I think we're all agreed that living in Narnia is less fun than it's cracked up to be. I haven't seen a single faun, WTF! And the Cat Who Squeaks hasn't escorted me home from the top of my street in ages, presumably because he is hunkered up next to a fire and shooting laser beams of disapproval at the freezing fog outside.
It's so cold that I've had to ditch my comedy Hogwarts gloves (too short in the wrist) for some deeply unsexual Thinsulate numbers from the men's department at H&M. What I really want are some beautiful leather gloves, but they tend not to be very cosy when it's -4 and your hair is freezing to your coat.
This is why in my dream world we would ALL be wearing possum fur-lined leather gloves from Alexski. Kate Middleton wears them! Her royal, royal hands are kept warm by these things. I tried these on at the Spirit of Christmas fair in October - I start festivising early - and they were so beautiful, smelled so wonderfully of saddles, and were so bloody warm that I started fantasising about spending on gloves what I will, at a push, spend on a pair of super investment boots. They are hand-stitched in Milan!
Also in my dream world, we would either fall upon a treasure trove of gloves that a heating-obsessed squirrel had buried in an obliging field, or win the lottery, because these gloves are £255. WHAT.
But it's New Zealand possum fur! The possum fur has been to the one country in the world I want to visit!
That's no excuse.
But it's roooooooooyal. You could have regal, lovely hands!
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| Fuchsia ski mittens, Alexski |
You can also get lambskin-lined tan leather gloves for a slightly more reasonable £188.94 (I said slightly), but frankly, if I'm getting gloves lined with any kind of fur, I want it to be New Zealand possum. And then I could pretend it was actually Hobbit.
And just as a reminder that the weather being this cold can actually be quite glorious, one of the frosted spiders' webs I passed on my way to work this morning. Stay cosy everyone!
And... they just shaved the possums, didn't they, Kat? They're still - they're ok, right?
ReplyDeleteYes Sara. Just as they shaved the cows to make the leather. *hugs your vegetarian self and stuffs a cake in your mouth*
DeleteI did once ask if it wouldn't be possible to sedate a pig, remove a small amount of meat for bacon, bandage him up and let him recover? Apparently not.
Delete(I was 31 at the time.)
DeleteThis is why you are THE BEST.
DeleteI love you Sara. Pioneering the baconectomy...
DeleteAlternatively, kiwi Kate does a range of possum and merino gloves and insoles for much more purse friendly prices....no they aren't glamorous....but tbh i don't care if i look like a kiwi hobo in my fingerless efforts....Im cosy!
ReplyDeleteFur, are you kidding?
ReplyDeleteAWFUL.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSorry wrong google account!
DeleteThose sound amazing Naomi!
@Anonymous @amykins Sluttery Fantasy is about daydreams - they all tend to be eyewateringly expensive, for one. I love the look of fur; I've had the opp to have beautiful old coats from my family but much of it's just not for me. But I do love looking, and possum is a different basket to mink and fox in my view.
As a New Zealander (and a huge fan of Domestic Sluttery!), I should probably point out that people might not really get what a massive possum problem we have in NZ - generally, I am anti-fur, but possums are an introduced species here (and are classified as a pest, and have no natural enemies), and there are 30 million+ possums here that completely ravage the native bush (which is also the food for native birds, and has no protection against possums like the bush in Autralia where possums are native), eat the eggs and chicks of native birds, and push kiwi out of their burrows. So, as much as I am not a fan of fur, in the case of possum fur it does help contribute to dealing with a really serious problem we have in NZ - possum fur that comes from New Zealand is not really comparable to mink or anything like that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the NZ point of view there Steph - it's been really useful to hear from our New Zealand readers here and on Facebook about the problems presented by possums.
DeleteI'm absolutely disgusted to see the advocating of wearing real fur ok'd by DS. Fantasy or not you're still promoting the skinning of animals for fashion (and no before you get snarky I DON'T wear leather).
ReplyDeleteIn the last couple of years fur has been making a sneaky come back into the public domain without causing outcry. It's almost becoming socially acceptable again, whether its the wearing of vintage fur or bloody fur lined gloves. And it's irresponsible posts like this that contribute. Shame on you.
I also didn't realise that cruelty to animals was directly relative to their cute factor.
DS you've lost a subscriber.
Hi Anon,
DeleteThanks very much for your feedback. This is a really thorny issue so I understand where you're coming from. Often the Domestic Sluttery writers disagree on what's acceptable and what isn't in this area. Some of us won't wear fur, some of us are OK with vintage fur and some of us aren't. It's not a cut and dry situation, as I think Steph's comment highlights but I do understand why you might be offended by this post and for that I apologise.
I'm sorry to see that you're unsubscribing from the site and I plan on working on an animal treatment policy for the entire site. I think it goes further than fur, I think beauty products and animal testing need further consideration as well. We do our best to feature products that are vegan or offer leather alternatives - Beyond Skin are particularly good at this - but do try and understand that we all have different opinions on this. What's wrong for you might not be wrong for someone else. While it's unlikely we'll all be able to agree on this issue, I do think Domestic Sluttery's position needs to be clearer and I promise to treat that as a priority.
Best wishes,
Sian Meades, editor of Domestic Sluttery
I always thought possums were a little bit terrifying. £255 is a small price to ensure that any of them that were considering messing with me might think twice about it, in case I fancy some slippers too...
ReplyDeletePretty shocked to see fur on here... You've lost another daily reader.
ReplyDeleteAs a kiwi I say at least possums are being put to good use, they get killed either way. I refuse to wear any other fur but possum. They are such a huge pest here, killing the native birds etc. If we can keep nice and toasty while trying to eradicate an introduced pest then good riddance possums!
ReplyDeletePossums are such a bad pest here in NZ. They slaughter our native bird population and damage our natural forests, they have no natural predators so they thrive here. They are killed with or without becoming gloves so at least this way they are being put to good use.Otherwise their bodies are just disposed of. Yes the possums themselves aren't to blame as they are doing what nature intended but killing pests is a reality (shock horror), otherwise our birds become extinct. Gaining fur as a by product from eradicating a pest is completely different to fur farming..
ReplyDelete