Thinking about the history of women and fur, I was reminded of the Russian winter of 1981-82 when I wore a borrowed muskrat coat. A friend discovered it in her attic and we both decided it was just the thing to take to Russia for my Ph.D. research year. Here you see me on the deck of the battleship Aurora, celebrated for firing on the Winter Palace at the start of the Russian Revolution.
And should you need it, here is better evidence that I really was in Russia. The photo was taken in Red Square. You can see Lenin’s tomb faintly in the background.
I found this coat more of a trial than a luxury. The arms were too short. In the top photo I’m wearing my husband’s gloves, since my own weren’t up to the challenge of the below zero weather. The collar wouldn’t stay closed, so I had to try it up with a scarf. But the fur itself was the worst problem. Whenever I went into a heated space, like the Moscow subway, the coat was so warm I started sweating. Maybe fur coats were made for women who spent their time shoveling snow outside? Or travelling like nineteenth century heroines on those open sleighs? For me it was sort of like wearing a portable mini sauna, and I’m not a person who runs warm.
Anyway, my experience turned me into a critic of fur long before the anti-fur movement took hold. And when I see historic photos of women wearing fur coats here in coastal California I really shake my head. Maybe they just posed for the photo and then changed into something more climate appropriate.
When I was a student in Nizhni Novgorod in 1998, I quickly discovered that the coat I had brought from the States was wholly inadequate. (Weirdly, since I was in northwest Iowa at the time). I resolved to buy a warmer coat that covered my legs but had to spend several weeks looking to find a long insulated wool one that I could afford. In the meantime, a friend kindly loaned/thrust upon me a fur coat that I instantly christened the Beast. It was very warm but I dislike wearing it and was absolute thrilled to purchase my coat by the end of October when the snow was already ankle deep. The red berries on the trees were absolutely thick that year, which Russians say portends a long hard winter. Given sub zero temps in October I’d say they are on to something! (My take about the fur or shearling coats is a) Russian superstition about being cold. We took my eldest to Moscow in May when he was 16 months and the temps were pleasant and in the 60s and 70s. I got a lot of dirty looks for only having him in a sweater and light jacket instead of a down snow suit like everyone else sensible (ostensibly). Ha! And b) in places like Nizhni where the public transit is more tram or bus-based, you can sometimes wait a long time at a bus stop in very cold temps. Even in Moscow, my route to work was most efficient by bus rather than Metro so I was often at stops in the cold, although I did use the metro plenty too. I guess I was just used to overheating indoors bc everywhere inside is like a sauna but outside is freezing.
Regarding what you say about women wearing fur in California.
Imagine what I thought when I saw this 1930s picture advertisment showing fur being worn in BRISBANE!
You can see it in this FB post:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/185SkJtE7x/
People who had visit or are from that part of Australia, what is the weather like there?
If you cannot see the FB post.
Here is the same picture from wikipedia:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StateLibQld_2_206817_Mannequins_modelling_race_day_fashions_at_Ascot,_Brisbane,_1935.jpg?fbclid=IwY2xjawOzXpVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEwR0JQYVRFQ0FweEYwd0F6c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvHifFDaZ6lWk7xUfJVbYpJdhwDjUbmb9TkT-C8ZLgMlooiO5WpCBCtVUZPw_aem_pPhZTXnVF7sUbGNt6VQ9fA