Furs place

Few things draw the ire of indifferent passersby more than a swaggering girl, her feet encased in boots, her torso swathed in fur, her face covered in makeup. "Who does she think she is?" people ask. "J.Lo?"

Fur is still, after 20 or so years, a hot topic in fashion. For a while, when granola-munching girls in their sloggy sweaters and combat boots were in style, it was de rigueur to protest the evils of fur. Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and a few other models claimed, in stunning black-and-white PETA ads, that they’d rather go naked than wear fur.

Well, 10 years later and the opposite seems to be the case. Cindy Crawford posed in a fur ad and was lambasted by animal rights activists. Gisele Bundchen had a face-to-face confrontation with the same activists when they suddenly jumped on the runway in the middle of a huge Victoria’s Secret show to display posters of Gisele as evil incarnate. And then, of course, there’s the infamous pie incident when some random protester threw a pie at Vogue editrix Anna Wintour during a recent Paris fashion week. The reaction? A gallic shrug and a tsk-tsk, with some people laughing it off saying, "Oh those protesters."

The reaction is no longer as outrageous as it used to be. When pop stars like Beyonce and Ashanti crowd the red-carpet in their scintillating fur coats, the act of wearing fur no longer has the same shame as, say, those exaggerated hip-hop pants with the underwear displayed (that, my friends, will always be shameful).

Even J.Lo’s fashion line has some fur pieces, a reflection of the star’s being partial to mink and fox. Today’s furs, as many fashion critics claim, aren’t the kind grannies in Houston used to wear. Instead of the big hair, huge diamonds and even larger coat, the look of fur is snug, fitted and sexy. It hugs the body like a wetsuit and even shapes the most unflattering of figures into pretty, hourglass shapes. And as luxury designer labels are discovering new ways to embellish fur – from rustic jackets paired with suede and other rough-hewn materials to sleek pieces cut like a trench and then belted with soft leather – the market of these pricey goods are beginning to change, from moms and chic spinster aunts to spoiled 18-year-olds looking for a new way to burn daddy’s money.

This article is, in no way, a validation of fur. After all, anything that costs that much should be wrapped in a gold case and then drizzled with caviar – with Tom Jones singing on cue in gold underwear. But for those who want the look without the moral quandary (To eat or not to eat? To wear or not to wear?) fake fur is your answer. Inexpensive and PETA-safe (the only creature tortured during the making of these pieces was the guy who had to sew the jackets in less-than-wonderful conditions) they make you look chic and smart – and no one will be throwing pie in your face anytime soon. And when someone in the street gives you a look, you can always turn your nose up and say to the passerby, "It’s fake, dahling!" and then march into the orange sunset.