Consolation Prize

While I like going to Fashion Week, seeing the shows and experiencing the excitement of all the creativity in one place, it's very challenging for me as well. 

Even though fur usage declined, it is now back on the rise.  For some reason, people really think that fur is a good thing, although I'll never understand why?  All I see is vicious cruelty.  And I've been following along as many of the fashion pubs, brands and blogs jump onto Tumblr.  The bombardment of fur visuals from this week is hella depressing.

These images just make me sick.  Skinning an animal after keeping it in horrid conditions and then electrocuting it to death?  60 minks, 10-20 foxes or beavers, 30-50 raccoons, 6-10 seals, 110 squirrels or 130-200 chinchillas have to die for one fur coat! That's fashion!

I mean how can you look at this:

And not see that it was once this?  Yet so much lovelier and more wondrous:

I'm serious.  If you think wearing animal fur is okay, I don't want to know you. 

To cleanse my mind I had to go look for some cute shoes that are totally vegan and don't make me depressed as hell.

So, since I'm on a flats kick here are some sweet ballet flats from Beyond Skin and come in oodles of colors and are on sale!

I also popped by Cri de Coer because I'm loving cap-toe flats (in fact I'm wearing a cute faux patent tan and black pair from Gap right now).  Cri de Coer's are pricier but they are also on sale right now.

You can learn more about the horrors of the fur industry if you dare. 

Fur is easy to avoid, so let your favorite designers know that they should ignore the bribes of the fur industry and keep their clothes cruelty free.

SUCCESS!!!!

After trying for weeks and weeks to get some answers regarding the fur trim used on these boots (refresher: they were listed as ocelot but then the MB rep said they were rabbit), I saw yesterday that the Humane Society was also focusing their attention on the questionable fur used.



Well, finally there have been updates and progress! Per the AP:

Neiman Marcus: mistake led to 'ocelot' descriptor
(AP) – 14 hours ago

DALLAS — Neiman Marcus says an editing mistake led to some women's boots being described on Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman Web sites as trimmed with the fur of an endangered species.

Neiman Marcus spokeswoman Ginger Reeder says the Dallas-based company is looking into the matter. The Humane Society of the U.S. on Wednesday said it was asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.

The Humane Society says fur from an ocelot, a wild cat with tawny fur and black spots, would be illegal to sell under the Endangered Species Act.

Reeder says Neiman has pulled the boots off the market pending an investigation. She says it appears the trim actually is goat hide dyed with an ocelot print.

The Humane Society's Pierre Grzybowski says they still would like the FTC to investigate.

The FTC did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.

I am sooo happy to hear there is going to be an investigation into these boots. It proves that there are shady practices going on, especially in the fur industry. Basically, you can never be sure where and what kind of fur is being used, because even high-end products and retailers are not going to disclose that information. In this instance it may be goat skins but most of the time it's cats, dogs and rabbits. And because of how most products in the fashion world (even those labeled as Made in Italy or where ever - a whole other post... just read Deluxe) are made in China, if you are buying something with fur you are supporting horrific abuses.

Every year, millions of individual animals, including more than 2 million cats and hundreds of thousands of dogs, are killed for their fur in China. Some are strays, and countless others are companions who once shared homes with people who loved and cared for them before the animals were rounded up—often with metal tongs around their necks—and tossed, screaming, into a crate.

China is one of the world's largest fur suppliers, and more than 95 percent of the country's finished garments are exported—with many ending up in North America. And as we now know, Chinese companies have been known to deliberately mislabel cat and dog fur as "Asian jackal," "rabbit," or "raccoon" to fool consumers. Every fur-trimmed collar or other fur item from China, regardless of the kind of animal slaughtered to manufacture it, is the product of cruelty on a truly massive scale.

As I've said before. I detest fur. Plus, how can you ever wear something that came from sweet babies like my Tulip and Petal...



If you are buying fur you are taking animals like my baby Petal here and having them killed for something completely unnecessary and, in the case of these boots, ugly as hell.



Make contributions to the Humane Society, PETA, Compassion over Killing or World Society for the Protection of Animals to help stop these abuses.

Eeeewwww!!!! to the infinite power

As I was looking through the BG site, I came upon these horror shows.

They are the Manolo Blahnik Cava Fur Trim boot.



It's not bad enough that they are ugly and make you look like something out of 1 Million Years B.C. (and not in a good way like Raquel here).



No, the worst part is that the fur element, which is bad enough, is ocelot fur.

Ocelots are endangered species.*

Endangered because of loss of habitat and due to hunting them for their fur. Supposedly they are legally protected. I'm not sure how the Manolo Blahnik company was able to get fur for these boots.



I know I talk a lot about shoes on here most of which are made of leather. This is a transition I am personally working through.

But I put fur on another level altogether. And the fact that this fur comes from a threatened species just makes it all the worse.

I have written a letter to Manolo Blahnik via the contact form on their site addressing my displeasure and disgust at this practice. I also think I will be taking an additional step.

I will be boycotting Manolo Blahnik.

I hope I get some sort of response from the company. I'm not sure if I will or not. I suggested they recall the boots. Will they? I don't know. I'd like to hope so.

I'll let you know what they say.

If you want to write to them, the easiest way is to use the contact form on the site. Let's see if we can reach them!

UPDATE: Ocelots are officially listed as "Near Threatened" with their population trend as "Decreasing" by the IUCN Red List. However, the use of this animal's skin and fur could potentially still violate the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It is being looked at by a lawyer, so more info to come.

Your Shopping May Now Resume

Let's all congratulate Zappos for listening to their customers and adopting a policy to no longer sell fur products.

According to the PETA article -

Back in August, we wrote to the company about this, urging it to adopt a fur-free policy. At the time, the company said that it would look into the issue to gauge people's thoughts on it. So, to help speed that process up, we launched an online marketing campaign, getting members of the public to write to Zappos.com's CEO and urge him to send the pelts packing—and more than 11,000 of you did! The campaign became totally viral and social networking played a huge part—many people posted tweets on Twitter, passed around our petition on Facebook, and much more.

I mean, seriously, is this the first campaign in history ever to be won by tweeting and the slick use of other online tools? It's pretty exciting if you ask me—and also pretty novel! We are paving the way of the future, my friends.

Well, it seems that Zappos.com got the message that people hate fur, because yesterday, the company officially adopted a permanent policy never to sell any products containing the fur of an animal!

Thank you SO much, all you fantastic online activists, for helping—and thank you, Zappos.com, for making the kind decision to forgo fur now and in the future. This will help spare countless minks, rabbits, foxes, and other animals all the horrors of fur farming and trapping, such as being electrocuted, bludgeoned, and skinned alive.


Read the full article here.

All of us shoppers can now get back to give so many of our dollars to one of the best retailers around!

Thank you Zappos!

Selfish Vanity and Absolute Horror

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/p2_rabbit_fur_investigation

I've never been a fan of fur. I know there are those who will argue with me about this, especially as many shoes are made of leather, an equally horrific industry. But in my opinion there is one big difference.

Wearing fur is pure selfish cruel vanity.

I remember sitting in front of the television as a child and crying my eyes out about the Canadian seal hunt... then asking everyone I knew to sign the petition against it. Thirty years later the seal hunt is going on... but the boycotts against it and the Canadian fishing industry are growing. We may see this ending in our time.

Fur, to me, is the worst form of animal abuse and exploitation. Mostly because it is so avoidable and unnecessary. There is simply no good reason to wear it.

Right now, there is a campaign to get Zappos to stop selling fur products and to have Armani fulfill his promise to stop using fur. If you can support that, and communicate it, that would be great.

If you can stomach it, you should watch the video embedded above. If that doesn't convince you to never wear fur, I don't know what will. And if you think fur is okay, you should be OBLIGATED to watch it.

Then, if you can find an argument FOR wearing fur or fur products and supporting this amazingly cruel industry, I'd love to hear it.

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
It was pretty cold today so I should have dressed warmer but, eh, that's why I have a coat. I wore my new denim-y pencil skirt from Target, a grass green cashmere sweater (I think from Garnet Hill) and my Coach leopard kitten heel flats.



The Focal Point
I was pretty streamlined with this outfit. I only wore my rings. Not even a necklace. But I do like the mix of the navy, green and brown. It's kind of a classic color combination which I think has a preppy vibe.



Too bad my legs were freezing! it was 33 degrees when I left for the day. Luckily I only had to walk from my office to the car. Brrrr!

Ensemble du Jour

The Outfit
I feel very Fall-princess-y in my outfit today. I'm wearing a dark brown cardigan and swishy skirt from Target layered over a black lace-edged camisole. It was quite chilly today so I have my faux-fur trimmed coat - also in black and brown.

My main accessory is my amazing feather fascinator from KissCurl on Etsy. It's so gorgeous in person.



The Focal Point
Although it is hard not to say my feather fascinator, I have to give some props to Mnsr. Manolo. And in keeping with the whole "textures of nature" thing I have going on with my earth tones, feathers and fur, I'm wearing Manolo pony hair heels that have a crocodile print - unexpected but elegant.



These shoes fit to perfection. I could wear them and walk in them all day.



Keep warm! It's time for hot chocolate tonight!