As we saw in January, by the mid-Victorian era – a time of growing conspicuous consumption – entire fur garments were high fashion for an affluent minority. By the 1880s, although full fur coats remained beyond popular reach, soft fur accessories including hats, muffs and neck-warmers became more affordable. For these small items, the whole animal skin including the head, paws and tail, was admired, starting a decorative trend that was condemned by some, like the Young Ladies Journal, which protested against the wearing of ‘cats’ heads, tiny monkeys and large perroquets upon one’s bonnet’.

By the late 1800s, fashion’s insatiable demand for furs for self-adornment, alongside the spread of urban development and progressive devastation of many natural habitats, had created an acute global shortage of fur-bearing animals, some species like silver fox now seriously endangered. To maintain supplies, commercial fur farming was introduced: controlled breeding and rearing of prized fur-bearing animals in captivity on ranches and farms. Arctic and silver fox and mink farming were trialled in Canada and the USA in the late 1800s, the lucrative European fur farming industry developing in the 20th century.

During the golden Edwardian era, fur overtly symbolised elite fashion and status: never were luxurious Russian or Siberian sable, ermine and sealskin fur coats, stoles and wraps worn with such bravura by privileged women. Equally, moneyed gentlemen favoured full-length fur-lined coats with wide fur collars, an ostentatious image much associated with cigar-smoking, fur-bedecked financiers and impresarios. From the 1910s, cheaper furs like skunk, moleskin and musquash became more common winter dress items, entering the mass market. During WW1 well-paid female munitions factory workers reportedly treated themselves to full-length fur coats, surprising their returning menfolk. Between the wars well-dressed women throughout society all wished for a glamorous fur coat, or at least a coat trimmed with deep fur collar and cuffs. Fox fur was fashion’s favourite during the 1920s/1930s, when one or two fox skins were draped around the shoulders or fashioned into capes.

After WW2, luxury furs retained their prestige, a mink coat becoming the most desired female garment of the 1950s/1960s. Fake fur was, however, being developed, and from the late 1970s/1980s fur-wearing declined in enlightened countries, following fashion shifts and growing environmental concerns. Nonetheless, alarmingly, fur sales worldwide have soared again since the millennium, reflecting sharply rising disposable incomes in emerging countries like China and the predilection of certain celebrities. The continuing story of fur- wearing remains pertinent to key issues today, not least animal rights and biodiversity… {