My grandmother and I finally finished repairing that $19 fur coat I found at the thrifty the other day. There were a great deal more seam tears than we originally thought. However, the coat is now back to being as good as new! I have searched in vain for a maker's label and have found nothing. The style of the coat had me a bit stumped too. However, after a great deal of research, here are my theories:
1) I believe the coat to be marmot fur, most likely woodchuck, yellow-bellied, or alpine marmot due to the white spots prevalent throughout. This is just a guess, mind you. I am no fur expert! But based on the description and images from the Vintage Fashion Guild's fur resource site, this seems a good bet. The pelts have darker, long-ish guard hairs, and a short, fine, light-brown down fur in between. Mink, squirrel, etc., is too fine and even in hair type/dispersal, and does not match what I am seeing on this coat.
2) I have searched in vain for a maker's label, or anything to tell me who made this coat and how old it is. I have not found anything. The coat has had a second lining hand-sewn onto it (I don't quite know why, as the original lining appears to be intact underneath...?), so if there IS a label on the original lining, it's very hard to see (I have looked though!). The style is unusual to me: extremely long length, cuffed sleeves, very wide collar. The closest guess I can make is that it's from the 1950s, which seem to favor that style of collar. You can see one example on Etsy HERE. The CLOSEST I have been able to come to another coat has been this very high-end 1950s SCHIAPARELLI coat on Etsy. Now, I'm not saying that my coat is a Schiaparelli, however, it IS well made and this other coat is quite similar. A girl can dream, eh?
So, there ya go. Any opinions about timelines, etc.?In any event, it's a gorgeous coat, and I am so thrilled to give it a loving home! Bring on the cool weather!
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