Restyling a fur coat

[reader]

Would you even bother to do so? I have a full length blonde mink that I wore for my wedding. Well, the marriage is done, but the coat remains, and besides being out of style, its too big! (Go weightloss!)

So, would you restyle (and where/how) or sell it?

 

[monarch64]

Reader, I know that people do such things with their furs frequently. Are you in a large enough city that there are either a. furriers or b. cleaners/alterations specialists who have expertise in furs? If so, and you want to keep this coat, I recommend bringing your coat to a specialist for further recommendation. (Kind of like a jeweler with a piece of jewelry you would like to re-style?!) There are definitely experts out there who can assist you.

I am not a proponent of wearing real fur, but I am happy to hear that you are interested in restyling yours or selling it, which is the basis of reduce/reuse/recycle. You would be doing a good thing by preserving the garment in having it restyled so that you can wear it again and again and for that you have my respect (although you already did for other reasons!) I hope that you are able to find someone to help you out with this and that the coat brings you many years of enjoyment and warmth. Take care.

 

[reader]

Oh, you don't mind the recycle aspect? Good,because I found the coat on Ebay years ago. It was a neat vintage piece, perfect condition, and oddly enough, I couldn't find a white faux fur coat in a size large enough to fit me then. As little as I paid for it then, I can perfectly see modifying it now.

I still live in a very small town, one that I wouldn't trust to clean it! But, I did get some good news on my transfer today, and I may be living about a hour outside of Philadelphia before summer.

Thank you for your kind words, here is a big hug!

 

[iLander]

I don't know how far you want to go with recycling it, but there is a lady that makes teddy bears with old mink and fur coats! She does stunning work and they are beyond adorable. They are fully jointed (arms, legs and heads move):

http://www.kimbearlys.com/Teddy-Bear.html

Otherwise, I would just google furrier and make a throw. Or you might ask Kimbearly, she might know someone or be able to do it for you. She's very nice and an expert at sewing.

http://www.kimbearlys.com/

 

[soocool]

I don't know how far you want to go with recycling it, but there is a lady that makes teddy bears with old mink and fur coats! She does stunning work and they are beyond adorable. They are fully jointed (arms, legs and heads move):

http://www.kimbearlys.com/Teddy-Bear.html

Otherwise, I would just google furrier and make a throw. Or you might ask Kimbearly, she might know someone or be able to do it for you. She's very nice and an expert at sewing.

http://www.kimbearlys.com/

This is what I am going to do with my mom's old fur coats! I keep procrastinating, but I think it is a lovely way to hand this down to family eventually. Oh, and I also plan on making one into a throw as well.

 

[atroop711]

I would love to do this. I have a full length dark mink and would love it sheared and shortened into like a swing coat. I just haven't looked into it. I wanted to modernize it a little. It's and OLD coat

 

[reader]

An artisan local to me makes bears from old coats. This one is still plenty wearable, and it seems to be unethical to not get every last mile out of it...then teddy bear it!

 

[smitcompton]

Hi.

I answered an ad on Craigs list for a mink coat. The woman told me it was near ankle length. Well, that told me it was probaby from the 80's and would be too long for me. I wanted to make a stroller (3/4 length jacket or swing jacket) out of it, so I called a furier in the Chicago area. They were so unbelievably helpful. I lso wanted to know if the woman was asking the correct price. I thought it was high.

He explained they charged $300.00 to cut the coat, no matter the length of the coat. Personally I thought that was reasonable.
However he nixed the amount she wanted for a 25 yr old coat.$1500.00. So I decided to keep looking. I found a full length Saga fox coat that was eight yrs old. It was very reasonable and beautiful, much less than the mink. The woman paid $3200- when it was new. Her husband bought for her as a wedding gift.

I also have a mink caplet that I haven't gotton the courage to wear. I love these furs as I am a cold person.

People used to update their coats all the time in the past. The furrier told me furs are coming back.

Thanks,
Annette

 

[Amber St. Clare]

I would line a raincoat with it!

 

[packrat]

Ohh that teddy bear is adorable! They're way cuter than the ones we'd talked about having done for the kids from USA Foxx or whatever it's called.

 

[bebe]

I would line a raincoat with it!

My thoughts exactly. Line a trenchcoat with it!!

 

[reader]

Line a raincoat? With fur? Doesn't quite make sense to me, as raincoats are hot, sweat inducing creatures of their own, wouldn't that spoil a light colored, natural fur?

Trenches also, are something I just probably would not wear. Trenches look lovely on tall women, but under if you are under five feet five, and over 125 lbs, a belted trench lined with a thick fur isn't going to look right. Heck, the trench probably wouldn't look right. The fur is bulky enough, LOL.

My daughter is five feet one, and about 100 lbs, she can pull off the coats from the 40s. I have a hippie mamma figure...

So, about $300 to restyle one? Humm...not so bad to have a custom fit....now to find one in the Philly area, as my home town is too small for that.

 

[Modified Brilliant]

Funny...this topic popped up last night among friends.

Suggestions were to make pillows or a blanket style cover.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Since it is vintage, I say wear that thing, don't make a throw or doll out of it yet!

I think a nice hip length coat would be great. Rework the collar or buttons, voila. You can take the excess and make a bear if you want.

 

[reader]

I am not sure which element makes it look so clumsy on me, the collar, the length or just me! But the fur is in amazing shape, so yes I do want to continue to wear it until it gets shabby enough to make into something else.

Waste drives me batty LOL

Hip length...sounds intriguing....

 

[Upgradable]

GREEN ALERT: I'm HUGE on the reuse aspect!! I get so cranky at people who look down their noses at folks who haven't jumped aboard the newest green product trend, when my philosophy includes using things until they are completely worn out and need to be replaced. We tend to forget about the carbon footprint included in MANUFACTURING all these amazing new products. I'm saving a bit of the earth by not requiring something new to be made. All the old plastic grocery bags in my pantry are used as doggy poop bags. I minimize the use of disposable products in our house. And we DONATE anything from our home that we will no longer be using. That way we're not cluttering up the landfills. Maximum of one garbage can per week! /

Sorry about that. I'm thrilled for the thought of refashioning your vintage coat. That's one of the reasons I troll for vintage diamonds. REUSE!!!!