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fashion
Fur style’s sake
Fur coats come in a variety
of cuts and sizes. Familiarising yourself with these choices is
an excellent way to dazzle your companions and match your
outerwear to different occasions,
writes Nilima Jani
 Let
us agree. Till the
recent prosperity struck India’s upper middle class, the
market for fur dress—especially that of the costly
ermine/sable furs—was limited, as one could wear it only in
the Himalayan hill resorts. But fur has always been considered
the peculiar attribute of women, a feminine article, ranking
with diamonds and point lace.
It was a fact
that in the Raj days, our maharanis were great connoisseurs of
fur ensembles, and maharani Sita Devi of Baroda was supposed to
be having dozens of sable fur coats, one of the apparel being
the fourth costliest in the world in 1947.
The world’s
fur couture is a market of excess of 350 leading international
designers working with fur in their collections. Recent
international sales of fur garments reached a value of $ 12.770
billion (Rs 5000 crore). But in today’s India, animal
protection leagues/associations with the leadership of Maneka
Gandhi are trying their best to ensure that no animal is killed
for fur.
We do have some
shops in elite localities of our country (like Yashwant shopping
centre of Delhi) where there are around five to seven shops
selling either just fur, or just leather or mix of both. These
shops are mainly for the high profile, rich tourists because
this mall like small markets has well-made airconditioned shops
which sell fur and leather-related goods, including coats and
neck pieces, which do not have any brand name on them. The
prices of these coats range from a mere Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 to
a massive Rs 2 lakh. There are more expensive coats if the
customer is really interested.
But with an
estimated number of eight million Indians travelling to western
countries and to free ports all over the world, if you want to
buy a really good fur coat you can do so at a reasonable price
at duty free shops in airports.
But ensure
that, in whichever country you are buying your fur coat, the
particular shop is authorised to sell these valuables by the
International Fur Trade Federation, which acts to regulate
commercial trade in products of threatened or endangered
species. The receipt for this purchase will save your fur coat
from confiscation in countries like USA and Switzerland, which
are very strict about the embargo of fur dresses from banned
sources.
Women’s fur
coats come in a variety of cuts and sizes. Familiarising
yourself with these choices is an excellent way to protect your
pocket book, dazzle your companions and match your outerwear to
different occasions. Sable-type fur coats are wearable in a host
of circumstances. Persian lamb, broadtail and shearing coats
tend to offer dark, neutral colours which provide universal
appeal. Lynx, fox and mink fur tend to look better on blond and
fair-skinned women. Chinchilla coats yield a bluish tinge, which
need careful matching. Black mink coats and certain coats made
from fox fur match a brunette look. As a rule of thumb, it’s a
good idea to get a fur coat that matches your body type and
figure.
The most
popular of all furs sold is the mink, which accounts for 70 per
cent of the sales. A handsome mink robe can be bought silk-lined
for about $700 (Rs 28,000) but this will not be of the very
finest skins. For Russian ladies fur coats are what kanjeevarams
are to our elite fair sex socialites, and in Russia you can get
magnificent fur coats from $ 5000 to $ 50,000.
Taking care of fur coats is
really a problem in tropical/rainy parts of India. Actually, in
western countries, the affluent rent fur vaults like bank safe
deposit vaults, specifically designed to protect the lasting
quality of a fur garment, and offer temperature, humidity and
light-controlled environments. Air exchange is carefully
regulated with temperatures kept below 50 degrees Fahrenheit and
a constant humidity level of 50 per cent. No closet in your home
can duplicate these conditions adequately.— MF
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