A last hurrah for renovated coats

In late 1998, wanting to party like the upcoming year, I bought a secondhand sheared mink duffle coat at work one day, when I took a lunch break shopping eBay.  

When I moved to Montréal in 2011, I had it renovated by Dominique Ouzilleau, a fourth-generation furrier who began to work in the family business at age 14. He disassembled and recut the coat, and goodbye, '80s dropped armholes. At -20C/-4F, when the tip of your nose can freeze if you wait too long for a bus, nothing insulates as well; I don't wear the coat to be fancy, I wear it to avoid hypothermia.  


Since then, I have seen him work wonders restyling and reviving worn or dated coats and turning salvaged material into linings or hats.

Last month, my grandsons' other grandmother, Natasha, invited me to join her at Mr. O.'s while she had two old pieces restyled. The first is an early '80s buckskin "Pierre Trudeau jacket". Canadians in the Passage will remember the Prime Minister's fondness for his. One was a gift in 1970 from the Maniwaki, Québec Chamber of Commerce, custom-made by First Nations craftspersons; the jacket is now in the Canadian Canoe Museum:


In 2018, the Tsilhqot'in National Government gave current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a replica made from the pattern of his father's jacket when he visited Xeni G'wetin in the Cariboo region of British Columbia.

Natasha's, made by Liz Claiborne after Trudeau's became iconic, is like his minus the raised beadwork that spelled "Canada" on the back yoke. Mr. O. will restyle it to a current, precisely-fitted cut:


The second, a full-length, boxy mouton (sheepskin) was her mother's, so about twenty-five to thirty years old. We regret not taking "before" photos; the original, heavy, nearly ankle-length, and dressed up with a tacked-on grey mink collar, was like wearing a tiny house. Here is the "after",  a tailored, sleek jacket:

Part of the salvaged swath of mouton became a hat!


She also inherited a pale blue tweed from the '50s. Below, Natasha is in the stroller, her sister Helen pushes; her mother, Vera, (in the blue tweed and matching hat) and grandmother Lydia stroll behind.  Vera, an opera singer in her native Russia, passed on her elegance and eye to both daughters.

Mt. Royal Park, ca. 1958

The blue tweed was beyond use, and now lives in a photo, forever in the sun.  

Mr. O. gave us a peek at his latest project. With a group of design students, he is making a collection of at least ten tapestries from fur scraps he has assembled from coats that he designed and made for Lacroix, Dior and St. Laurent, among others.

First, the students visited Montréal neighbourhoods to document the culture and history of each. They photographed landmarks and natural features, and developed palettes and patterns. They are now completing the meticulous construction, with the back side as beautifully-finished as the front. 

Here's a peek at one tapestry in process; the colour key and pattern is left, and at right, part of the fabric: 


The project will be exhibited in spring 2023. When I said I would not photograph the work in progress, Mr. O. said, "Go ahead; no one else can do this!" He is also working on a film project to document the trade that once employed between three and four thousand local workers.

I know that a good number of persons will not find even recycled fur acceptable; however, in Montréal, a city with the same climate as Moscow, fur is not solely a vanity garment, nor is it necessarily a display of wealth. At a thrift recently, I spotted four vintage raccoon coats, one lined in rakish red tartan flannel. Where did they come from? All showed light wear, but no torn skins or shredded linings; the price was $75 each.


In the neighbourhood, I see such coats on young women who wear them with hiking boots and blanket scarves. The subtext seems to be, This is not 'fashion'; I'm recycling. 

The continued use of now-controversial material is a complicated matter. Some advocate the disposal of items they judge wrong in any application. Others, like me, see a place for recycling and renovation.  The decision is easier for items with no sentimental value. 

Each person will decide; our consumption of everything on the planet—whether natural or synthetic—comes with a price and, increasingly, a reckoning.



 

 



Comments

Leslie M said…
Natasha looks lovely and warm in her redesigned sheepskin by Dominique. Giving the coat a new life is a very good thing, and to have it done by a master furrier is even better. I don't wear animal fur (just dead cow, so in no way superior). It's a choice, but I did say out loud when I was standing on the streets of Chicago in February, having moved there from Texas without previously ever owning a real winter coat, "I would beat a baby seal to death if I thought it would keep me warm." I would not and I did not, but I get your comment about preventing hypothermia. All judgment ceased for me at that brutally cold moment. Thanks for sharing this very interesting post.
LauraH said…
Always so interesting to be given a peek at a master craftsman at work, fascinating. I've never worn fur but have sheepskin slippers and mitts. Remodelling and reusing seem more respectful choices than disposal.
Allison said…
I agree with Laura that remodelling and reusing are more respectful. My aunt left me a fur ‘thing’ ( honestly I do not know what to call it.) It consists of recycled fur that is crocheted into a flexible circle or large snood and can be worn as a shawl, capelet, hood, poncho or, if I were slim enough, as a skirt over leggings. It came with a small clip that can be used to adjust it many ways…it was made by a fur artist in Toronto. My mother left me a reversible Blackglama mink coat that I cannot wear as my mother was a much larger woman but I would love to have it redesigned. There is also a lovely full length muskrat that would be a good candidate for a redesign. Living in Ottawa …second coldest capitol city in the world, wearing recycled fur makes sense. I buy mitts made by native crafters trimmed with ‘roadkill’ fur. That fur cuff has a purpose as it goes inside the coat cuff to keep out the cold wind.
If fur is recycled or harvested respectfully( ie the animal was trapped to provide food) or a crafty person makes use of a roadside victim, wearing the results is not a criminal act. Breeding non food animals ie fox or mink is a different story. When our indigenous peoples hunted or trapped an animal they used the whole body…and always gave thanks and respect to that creature’s spirit. I wish your master furrier was closer as I do not think there are any left in our city.
Re inventing an old fur coat is far more respectful then letting it languish in a moth filled closet or worse…a landfill.
Laura J said…
Well said Allison.
Duchesse said…
Allison: Your comments parse the boundaries you have for yourself, and I appreciate and respect that. Industrial farming, now mainly in China, supplies about 80% of the pelts used in apparel. In Canada, there are only a handful of fur farms (fox and mink) operating, see https://thefurbearers.com/blog/2021-census-fewer-than-100-fur-farms-left-in-canada/.

Personally, I will not buy a new fur coat, but that's me, everyone will decide. You are a short train ride from here! Hop on and bring your coats.
Tom said…
My immigrant grandfather (b. 1903) started a business buying scraps from furriers, making collars and muffs. Some of these were added to my winter coats. I suppose he was a recycler avant la lettre! e
Bytowner said…
Interesting post, I too have noticed that people wear fur with a different attitude where it is cold and where there is a a reasonable pool of older garments passed down or resold. I remember seeing women and men wearing fur coats in perishing cold in Quebec City, and also noted a large number of "practical" (as opposed to fashionable) fur wearers when I lived in Winnipeg which is a very cold city. I have never owned a fur coat though not due to any reasoned ethical code, as I wear leather and down here in chilly Ottawa.
The restyled sheepskin for Natasha is wonderful- what an artist! I have been eyeing a couple of sheepskin coats in a consignment shop near me, but they are quite bulky. I had not thought of the restyling option...
Jane in London said…
Fur is not generally so popular here in our temperate climate in the UK. There are some older women (usually aged 80+) wearing fur jackets and coats that they clearly bought back in the day, but the younger women one sees wearing fur coats in London are not normally Brits.

Fur is certainly a touchy subject for many Europeans, though Italians seem generally more relaxed about it. Lots of people in the UK were surprised (when the Covid mutation discovered there required the mass slaughtering minks) to find out the extent of mink farming carried on in Denmark - a country we normally associate here with very liberal, progressive values.

I personally have no problem with the concept of wearing recycled fur, though I don't actually own any. I've also come across some muddled thinking during conversations about fur, particularly with people who haven't really thought it through for themselves and just go with an "all fur is cruel" catch-all opinion. As with so much in life, the issue is more complex and nuanced than that...
Duchesse said…
Janie in London: Like eating meat, there is little or no need that could not be met by an alternative— I could buy an expedition-weight parka. But in the northern, frigid climates, it has a place, so my compromise is to keep this old coat going, but I would not replace it when it wears out.

In my mother's time women wore wear fur stoles over their cocktail dresses, in mild weather. Considered glamorous in the middle of the last century.
Jane in London said…
Duchesse: Yes, fur was absolutely an indicator of status and glamour in the 20th century, wasn't it. Every self-respecting movie star was seen in fur (Elizabeth Taylor and Mae West come to mind as stars who particularly understood the on-film aura this type of coat could bestow). The more modest mink stole was something any reasonably affluent woman could aspire to, and feel glamorous wearing, well into the 1960s.

The perceived glamour of real fur went on really until almost the end of the last century - who can forget Aretha Franklin sweeping onto the stage at Clinton's inauguration gala in '93, wearing that jaw-dropping sable coat? Whatever one's views on wearing real fur, it was certainly a coup de theatre! Different world, different times.

noreen said…
I read an interesting article lately re the very negative environmental impact of the vast majority of fake furs which has had an impact on my attitude to even new furs. I have never had a problem with recycled furs. at the very least all real fur is fully recyclable even in landfill where it will decompose effectively and quickly but it is a very complex issue.
living in Australia its a hypothetical debate for me but living in a very cold climate certainly adds another dimension to the issue

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