Somewhere along the line, early human ancestors pulled animal skins around them when it was cold, raining, or both. When these skins and pelts and furs became everyday wear, is another mystery. Let’s say most agree that would have happened at least 100,000 years ago. For a jumping off point, let’s use the Hanna-Barbera definition of attire in the Flintstones era.
Let’s fast forward and pick up the story during the times when English laws dictated who could wear what furs
The rich and powerful wore what they damn well pleased. Ermine and marten, two members of the weasel family, could be worn by only the rich and powerful. The middle class was allowed to wear beaver, fox, and hare furs. Those at the bottom were restricted to wearing the fur of goats and wolves and the pelts of sheepskin.
What is a mink?
It’s a furry little relative of several carnivorous mammals that include weasels, ferrets, and ermine.
What is a stole?
It’s a cross between a small cape and a large scarf, draped loosely over the shoulders so the wearer’s arms are uncovered and can move freely. It’s made of expensive materials and worn with a ball gown or sophisticated party dress. And you know what else? A mink stole is saucier than a coat.
During World War II, millions of women went to work
They filled the jobs vacated by the millions of men off fighting the war in Europe and Asia. Rosie the Riveter became the symbol of a woman who could do a man’s work, yet remain feminine and attractive. People went without many of the comforts that had long been taken for granted. Everything was rationed: foods, coffee, shoes, tires, fuel, meats, cheeses, typewriters, and more.
Four years later, the war was over, the men came home, got married, bought a house on the G.I. Bill, and went back to work
The women gave up their jobs to be homemakers and raise families, pretty much what young girls dreamed of in those days, in spite of few actually ending up with princes.
How did women’s fur stoles become a symbol of wealth, sophistication, social status, and elegance?
So many read newspapers back then that cities might have as many a dozen morning and afternoon newspapers. They’d see pictures of the swells at balls held in the ritziest hotels, covered by photographers and reporters from the society pages, men in tuxedos and women wearing couture gowns, expensive jewelry, and mink stoles. Maybe a tiara, too, but surely bangles somewhere.
What really added to the notion of instant glamour and beauty was the work of Hollywood photographers and press agents who dressed starlets in slinky gowns, furs draped over one shoulder or held low by the elbows. Brown furs, black furs, blue furs, white furs.
Most mink are grown on mink ranches and farms
In 2023, Poland produced 3 million mink pelts. China and Russia produced 1.5 million each. Next came the U.S. and Greece with a million or so each.
Why I check more than one source
Care Elite says 40 million mink are killed annually. Enviroliteracy.org says it’s 1.4 million. Dnnsociety.org says two minks were killed every second between 2014 and 2015.
Do mink really breed like mink?
Some are reproducing when they’re only three months old, cranking out a new litter every four or five weeks.
What do farmers do with minks when they’re six months old?
They kill them. Gassing is popular with mink factories. So are electrocution, suffocation, and neck-breaking (lots of videos online). There is some chatter about skinning mink alive, but that wouldn’t be a factory-level method.
What do mink ranchers do with the rest of the animal after the pelt is removed?
Grind everything else into animal feed, fertilizer, compost, and bait. There is an entire industry of making and selling what are called mink farming byproducts.
What about faux mink?
Mink stole marketers say faux mink stoles are almost as good as real ones. Some say faux is even better, but of course they would. Here’s a snappy bit written by a promoter: Faux mink stoles have the added benefit of “providing consumers with a way to enjoy the aesthetic appeal of mink stoles without compromising their values.” Get that.
Nothing feels like fur
It’s why we pet our dogs and cats and gerbils more than our iguanas. Chinchillas, Lynx, and Russian Sable are all more exclusive and expensive than mink. Which of those is at the absolute top depends on the source you use, but here I’ve listed them alphabetically.
One of the things that’s not much talked about is why the fur is not worn on the inside
The last good reason for wearing a furry coat on the outside was when we were trying to creep up on some buffalo and shoot them with our bows and arrows. Here’s the deal. Because fur keeps us warmer than animal skins, those who want to keep warm wear the fur on the inside. Those who prefer the feel of fur to the feel of an animal skin or a lining also wear the fur on the inside.
Why wear the fur on the outside, then?
It’s the best way to show it off. Someone came up with the idea of lining the skin side of pelts with fabrics so you can wear your fur on the outside. This made your mink stole a portable symbol of your wealth, status, and sophistication
The height of fashion
Some believed pelts with the animals’ heads, tails, feet, and claws still attached conveyed greater sophistication. The first time I saw dead animals wrapped around someone’s neck, I thought it barbaric, not fashionable, but hey, I was just a kid.
Insider Lady Violette de Courcy provides what she calls A Little-Known Fur Fact
The heads, eyes, noses, teeth, paws, and claws are all fake. Wouldn’t you like to get a tour of that factory? I read on for a bit and found she says “The women who wore these fur pieces with heads, tails, and feet felt very sophisticated and elegant. They enjoyed stoking their fur pieces as if they were pets. And they regarded the animals as cute!”
Many are touting the growth of the vintage mink stole market
Call it vintage, antique, or retro, it’s still a used fur someone else wore, probably for years. Of course it’s been cleaned, but still. When it’s got a luxury retailer’s logo on it, prices are ten times as high, what math people call an order of magnitude. For the most part, furs cost in the hundreds, furs with logobrags cost in the thousands. When papers from the equivalent of the kennel club show who bought the mink stole, where, when, and where it has been professionally stored, who knows?
Window shopping
- Authenticated pre-owned Louis Vuitton monogram mink stole with calf leather trim from a 2019 collection for $2,250 on an online consignment store. You can make monthly payments of $110.
- 1,095 mink stoles for sale on eBay as of April 2025.
- A Sears exclusive 1964 Luxury Mink Stole for Barbie, sold at auction for $2,000, four times the experts’ estimates.
- Here’s one on eBay for you DIYers. Lot of 4 mink pelts Vintage Fur Stole, 4 Heads & Tails (Tail and One Foot Are Not Attached) $99.
What do you do with a mink stole you don’t want to wear?
Donate it to animal shelters that use them as warm, soft bedding for rescued animals (fur side out). PETA gives them to homeless shelters. And if that doesn’t get the former owner rolling in her grave, then what does?
Craft people encourage you to transform your mink stole into “luxurious pillows, throws, blankets, or chair covers that will add a touch of elegance to your home.” They also suggest conversions into scarves, earmuffs, and doll clothes.
Bonus
If you thought like I did that all fashion houses have quit using animal fur, you’d be wrong. Wikipedia says Dior, Fendi, Hermès, and Louis Vuitton still sell fur garments, especially in such hot markets as China, South Korea, and Russia. It added that a bigshot from the London College of Fashion has declared “(The choice to stop making fur piece) will only be driven be a genuine lack of demand and not just some social media outcry.
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