"Ok, so the point is, RATS have FUR, and furriers can make any fur look like..." - (some guy talking on his cell on Michigan Ave near the Tribune building).
I really wish I had stayed to hear the rest of that sentence.
I really wish I had stayed to hear the rest of that sentence.
(Gareth Pugh's Rat Coat, W Magazine)
FYI: The guy saying this may or may not have been talking on his phone. I just assumed he was on an earpiece, but Teryn was convinced he was talking to himself (i.e. crazy man). He was wearing a trench coat and walking funny...
Hearing that guy gave me pause and I simultaneously thought:
a) Note to self, be careful when purchasing fur that it is not rat!, and
b) ... wait, why would I be buying fur?!
Before those who know me cry "hypocrite", let me first confess. There may be a few scraps of fur lying around my closet, and by scraps I mean a beaver jacket and a mink stole, both of which were thrift store finds, not that it makes them any less "fur" or me less guilt ridden.
Gareth Pugh's "Rat Coat", pictured above, debuted in 2007 and was called "the most subversive anti-fur protest we have ever seen", by Fashionista.com. I agree it is both subversive and darkly humorous, but will the targeted audience be swayed by this kind of statement? I'm not sure those ladies get this type of humor ;). (Read full article here: http://fashionista.com/2007/11/gareth_pughs_rat_coat_an_essay.php).
I have in the past tried to rationalize ownership of things like this by saying that they were vintage and died long ago for someone else, but it is a lame attempt I admit. I have to own up to the fact that even buying them from thrift or wearing them in general perpetuates an industry based on violence borne against the very creatures I love so dearly.
Currently I have rationalized their presence in that they are part of a costume collection, but even that seems like a lame attempt to appease the Id driven cave woman in me that wants what she wants when she wants it. I guess my lesson to learn here is that some things (like boycotting Denny's or not smoking) are easy to give up in the name of politics and morals, and some things (like foie gras and fur), are very difficult.
Soon, my dearies, very soon, I will have to pry these treasures from my own greedy fists and make a drag queen somewhere very happy.
Hearing that guy gave me pause and I simultaneously thought:
a) Note to self, be careful when purchasing fur that it is not rat!, and
b) ... wait, why would I be buying fur?!
Before those who know me cry "hypocrite", let me first confess. There may be a few scraps of fur lying around my closet, and by scraps I mean a beaver jacket and a mink stole, both of which were thrift store finds, not that it makes them any less "fur" or me less guilt ridden.
Gareth Pugh's "Rat Coat", pictured above, debuted in 2007 and was called "the most subversive anti-fur protest we have ever seen", by Fashionista.com. I agree it is both subversive and darkly humorous, but will the targeted audience be swayed by this kind of statement? I'm not sure those ladies get this type of humor ;). (Read full article here: http://fashionista.com/2007/11/gareth_pughs_rat_coat_an_essay.php).
I have in the past tried to rationalize ownership of things like this by saying that they were vintage and died long ago for someone else, but it is a lame attempt I admit. I have to own up to the fact that even buying them from thrift or wearing them in general perpetuates an industry based on violence borne against the very creatures I love so dearly.
Currently I have rationalized their presence in that they are part of a costume collection, but even that seems like a lame attempt to appease the Id driven cave woman in me that wants what she wants when she wants it. I guess my lesson to learn here is that some things (like boycotting Denny's or not smoking) are easy to give up in the name of politics and morals, and some things (like foie gras and fur), are very difficult.
Soon, my dearies, very soon, I will have to pry these treasures from my own greedy fists and make a drag queen somewhere very happy.
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