Fur goodness sake.....

I agree with Atqui that only vegans have any platform for opposing fur, fake or otherwise. If the rude person who accosted OP in the street eats meat, fish or dairy, or wears wool or leather, uses feather bedding or any other animal product or by-product, they should keep their opinions about fur to themselves or get themselves a soapbox! Actually, soap was originally made from animal fat...

Wear your my lovely, she probably had leather shoes on xxx

Ha ha, fur lol opsie xx

What an interesting discussion point. What a daft person.....I wonder if she has an issue with leather footwear, leather gloves, leather handbags......all of which I have. I also have fake fur hats because I can't afford the real thing but wouldn't wear the real thing either. You shouldn't have to justify your choice of synthetic headgear.

Who said, 'Never underestimate the pleasure people get from denying pleasure to others'? Remember that whenever you encounter Puritans. In modern guise they will be condemning the partaking of alcohol, sugar, fat, butter, bacon, coffee and anything else that's nice. They will be supporting their Mrs Grundyesque admonitions in the name of science or climate change or some such other zeitgeist fad.

But they are Puritans and need pushing back.

Boheminan, there is nothing wrong with fake fur it is just a fashion fabric and is nice and warm.
Ana, sorry to have to tell you but leather is no longer a by product of the meat industry but big business in its own right. Production is a nasty business not only for the animals - mostly kept in the worst conditions in Asian countries and India - but also for the people who work in the tanneries, many of them children working with harsh chemicals and slave labour.
Please look on the PETA website. To cope with the endless demand for leather shoes, clothing, 3 piece suites and car seats these poor animals are bred in factory conditions only to be killed in the most horrific way.
Small products like gloves, phone cases etc are usually made from cat and dog skins or other small animals.
I am a strict vegetarian and have found many alternatives to leather and other animal products.
Many people don't know where these products come from or what they are made frombecause the producers try to hide the origins.
I use fake fur and imitation suede/leather to make bags and hats from. These days there is no need for real fur or leather as the imitations are so good eg breathable and waterproof. ;-)

I wonder whether the silly woman has any pictures of animals on her walls, or wears clothes made of flowered fabric? A fake fur hat is just a three-dimensional picture of animal fur, after all.

I hope you reassured her that no actual soft toys were harmed in the making of your fake fur hat

I am wondering! Isn't imagining that fake fur is inappropriate the same as the belief that we shouldn't eat sausages, meatballs etc made out of quorn because it looks/reminds us too much of meat?

Is it just me but did anyone else think the photograph of the hat was a Yorkshire pudding?

I don't hold with killing animals in their prime just to get their fur in perfect condition. I could never have an animal's head on the wall even if killed for meat because to me that is yukkie. However, animal's fur is beautiful to look at and to touch so I see no reason not to copy it and wear products made from it.
Ypu wear your hat! Enjoy it.

I seem to remember reading ages ago that fake fur for the Guards' bearskins would be unbearably sweaty and would look bedraggled in the least rain.

Presumably bear meat can be eaten, e.g. by carnivores in zoos, or even by people. Has anyone ever eaten bear meat? What's it like? I doubt if bears are killed only for their fur.

Yes, I can believe that, elegran. I'm not keen on synthetics because they are so non-breathable (despite the hype!). Besides, they're made, ultimately, from oil which is made, ultimately, from dead animals.

That said, fleece jackets and goretex waterproofs do have their place in modern society, if only because they dry quickly.

My husband just went to great lengths to find the car he wanted without
leather seats because he knows I wouldn't be happy about sitting on leather.

I am an animal lover, and I have 2 fake fur coats, ones leopard print , as I love big cats, but wouldn't dream of wearing a real one, although no one would think mine are real, and teddy bears are made of fake fur and have been for years, and some kids tv characters, we can't stop everything that someone disagrees with, and it's no ones business what you wear, you're not asking them to buy it for you,so keep wearing your nice hat keep your self cosy! And yes I thought the picture of the hat was something edible too.

I wonder how she would cope if she lived in Russia - sometimes at minus 40
degrees?

My daughter is a strict vegan, but loves fake fur - as do I. She comments that some vegans are so full of their principles that they seem to enjoy causing upset to others who may have less extreme beliefs. I don't like to see animals treated cruelly, but haranguing someone for wearing fake fur is just plain ridiculous!
I hope that the stupid person learns to mind her own business. Carry on wearing your cosy hat, and I shall think of you when I wear my (fake) fur-lined coat.

There is nothing wrong with someone avoiding the use of animal fur, even if they eat meat, wear leather, whatever.
Any step towards reducing cruelty is worth doing.

(I don't support action of the person mentioned in the OP, tho, who sounds a bit silly.)

I agree, farnorth, that there's nothing 'wrong' with avoiding fur or leather even if one eats meat (it's just a choice), but why is it cruel to use the leather or fur of an animal that one has eaten? Isn't using it better than wasting it?

If the animals we eat have a good life and a humane death, where does cruelty come into the equation?

That was the point I made, thatbags, but apparently according to UkeCan61 the production of leather products is a cruel industry in certain countries.

I thought this thread had dropped off the edge of GN Land, but I'm pleased it hasn't, as there's been some interesting points made.

K8tie your comment comparing attitudes to fake fur possibly being applied to Quorn and alternatives to meat, I can see happening. I have veggie friends who can't see the point of having 'alternative meat products ' their argument being 'why eat something that tastes like dead animal'. I'm veggie by choice (I'm happy to share a table with a meat eating friend, I personally don't like the taste of blood) and I like Quorn, as it brings a different texture (more than taste) to meals.

Leather always seems to have been an issue. I wear leather shoes - like others here, I assumed leather to be a by-product of the slaughtered animal - I stand corrected.

I have carried on wearing my fake fur heat but feel kind of miserable and defensive wearing it now

(Not fake fur heat - fur HAT

Sorry, I missed that, ana. My view is that we should be arguing for an end to cruel practices, not avoiding leather, which is an extremely useful and good material, far better than synthetic equivalents. I can understand someone avoiding using leather in an attempt to reduce the demand for it but I'd rather work towards improving the conditions of farmed animals through organisations like Compassion in World Farming because I don't think it is unethical to eat meat or to use animal skins and fur with the provisos we've both given.