Fashion Forum

i somehow dont think a shot to the head with a bolt is a nice way to die (hey thats what they do to cattle for beef)... or being stuck in boiling water (often used for chickens).. but to each their own...

Post by Daniel
So the problem is how they're killed, not that they are? Thus the debate should be about how people source ethical fur, not about wearing fur at all.

for me it's about how it's sourced and the treatment of the animal.

for others it might be the fact that the animal was killed (and it is the issue for many). it's a personal choice that people should make for themselves. I've made my choice and am fine with it and I'm happy with the choices that other people make too.

what I'm not happy with is people vandalizing expensive garments because somebody has made a different choice than theirs. but that's not the topic here.

Post by ruru
i somehow dont think a shot to the head with a bolt is a nice way to die (hey thats what they do to cattle for beef)... or being stuck in boiling water (often used for chickens).. but to each their own...

the hydraulic bolt is chosen because it's instant and painless.

as for boiling water for chickens it's plain untrue. chickens necks are either broken (immediate death) or they're stunned and then bled while unconscious (also painless). the boiling water is to loosen the skin to make for easy removal of feathers.



as you said though. each to their own. if you can't condone the most humane methods available then perhaps fur isn't the right choice for you. more power to you if you can decide to live without it.

In our rush to avoid using real fur and instead use fake, most of us have unknowingly missed an important point, says Joanne Goodman, senior lecturer at Hertford State University of Science. Fake fur is made of non-biodegradable synthetics like acrylic, nylon and polyester. These are harmful, non-biodegradable and artificial substances that are dangerous to the environment,

There is also the Environmental Impact Report to answer to, which describes how faux fur is often made from natural resources such as earth oils that are limited in availability, whilst fur is an instantly renewable source. The report goes on to describe how the manufacture of fake fur, no matter which type of resource it is made from, acrylic or other, also releases harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. Even the factories and machinery required for the highly complex processes create, in effect, environmental pollution.

Furthermore, in a study entitled Environmental Consequences of Textile Marketing undertaken at Oregon State University, a broad range of textiles including wool, leather, fur, cotton, silk, linen, rayon, polyester, nylon and acrylic were evaluated across a number of environmental variables. For a textile to be considered compatible with the environment it had to be non-polluting to obtain, process, fabricate, maintain and dispose; the natural materials, such as fur, were found to be 100 per cent biodegradable, longer lasting, renewable, reusable, non-toxic and energy efficient, with fake substances failing in most categories, most notably fake fur for the waste created in its production. Fur outperformed all other textiles in environmentally friendly tests.
failing the environment

According to the Fur Commission, a non-profit association representing over 600 mink farmers in the United States, half the emissions of greenhouse gases come from acrylic and nylon manufacturing and polyester is made from oil-based petrochemicals the production of all three create chemical run-off that pollutes our oceans, rivers and water table.

excerpts taken from Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and www.goodlivingdubai.com/furfake.html

My personal stance: so long as the animal is used in it's whole and not an endangered species (if we're going to get up in a huff about using fur for fashion without knowing the facts), perhaps it is the better option than using non-renewable resources - lesser of 2 evils, perhaps?

Courtenay has struck the crux of the matter.

There is a brand of faux fur out there that has considerably reduced the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in production, but point is, it still creates problems. The amount of material needed to create one square metre of fake fur is huge compared to a flat fabric with little or no pile.

Personally, I've dabbled in a tiny little bit of designing myself and have been nuts about the fur-trim thing for a couple of years, I can't imagine my three coat or cape designs without them... But, the idea of raising an animal just to kill it for it's fur, appalls me on some deep inner level. I can justify rabbit fur and fox fur a little in the magical land of Aus, because they are pests and cause huge ecological problems. Problem is, most wild animals wouldn't produce the quality of fur demanded by most designers and therefore probably would not be used. I'm more comfortable with the idea of using a small amount of fake fur on my stuff, unless it can be garrunteed that the pelts come from animals that needed to be removed for the sake of the environment.

And on that note, excess is the major problem with fur and fake fur: There is such a thing as too much fur and a full length coat makes you look like you're trying to make it through a Russian winter or a pimp flashing his/her money. It's differant if you're living in caribou territory, isolated and the pelt of a wolf, wolverine or caribou means living or dying. At least then, being dressed head to toe in fur makes sense.

Another thing to remember, and I try to remind myself of this everytime I get all fashion-y, fashion is a wasteful industry. Anything that involves an ideal of what it is to be fashionable always has been and always will be to some degree. The least we can all do is recycle as much as possible, make environmentally conscious decisions, reduce pain and suffering and watch that tendency to do everything in excess.

for me the main part of the environmental aspect is the plastics used for the creation of substitute furs and leathers.

it takes about one liter of petroleum to make one polyester shirt. with finite oil reserves these materials aren't sustainable and not renewable.

farming has its own host of downsides too but faux fur won't last forever

I my self have alot of fur and they are real so does my mom. But i bought mine about 2 years ago when I was 14 and my mom bought hers long ago I wasn't born yet. Though I or her don't wear it. We really hate and are against fur. I am also against fake fur because it looks like realy fur so it's saying to people go wear a animal. Since I am a animal lover I just can't. I wont buy fake or real fur now or even wear my old fakes a real ones.