

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  14. Janet: I really do love this thing. I've worn it practically daily since I bought it. The weather is so wretched and this fur keeps me absolutely toasty for my 2 hours of daily walking to and from work. Well worth it, for me!

    Songy: Might be hard for you to get maximum use out of. It does stay pretty warm all the time in Perth, yes?

    Esme: I will say it takes some guts (no pun intended) because people may well judge. I have owned a number of fur items over the years (all of which I wear regularly all winter). Even though I have actual coats and scarves and hats in fur, for some reason this vest (a very practical 3 season item) is garnering a lot of questionable feedback. I'm mindful of it but I don't let it stop me...

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  15. Loves it!

    It's the middle of summer and I'm wrapped head-to-toe in fur from all manner of near extinct animals.

    But it was the last two lines that stopped me dead in my tracks " There's nothing like openly judging your client base for wearing merch you sell. Especially if it allows you to get out a bit of cross-cultural prejudice!" BRILLIANT!

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  16. Hopefully those animals aren't too fluffy or that heatwave is going to kill you! :-)

    Thanks for appreciating that last line. I really liked it too. So glad to know it worked for you!

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