Everyone has their own guidelines when buying a fur coat. One person buys it, counting, first of all, on its functional qualities: to warm, be comfortable and last a long time. Another wants her to be beautiful and fashionable. The third is guided by the price of the product when choosing. Most buyers strive to meet all these criteria, but objectively the main ones are those for which the fur coat was once invented: to enjoy its warmth, comfort and beauty in the cold of winter, and for as many seasons as possible.
What do you need to know in order to choose a quality item?
The type of fur or from whom the future new thing will be made. It defines:
ability to keep warm
best before date,
compliance with the climate of the owner's residence,
external qualities.
The variety of fur-bearing animals is so great that the range of fur coats these days is simply huge. They all differ in color, length, thickness of hair, shine, water-repellent properties and, in turn, have subspecies that offer variations of these characteristics.
Processing of fur skins. Can enhance or weaken the natural parameters of fur. This treatment means coloring, tinting, cutting, plucking.
Sometimes processing is used to improve the appearance of fur that is not of the best quality. For example, coloring or tinting can give hair the missing shade and shine. Fur that is impeccable in natural color can also be dyed or tinted in order to completely transform its color or make it unusual. If the dyeing was carried out in compliance with the technology and suitable dyes, then the properties of the fur will not deteriorate at all. Shearing and partial plucking of hair is one of the ways to diversify the range of products, giving fur new properties. Such products look very elegant, have a more sophisticated silhouette, but are considered less wearable and warm.
Important Tips
Look at the fur. Knowing the characteristics of different animals, you can easily distinguish the original from the fake. Thus, the silver fox, which is often mistaken for the fox dog, can be easily recognized by looking at the color of its hairs: they are gray at the root, white in the middle, and black at the tips. The fox dog is two-colored. Nutria is sometimes passed off as beaver, which is more expensive. Remembering that it is also fluffier, it is not difficult to recognize the deception. In addition, the fur coat should be free of bald spots, traces of rust, and discolored areas.
Touch the fur. A good one, when stroked against the grain, quickly returns to its place. When twitching, the hairs should not fall out. And if the product has been painted, you need to check the quality of the dyeing: run a damp light cloth over it and see if traces of paint appear on it.
Examine the underbelly - the reverse side of the canvas. Conscientious manufacturers deliberately leave the lower hem not completely hemmed for this purpose. Correct flesh is soft, elastic, light gray, without cracks. Even dyed skins remain that way. If it's yellow, it means the fur is old, and the new thing won't last long. If the core creaks or rattles when shaken, it means that there were violations at some stage of working with raw materials.
The service life is determined by the wear resistance of the fur. The higher it is, the better the ability of the pile to withstand snow, rain, bright sunlight and active use, including when traveling on public transport. Processing of hides, in which the hair is plucked, cut or dyed, shortens the lifespan of the fur coat.