At Home With Fur

A lady once sat next to me on the bus with a very large, full length fur coat on. The fur spilled over onto my own coat (a bright green puffer jacket which kept me warm, but I am sure made me visible from outer space, and made any movement feel like an extreme aerobic exercise. In fact, I bet I lost several pounds every time I wore it). Anyway, by the time we got off the bus, I was nauseous from the occasional touch of the fur, and the unusual smell that the falling, wet snow had created as it seeped further into the skin of her massive coat.

Never an activist, this experience has shaped my feelings about fur for the rest of my life, and it has taken me almost twenty years before I would even wear a dress with an animal print on it, never mind consider bringing a piece of fur into my home.

Now, it is different, and faux leather and fur are everywhere, and they are simply gorgeous. It is so popular that we are even changing the name from faux (fake) to Vegan Leather (thank you Stella McCartney) which sounds much nicer from a retail perspective, and almost makes us feel that we are doing something healthy for ourselves when we buy it.

Strangely enough, adding a piece of animal print, vegan leather or faux fur is sometimes all you need to update your home. The interesting thing is, that despite being a little unexpected they do actually go with every design style; never enough to throw your entire room into turmoil, you will find that they are just enough to up the decorating ante, while adding a carefully measured dose of personality that you never even knew you were missing.

I imagine there will always be real fur and leather in our lives, but if you are a bit like me, and can be prone to a weak tummy, just walk into any store, or check your favorite place online, and blissfully indulge in lots and lots of fabulous faux's.