Don’t Buy the Lie – Shearling Is Fur! February 20, 2009

In this On the Runway blog entry, posted earlier today, Eric Wilson brings a solid line of reasoning to the shearling debate. Shearling, if you are just now tuning in, is sheepskin with the hair still attached – to put it bluntly, sheep fur. Yet, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan, who have stated they will not use fur, both used obscene amount of sheep fur in their runway collections. Calling it “shearling” does not change the fact that it is fur, and that both of them lied.

The post goes on to state that PETA also differentiates between shearling and fur – not a smart move on their part. PETA VP Dan Mathews, it seems, favors a one-thing-at-a-time approach. Oh, please. If only it were that easy. Some designers are still using other species’ furs, despite numerous animal rights groups’ best efforts, so why not condemn sheep fur? If a few highly influential designers (such as Lauren and Karan) can be convinced to leave those poor sheep alone, demand for sheep fur will drop, and other designers will follow suit. (Not all of them will, but some of them will, and that’s a start. Trust me on this, my great-aunt designed dresses on Seventh Avenue back in the day. She shared a lot of designer wisdom with me when I decided to study fashion.)

Tolerating sheep fur but condemning other pelts isn’t just hypocritical, it’s speciesist. I’m not the biggest fan of sheep myself (pigs are cleaner and smarter), but I would never, EVER condone the use of any part of their bodies for fashion.

Whenever someone waddles into the shop wearing (eew! ick! evil!) Uggs, I want to throw up. Hello?! There is a very polite no-fur sign posted on the door. Shearling is fur. Ignoring the sign is deeply disrespectful. The least those people could do is leave those hideous boots outside. (I’ve been tempted to remind them of the dress code, but I’d rather not perpetuate the “vegan Nazi” stereotype. I already know some people who call themselves veg*n think I’m “too strict” because I won’t allow “recycled” wool or “ahimsa” silk on my shelves. Refer to the archives for the reasons why.)

Kudos to Wilson for a well-written, logically sound piece.

In other news, Italy’s fashion industry, which generates a fortune (or used to, anyway), has been hit so hard it is now asking for government help.

Swayed by Suede? Never! January 13, 2009

On Friday night, I got the damn suede question again. This time it was whether I’d ever carry any of Macbeth’s suede offerings. Gee, let me think about that…no.

I never cease to be amazed by how many people, veg*n or not, don’t know what certain materials actually are. I knew suede was animal skin by the time I was 11 years old, long before I decided to study fashion. (I realize there will always be a select few people who don’t recognize a vegan store when they see it, but come ON.)

With that in mind, here’s a brief lexicon of terms you may encounter when buying shoes:

Patent leather – Leather with a “patent” (shiny) finish. Some uninformed veg*ns think it’s fake leather. Trust me, it’s animal skin. (Faux leather with a patent finish is not called patent leather, so don’t let some unscrupulous merchant dupe you.)

Suede – The soft back side of leather (definitely not vegan!). Faux suede kicks real suede’s arse – not only is it cruelty-free, it requires very little upkeep and can take a beating. I had a suede coat I loved in high school, but it required more cleaning and brushing than all of the family pets combined (and still looked awful after two years).

Shearling – Sheep fur. The skin is still attached, ergo it is fur. The sheepskin industry coined the deceptive term “shearling” – it sounds a lot less cruel that way, doesn’t it? Don’t let anyone trick you into thinking this stuff is merely shorn off the sheep – especially if it’s obviously still rooted in the skin when you take the time to look closely. (Remember how many people mocked Pamela Anderson’s naïveté for not realizing her Ugg boots went above and beyond ‘not vegan’? Shearling is passé anyway, so save your money.)

“Veg-tan” or “vegetable tanned” leather – leather tanned using plant-derived materials. Not suitable for ethical vegetarians or vegans, only slightly less toxic than chrome-tanned leather, and requires an immense amount of energy to produce compared to chrome-tan leather or faux leather (the reason it fell out of favor long ago). Vegetable tanning agents aren’t *quite* as effective as chrome, so even if you’re eco-guilted into wasting money on something vegetable tanned, it’s not going to last as long as chrome-tan leather or a good fake. Every pair of vegetable-tanned leather shoes that I or my business partners have ever seen started to look like absolute crap after the wearer had worn them for 2-3 months. (Note: do NOT confuse this stuff with the “Vegetan” materials used by Vegetarian Shoes. All of VS’ materials are 100% animal-free.)

Who Are You Calling “Hostile”?! September 12, 2008

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who “get it” and those who don’t.

Sometimes, people who don’t necessarily “get it” wander into my store. I don’t mind. Cute handbags, cool shoes, and “Skinny Bitch” appeal to people who aren’t necessarily vegetarian or vegan. If they want to shop here, that’s fine with me. (I’m not in the habit of asking people about their choices, unless they need my help with something and I need more information.)

Unless, of course, they decide to cause trouble. Anyone with any self-respect would take exception to that.

Much in the same way that some omnivores get obnoxiously vocal and defensive the instant they find out someone quietly eating black bean soup at the next table is a veg*n, I’ve had a few people, upon realizing this is a vegan store, throw screaming fits that would make Naomi Campbell seem like the sweet girl next door.

The door inscription reads “Humane Attire for Men and Women.” There is a small sign on the door serving as a gentle reminder that real fur is not allowed inside our store (faux is fine with us). Apparently, nobody reads them or takes our location into account.

I wasn’t actually in the store at the time, but a few weeks after the grand opening, some woman came in and browsed, and asked what the store was all about. She didn’t even wait for the entire answer to commence howling like a banshee about how much she loved her leather Coach bags and didn’t care what poor unfortunate creatures had to disappear so she could keep living like that. (I’m paraphrasing, of course. Like I said, I wasn’t there.)

Don’t get me started on the former fur trapper (!) who threw an even bigger fit and had to be removed by security.

On another occasion, a sales representative for a sheepskin boot company actually came in the store with the intention of selling me some hideous UGG knockoffs (imagine me gagging here). When I very calmly said “No thank you, we are not interested” he refused to leave the store and started arguing with me! (Wholesale reps, a word of advice: being rude, obnoxious, pushy, or belligerent with ANY retailer will NOT help you sell things. It will have the opposite effect.) This is a respectable establishment; consequently, I don’t allow that sort of behavior and very nearly had to have him removed by the police (the security guards weren’t on duty yet).

Every few months, one particular woman comes in and asks for sheepskin boots. Every time, we tell her we have never carried them and never will. (Why would a store with a no-fur dress code carry sheep fur?!) We have politely reminded her, many times, that this is an animal-friendly business and consequently fur is banned. Usually she storms out, this time she exploded. If her temper tantrum had been an earthquake, it would have been at least an 8.0 on the Richter scale. She demanded to see my business partner (which will never happen, since she recently spent some time in the hospital for a stress-related illness and it’s my responsibility to keep people like that away from her), then stomped out screaming about ME being hostile. Since she has repeatedly been rude to my staff on top of her appalling behavior, she’s not allowed in the store anymore.

This is NOT the pot calling the kettle black. This is the pot calling the red enameled roasting pan black.

And fur-wearers wonder why animal lovers are more inclined to see them as violent.