Everyone knows that owning a fur coat is the utmost luxury fashion statement piece and shows how stylish and chic you are. They keep us warm and turning heads in the winter months and often times become family heirlooms to be passed down to our fashionable children.
However did you ever wonder when fur became in style and who were the first people to wear them for fashion and status purposes? Let us take you down the road of fur fashion history donned by nobles dating as far back as ancient Egypt.
Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years.[1] The term ‘fur’ is often used to refer to a specific item of clothing such as a coat, wrap, or shawl made from the fur of animals.
Humans wear fur garments to protect them from cold climates and wind chill, but documented evidence of fur as a marker of social status exists as far back as 2,000 years ago with ancient Egyptian emperors and high priests wearing the skins of leopards.
THE EARLIEST DAYS OF FUR IN FASHION
Fur’s association with the highest echelon of society began in Ancient Egypt where leopard skins were reserved exclusively for the royal family and high priests before the British nobility adopted the same ritual in the thirteenth century.
Historically in European and Middle Eastern cultures fur garments often had the fur facing inwards with cloth on the exterior of the jacket, but in the 19th century a trend for wearing seal fur coats with the fur facing outwards became the trend.[3] Worldwide, both styles are popular, with fur linings offering more thermal benefits and exterior furs serving more of a fashionable purpose.
Fur coats were a sign of social inequality in European society because they were a luxury item available only to the nobles. In the last two centuries, furs have been popular with the growing middle classes in Western Europe and North America as a means of displaying social status or adopting a high-fashion aesthetic.
In the early 1940’s Following the New Look in 1947, the long fur coat became an icon. It was wide and draped, made of precious furs. In the 1960’s there was a democratization in the use of furs: everyone could afford a faux fur coat, since the imitations could easily confuse an amateur.
As the decades progressed and the fashion industry developed with more designs and designers creating their own versions of the luxury garment we have an endless and diverse supply of the coveted luxury status symbol we know as the fur coat.
Will you be sporting your beautiful fur this winter or purchasing your first genuine or faux fur in the near future?
Xoxo – Style Diversity
Style Diversity 