fur

20 Vintage Fur Adverts You Wouldn’t See Today

20 Vintage Fur Adverts You Wouldn’t See Today

You don’t see fur adverts much these days (or at least I haven’t come across many) but basically fur advertising hasn’t changed much since this type of ad (above) from the 1960s. Why she’s holding a lit cigarette lighter that close to her flammable fur coat I have no idea… Anyway, by now you probably(…)

Silent movie star Bebe Daniels

Silent movie star Bebe Daniels

The stunning 1920s silent movie star Bebe Daniels in a signed publicity photograph. She looks like she’s wearing a velvet coat with fur trim – very chic! If you fancy seeing her in action here she is in the 1918 movie Two Gun Gussie with Harold Lloyd.

50 Fabulous Vintage Coats

50 Fabulous Vintage Coats

Oh my, it’s definitely getting colder out there. The nights have drawn in and Christmas lights are starting to spring up all over the place (my next door neighbours back garden looks like a plastic Santa’s grotto – they’ve been out there all morning hanging it all up!).  It’s definitely time to wrap up warm(…)

Mary Pickford wearing THE most amazing gloves

Mary Pickford wearing THE most amazing gloves

Mary Pickford wearing THE most amazing gloves in a publicity photo from the 1931 movie Kiki. I fell in love with gloves like these when I saw a lady wearing them (number 18) at Goodwood Revival last year and never thought I’d see another pair! Aren’t they amazing? If anyone knows where I can get(…)

Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo smouldering in a publicity photo from 1930, the year she moved from silent movies into talkies. Her first talking movie was advertised to the slogan ‘Garbo Talks!’ Ha ha! Give that publicity man a cigar… Her first talking line in a movie was “Gimme a whiskey, ginger ale on the side, and don’t(…)

Goldie Hawn trick or treating

Goldie Hawn trick or treating

I know, I know! It’s WAY to early to be posting Halloween-themed photos but I couldn’t resist. It’s a month until Halloween and I’m very excited (especially because of my Harry Potter party) so I thought I’d share this great photo of Goldie Hawn and Ruth Buzzi from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in, 1968. What are(…)

Strange vintage trends: fox furs

Strange vintage trends: fox furs

You know my feelings about real fur by now, and if you’ve somehow missed that you can read about it here. I have to remind myself though that the past was a very different place, where wearing fur was aspirational and fashionable and the ethics of it weren’t questioned at all. One thing I still(…)

Is it OK to wear vintage fur?

Is it OK to wear vintage fur?

Is it morally acceptable to buy and wear real fur just because it’s vintage? This is a question I’ve asked myself quite a lot recently without really coming to a conclusion. To set the record straight, I feel strongly that wearing real fur is un-acceptable. I can’t conceive of any situation where it would be(…)

1920s Eskimo family portrait

1920s Eskimo family portrait

Isn’t this the most beautiful family portrait? A photo of an Eskimo mother, father, and son, photographed in Noatak, Alaska, by Edward Sheriff Curtis circa 1929.

Coco Chanel swathed in a big fur coat, 1920s

Coco Chanel swathed in a big fur coat, 1920s

Coco Chanel wrapped up in a big fur coat sometime in the 1920s. The photo looks like it might have been taken at a racecourse I think…? The gentleman accompanying her is Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster.

Marlene Dietrich with one of the first manicures

Marlene Dietrich with one of the first manicures

Marlene Dietrich photographed during the 1930s. It’s nice to see a photo of her in a day outfit rather than a vampy evening dress. Her manicure would have been quite a new thing too, as nail polish was only invented in the 1930s and started with by the kind of manicure you can see here(…)

Naked girl a box of rabbit fur, 1920s

Naked girl a box of rabbit fur, 1920s

I’m not entirely sure why there is a naked girl in this box of rabbit fur. Do you think it was a promotional photo, or is she just a girl who likes feeling fur against her naked skin and got snapped in the process..? I prefer to think it’s the second option 🙂

A very stylish outfit from 1912

A very stylish outfit from 1912

Parisienne vintage winter fashion from 1912: A ladies walking costume consisting of a slender cut dress and a coat done up diagonally, trimmed with a fur collar and cuffs. Isn’t this stylish? I had no idea that pre-1920s fashion was this chic, I thought it was all bustles and corsets!

An enigmatic 1960s portrait with baggy fishnets

I have a real fascination for portraits of unknown people. Like the forgotten beauties from a few days ago the only thing known about this woman is when and where she was photographed. The photo was taken by American photographer James Jowers in Washington Sq Park in 1968, but nothing is known about the subject(…)

1930s fur advert

1930s fur advert

1930s Dutch advert for fur coats from 1938. Which is your favourite style?

1920s fur coat adverts, which make me a bit uncomfortable!

1920s fur coat adverts, which make me a bit uncomfortable!

I’m sure you all know by now that I’m very anti-real-fur, so I constantly find it strange to see vintage adverts for fur when it was seen as something desirable and, well, socially acceptable! These adverts for furs are both from the 1920s. I just don’t think you’d get adverts for fur coats any more(…)

Britt Ekland looking a bit wierd, 1980s

Britt Ekland looking a bit wierd, 1980s

Is it just me or is this a bit of a strange photo of Britt Ekland? She’s so naturally beautiful, and yet what she’s wearing seems to do nothing for her at all – the fur hat, the ringlets, that pinky red lipstick…?!  The photo was taken on Hampstead Heath in London in 1986. What(…)