ELLE Magazine: Hail Mary

Posted on Oct 24, 2011 in Fashion

Oh Mary J. Blige we love you get up.

Who better than you to get her diva on for Elle by wrapping herself up in fur and giving face? No one, darling. No one better than you. What becomes a legend most? This’ll do nicely. Yes, this will piss off the anti-fur advocates and we don’t even disagree with their point, but as two little gayboys who grew up on those iconic Blackglama ads, we can’t help but squeal a little at the old-school fabulosity.

Mary J. Blige for ELLE Magazine Fox-fur peacoat with crepe de chine detail, Dior, price on request, at Dior boutiques nationwide. Nylon-blend bodysuit, Danskin, $30. Sheer pleated skirt, Enza Costa, $418. Platinum and diamond earrings, necklace, both, Van Cleef & Arpels, prices on request. White gold and diamond rings, De Beers, prices on request.

Mary J. Blige featured in the November 2011 issue of ELLE
Photographed by Thomas Whiteside
Styled by Christopher Niquet

Mary J. Blige for ELLE Magazine Dyed silver fox-fur pullover, Chado Ralph Rucci, price on request, at the Fur Salon at Saks Fifth Avenue, NYC. Viscose-blend dress, Donna Karan New York, $3,695. Patent calfskin pumps, Walter Steiger, $695.

Mary J. Blige for ELLE Magazine Handwoven goat-fur jacket, Gucci, price on request, at select Gucci stores nationwide. Viscose-blend dress, DKNY, $1,095.

Mary J. Blige for ELLE Magazine Goat and sheared-mink-fur coat, Michael Kors, price on request, at the Fur Salon at Saks Fifth Avenue, NYC. Rock crystal, platinum, and diamond ring, David Webb, price on request. White gold and diamond five-band ring, De Beers, price on request. Gold vermeil-coated nail ring, Bijules, $166.

Mary J. Blige for ELLE Magazine Dyed sable-fur coat with dyed fox collar and cashmere lining, Dennis Basso, price on request, at the Fur Salon at Saks Fifth Avenue, NYC. Jersey dress, Halston Heritage, $455. White gold and diamond rings, both, De Beers, prices on request. Her own diamond wedding ring.

Mary J. Blige for ELLE Magazine Russian sable-fur coat, Sorbara for Neiman Marcus, price on request, at select Neiman Marcus stores nationwide. Gown, Michael Kors, $3,995. Malachite and Swarovski crystal necklace, Elizabeth Cole Jewelry, $2,750. White gold and diamond rings, white gold and diamond five-band ring, all, De Beers, prices on request. Her own diamond wedding ring.

Mary J. Blige for ELLE Magazine Fox-fur jacket, Fendi, price on request, at Fendi, NYC. Dress, Chloé, $2,895. Orthoceras fossil, dryhead agate, and septarian necklace with gunmetal finish, Kelly Wearstler, $595. Rock crystal, platinum, and diamond ring, David Webb, price on request. White gold and diamond five-band ring, De Beers, price on request. Gold bangle, Fallon, $190. Her own diamond wedding ring.

[Photo Credit: Thomas Whiteside for elle.com]

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Anonymous

“Price on request.” Well, if you have to ask…
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3JSTXMWWVZN2QNP2UEKJMTWD7U Isabel
  
  then you can’t afford it..
- Anonymous
  
  “Price on request,” and please attach to your request proof that you are taxed on capital gains, not income…
http://twitter.com/jennsaysmeow Fifi LaRoux

Not generally a supporter of furs, but damn! Those are some amazing photos of her.
- Cathy S
  
  Agreed. She looks gorgeous and I would prefer to see her like that in something else.
CQAussie

Wow. Now THIS is what a Diva looks like. Amazing.
http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd

Honey. If you get ANY more fabulous you will self destruct.
Valerie Little

Drop dead gorgeous fur clad fabulousness.
Mariah J

I don’t really like fur…and it’s not even about the cruelty to animals part…it just looks bad.
- Anonymous
  
  Same here. I’ve just always thought it looks tacky.
- http://twitter.com/TheRedZavodnik Ginger
  
  I’ll take your share then, mkay? I’ll be tacky for both of us. =)
- Anonymous
  
  I’m with you. I keep wanting to brush her.
- Anonymous
  
  I agree. Especially that Gucci goat fur one. It looks like hair. Cousin Itt… It’s creeping me out.
Jill Kirchmann

love me some Mary J.
http://twitter.com/SarahJLang Sarah Lang

Please PLEASE keep using the Frank O’Hara homage in all your Mary B. posts.
Anonymous

That is “Diva Deelight”! I LOVE that Gucci goat hair coat but I am pretty sure I would not be able to pull it off like Mary J. So much pretty…..
Christy Cricow

Sorry, can’t get past the ghastly fur. I really can’t support this. Surely she would have looked as great dressed in something fake or, perhaps, simply, ELSE.
- Anonymous
  
  Ditto. For some reason as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more and more of an animal advocate, and as playful as fashion can be, using this real fur is just adding a cruel element that takes all the fun out of it. At least for me. Yes, some of the fur is gotten by shearing the animals but most is not. And the more you know about it the worse it as. Again at least for me.
Anonymous

I am pretty strongly anti-fur. However, one of my favorite things to do when I have the apartment to myself is to blast her entire discography full volume while I dance around in my underwear and ‘no more drama’ t shirt and get my diva on despite the fact that my singing voice has been described as reminiscent of a harpy’s dying wail. I am conflicted and must admit that my objectivity has obviously been compromised. I will say that her face looks sooo, so gorgeous and soft and pretty, and leave it at that.
- Anonymous
  
  Agree – Love Mary, but really hate fur. She looks fab, but it would have worked just as well with fake fur I think.
  My favorite of the bunch is the one in the goat fur coat.. she looks amazing.
http://www.notacomplexperson.tumblr.com Anonymous

PRAISE.
http://twitter.com/0001909 ∆ .

LOVE those pumps with the banana heel (or talon heel, depending on who’s naming what). Not a huge fan of the fur, not just for ethical reasons, but because it’s just such a common styling choice in photos of black women. The ‘queen of the jungle’ look has been a default styling choice for powerful black women for so long that it’s just unimaginative at this point.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1378141705 Gretchen Jacobsen
  
  maybe she’s in fur cause she’s OK / likes wearing it and a lot of models / star won’t. it’s like clothing bling.
  - http://twitter.com/0001909 ∆ .
    
    I think that’d be more likely if it was a streetstyle shot, but I definitely feel like she’s been styled this way by someone else who’s calling the shots since it is a photoshoot. Certainly furs have always been associated with ‘bling,’ but there’s just something about the styling in this shoot that conjures up half a dozen other photos I’ve seen in the past featuring successful black women.
    - http://twitter.com/DarthJaeda Jaeda Laurez
      
      well Mary J is pretty famous for loving fur from head to toe, so I don’t think she’d need to be talked into anything.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman

Love this woman.
Anonymous

Diva deliciousness!
Anonymous

her face is STUNNING. especially in the first one, OMFG.

the list of things that are wrong in the world is so long, i have no problem giving fur a pass, especially if its as fabulous as here. i have a coat with a fur collar myself and i can tell you, fake fur never ever looks or feels as good as the real thing. (its 2nd hand and i got it for free, if that makes any difference. and ive been vegetarian for 10 years. and i use body-shop products without animal testing. wait, why am i being defensive about this? my coat is fab!)
- http://twitter.com/OperaSickness Opera Sickness
  
  Hear hear! I too am a vegetarian (well… 6 day a week vegetarian, 4 day a week vegan, only organic, non-factory farmed animal products… the point is, I’m pretty legit) with a vintage fur and every time I find myself needing to gently point out to some busybody who calls me out for animal cruelty that their hamburger/leather purse/whatever left an animal just as dead, only to have to listen to them stammer out that that is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT before they uncomfortably walk away, I am driven just a little bit more crazy. I has always struck me as odd that fur is singled out so much by a lot of people who are otherwise unconcerned with animal welfare. I mean, I have some friends who are vegans, don’t wear leather, etc. who are opposed to fur, but they never seem to be as belligerent about their feelings as the people I know for whom being anti-fur is pretty much their one and only animal welfare cause. I would guess it’s because fur isn’t as common or inexpensive as meat and leather and its much easier to boycott a product that you aren’t using anyway.
  - http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray
    
    “I has always struck me as odd that fur is singled out so much by a lot of people who are otherwise unconcerned with animal welfare. ” This.
  - Anonymous
    
    i feel understood!
  - http://twitter.com/reina_sabah Sabah Ibrahim
    
    The reason many of us are against fur is because of the way the animals are treated and killed. It’s entirely different than animals used for leather and meat, although even for them it’s pretty grim. Most fur animals have it infinitely worse. They’re beaten or electrocuted or poisoned so as not to taint the skin and fur. Bigger animals, like big cats and some of the mink/ermines, have red-hot metal bars rammed down their throats…or up the other end, if you take my point. And before anyone accuses me of spouting urban legends, I’m a conservation biologist, so I know a lot of this from firsthand research.
    
    Animals raised and slaughtered for meat and leather don’t have it easy, no, but their lives and deaths are not nearly as horrific. Additionally, meat and leather are, in many ways, necessities. Fur is a luxury. There are many replacements for it. No-one needs fur to live and work. Fur animals are slaughtered in horrific ways for luxury vanity items. That to me is despicable.
Anonymous

Oh my god, I hate that I love it so much.
http://vhanna26.typepad.com Vera

Freaking fabulous.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1505642 Tangier Bates

I need the russian sable-fur coat on my body. So gorgeous!
Anonymous

Sorry, I love Mary, but I just can’t with the fur.
Anonymous

I love that she’s not blonde in these pictures. So much better with dark hair!
Kate Pearce

She’s beautiful but all I can think of when I look at this are all those poor foxes and minks. sorry.
- Anonymous
  
  Don’t forget the goats who died to make her so “fabulous.”
Anonymous

Goat? Nah. Sable? Yes!!!!
Anonymous

She is beautiful and those are great pictures but I really gotta say…using fur is fucked up.
Anonymous

Fur- just not worth it. And it all looks way too hairy to me as well, I’m much more in favour of sleeker lines. So on all accounts, not worth it.
Anonymous

I notice the goat-hair coat says “hand woven.” Does this mean that just the hair was collected without killing the animal for the pelt? Because that would be nice. I’ve never seen goat hair used like that before, only woven cashmere.
- http://profiles.google.com/grandiva1968 e jerry powell
  
  Yup. Goats were sheared. The coat right below it is sheared-mink and goat. I can’t think that it’s easier than using the hide, but it’s certainly more ethical in terms of not killing the animal.
Anonymous

That is not the same woman I saw on GMA last month. Are these photoshopped?
Anonymous

Wish she would ditch the furs, but dang I have to give the girl credit. She is like wine, she gets better with age!
http://twitter.com/OracleKath Kathrine Marlow

Stunning….she looks amazing
Anonymous

I haven’t seen MJB lately – I love the long dark hair, she looks fantastic. My feeling is that only a vegetarian can legitimately criticize fur.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EYYAY25W7VS5BYCOCTK62SSUBI tw125

I hope this convinces her to go with her natural hair color from here on out. She looks so much better without that straw on her head.
Linde Hoff

Yes, nothing says glamour like wearing a dead animal’s coat that was skinned before his/her time and brought up in captivity, most likely. Too bad Mary doesn’t have more tact…and I’m not a fan of her music, either. TLo, I’m very disappointed. There are more beautiful things in the world to use your precious website space for…tsk tsk.
http://twitter.com/nicolahearts nicole seligman

a Frank O’Hara reference on TLO??? I might actually die.
- http://profiles.google.com/trashilove { edi } ilovetrash
  
  i must be sicker than i am willing to admit cos i should catch a frank o’hara reference & i didnt.
  if you come back i would be beholden to you for pointing it out to me.
  - http://twitter.com/nicolahearts nicole seligman
    
    Oh, I’m so glad someone else knows who O’Hara is! The opening line of this post is from “Lana Turner Has Collapsed.” The original line is “Oh Lana Turner we love you get up.”
http://www.katymcdermott.com KatyMightHave

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if, just once, a fashion magazine printed “You can’t afford it” instead of “Price on request”?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mary-Elizabeth-Poytinger-Baumer/1516981341 Mary Elizabeth Poytinger Baume

bow down bitches that is all i can say. bow the fuck down.
Anonymous

The Anti fur thing is so tired. I didn’t hear any complaints about her leather shoes. Wearing their skin is ok, but their fur isn’t? You can’t cherry pick..if you are anti fur, then no leather car seats, leather belts, gloves, shoes, or purses.
- http://twitter.com/artfulhome1 Christy Bishop
  
  Yes, actually, you CAN. Leather is a by product, of animals used for food. Fur is purely for effect, purely for decadence. No other use for these animals, other than to skin them. And the treatment of those animals is, often, just brutal. Horrible.
  
  I haven’t eaten meat since I was a kid, and draw lines every day…..you have to live in this world, and leather is EVERYWHERE it seems like, whether I like it or not. (And yes, I did specifically choose a car with fabric seats.) There are plenty of compromises to be made. But don’t be silly: a product like fur, borne of cruelty, available only to the very wealthy, and for ‘glamour’ in no way compares.
  
  I am SO with Tim Gunn.
  - Anonymous
    
    No, actually, fur is not “purely for effect, purely for decadence”. It’s for warmth. I wouldn’t go through a Chicago winter without it.
    - http://www.facebook.com/ChereeWinston Cheree Winston
      
      There are plenty of non-fur and non-leather options that are actually highly superior when it comes to staying warm.
      - http://twitter.com/starrika Ali
        
        I really disagree – and I say that as someone who does care about the treatment of animals. Down, leather, and fur are much warmer than synthetics. This also holds true for cotton, wool, and silk. Synthetics are great for a lot of things, but there are some things they can’t do as well as natural fibers/materials.
      - http://twitter.com/artfulhome1 Christy Bishop
        
        And, again, what does this bunch of photos of a diva swathed in fur have to do with warmth? The way I see it, human beings were born with the ability to invent ways to stay warm, and the use of fur–now, at least in the developed world, a symbol of status and glamor–is an unnecessary cruelty.
      - http://twitter.com/starrika Ali
        
        I never said I liked the editorial. Frankly, I find it passe and a bit sad that black women are still given that “Queen of the Jungle” treatment.
        
        My response centered on the quote that “there are plenty of non-fur and non-leather options that are highly superior when it comes to staying warm.” As someone who lived in a very cold climate, I was disagreeing. Anecdotal, sure, but my experience is relevant to the assertion that synthetics provide the same if not more warmth. In my experience, they really don’t.
    - http://twitter.com/artfulhome1 Christy Bishop
      
      This editorial has NOTHING to do with warmth. And are you saying that, in modern Chicago, with heated transport of all kinds, central heat in every building, that you really need the fur of an animal to survive? Really?? What do the 99% of Chicagoans (Chicagoites? Sorry….) who can’t afford fur do?
    - Anonymous
      
      I live in upstate NY, almost to Canada, zone 4 for growing. It gets to 30 below. I do not, nor would I, ever use fur. I can wear a sweater and a coat over it. The cold is not an excuse, in my life, for fur.
  - http://twitter.com/starrika Ali
    
    What about rabbit fur or as above, goat? I eat rabbit and goats. Tasty!
    
    My personal view is, if I would eat the animal, then I’ll wear the fur (provided I can find something about the manufacturer and try to find out whether the animals are treated in a humane manner). If it’s vintage, I’ll wear it, because there’s nothing I can do about it now. But if there’s no other use for the animal, other than its fur, then that’s a no go for me.
- Anonymous
  
  I agree with the others before me. Animals are raised and killed sorely for their fur. But it is OK. I believe that in this world, and the next, we get back what we did to those weaker and more helpless than we are. I am not the judge. Karma is.
Anonymous

Love that fox fur from CRR and the Russian Sable.

She looks gorgeous and gets better with age
http://profiles.google.com/ballinger.jl Jessica Ballinger

I know I shouldn’t, I know it’s wrong, I know it makes all sorts of people angry, but I LOVE FUR. Love it. Can’t help myself.
MilaXX

Love her! Even thought I think the goat pic looks a little like cousin It, By the way, I think Mary would be the perfect client for MJB.
Carla Williams

I can’t decide if she’s wearing more borrowed hair on her head or on her back–that wig is atrocious. But the fur is pure Mary. She love her some fur.
Anonymous

I want every single one of those furs, but especially the sable.

The goat fur is amazing. It reminds me of those monkey furs from the ’20s and ’30s.
- Anonymous
  
  “Her coat is made of monkey fur, to add a dash of drama!”
  - Anonymous
    
    Ha! You referenced one of my favorite musical bits of all time!
Anonymous

WOW! Thanks for posting, Lo and T!!
http://www.facebook.com/ChereeWinston Cheree Winston

I can’t get past the fur. All I see are dead animals.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1531695734 Melinda Mary

Yes you have pissed me of. I have two problems with the fur industry. 1. The conditions they animals are kept in. 2. The animals are skinned alive. If the industry fixed these two problems, I wouldn’t have one.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1596747014 Fatah Cooper

DIVA
Anonymous

I wouldn’t expect any less from Mary J. Blige.
Anonymous

You “squeal(ed) a little at the old-school fabulosity”? Maybe you should have shrieked in the pain of the poor animals killed for this horror.

I was hoping this was a fake fur editorial. I am shocked that this is still going on today. Who was the editor? Michael Vick?
- http://profiles.google.com/valencia.lucia87 Lucía Valencia
  
  Geez, take a chill pill. That goes for everyone, get off the soap box. Enjoy the post, if you morally can’t, just push the little X on the top corner of your browser, stop “being shocked” and get up to do something about it. Don’t scold the bloggers and readers who enjoyed the pics. That just creates more intolerance.
  
  Because those are sum fierce pics!
http://www.facebook.com/suzie.vazquez Suzie Vazquez

over the death that she is wearing and over her wearing it.
Anonymous

Fucking WERQ, Miss Mary J!!!!!!
Anonymous

She just took a nose dive in my book.
http://profiles.google.com/trashilove { edi } ilovetrash

fur can be worn at least semi-ethically by narrowing yr choices to vintage/old fur. theres plenty of it to go around, some if not most is even more beautiful than anything they make now–check out whatever they might have on 1stdibs.

i am one of those hardcore vegetarian type people {i havent eaten meat since i was old enough to drive} but there are still possible compromises that can be made w/ the rest of the world. the abovenoted is one of them.
Anonymous

What a revolting way to get some damn attention. EW! Shame on this mag and her. DONE with both.
Anonymous

Wow. I didn’t even know they did fur any more. But she DOES fur. I guess the anti-fur thing is too 90s now.
Anonymous

Pretty fab, but the Gucci goat-fur coat makes her look like a Wookie!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3NBI6646QJBKNCFEZNCHXUCBGE thatgirl

I’d have more respect for anti-fur people if my mom, recovering from chemo, hadn’t been jeered on the street when she made her very first “for her” purchase and smiled for the first time since cancer feeling great in a fur coat. She promptly returned it and never spoke about it again. There are better ways to get a message across than being verbally abusive towards those who disagree with you. As far as the editorial, girl looks fabulous.
- http://profiles.google.com/valencia.lucia87 Lucía Valencia
  
  THIS! I can’t say how much I agree. Sorry about your mom, she should go out and buy it again.
  And yes, its a fab editorial.
Anonymous

The slaughter is so unnecessary. (Exception – the sheared ones.) Fakes are being made that look better than this. I just don’t get the “need” to feel “luxurious” in dead animal skins, never will. And there are plenty of warmth alternatives.
http://stitchingincircles.etsy.com Tina

Hate the fur (except maybe the goat fur — that’s pretty cool, and people eat goat). LOVE the O’Hara ref.
- http://profiles.google.com/trashilove { edi } ilovetrash
  
  finally saw it! boy am i weary.
http://twitter.com/RzYoung RzYoung

i know it’s controversial, but the animals she’s wearing probably had a better life than the animals we’re eating everyday by the squillion (i’m looking at you macdonalds)
Anonymous

I bet you all those animals looked better in their coats than she does in theirs.
Anonymous

I guess I’m morally opposed to fur, but I was more offended by this ‘furbulous spread’ for it’s redundancies. Sure, showing six bathing suits or six dresses can be a great spread, but 6 giant fur coats? They start to blend together.
Anonymous

“Dyed silver fox-fur pullover” read that at first glance as dead silver fox-fur and thought “obviously”. The coats look awful.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3AJ237ND3GAHDQJZ4TLCO4WLRA Emily

Wow. She looks amazing.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_CQPXLNCBM5CZSHZZXJDHPVFS7E Buffy

Yes, Blackglama ads and Peter Antonovich billboards…
Anonymous

I just have to wonder if those people who are so adamantly against fur are just as compassionate about horrors of human suffering…. just curious.. (I’m being serious, because I have watched people loose their mind over animal rights and wouldn’t give money to a child’s cause ever).

But, she looks fantastic.
- Anonymous
  
  I am oppossed to all suffering – and yes I do give to human AND animal organizations. If you treat a child like crap, chances are you’d treat an animal that way too….and that disgusts me.
- Christy Cricow
  
  There is loads of information out there about the links between animal abuse and sociopathic behavior, and the fact that people who abuse animals often escalate to abusing people. Anyone who cares about the wellbeing of children in this world should care about ALL cruelty, and stand up to it.
Anonymous

Goat? Goat?? Are the kidding me? Sometimes I really hate the people in the fashion world. In this economy and with so many people against fur, showing goat is a real slap in the face to animal advocates. I hate this.
- http://twitter.com/starrika Ali
  
  What’s wrong with goat? People actually eat goats, so it’s not like you’re killing baby seals or foxes just for their fur. Plus, the goat is sheared, so it’s really no different than a wool sweater.
  - Anonymous
    
    If they are all sheared, I have no issue with this. I don’t eat goat, I love goats, so I cannot imagine wearing goat skin and fur. Angora goats have hair used to make mohair, which is really nice and they are just sheared.
    - http://twitter.com/starrika Ali
      
      I think goats and rabbits are cute little animals. But they’re also tasty. As long as the animal is treated humanely, I’ve got not problem eating it.
- http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray
  
  Goat is one of the most sustainable meat sources. What’s wrong with it? Why shouldn’t we use all of its parts?
Anonymous

OMG I want those Walter Steiger pumps. *weeps*
Mary J. is gorgeous and these pics are pretty fabulous.
Anonymous

She is made of fab from top to toe, but when you look at the next to last photo, there is no way to escape the fact that fur feels really old-fashioned. Look at that photo: It’s 1940s Society Matron, not young or hip or 21st century.

#1, 3, 4 & 6, otoh, blow my mind.
http://www.facebook.com/carinamgreen Carina Green

She looks great but did she have to kill Chewbacca??
http://profiles.google.com/sntierney Shannon Tierney

I love the pictures. And, I love my vintage fur and would have no problem buying a new fur. I’m glad for the push towards more humane ways to get furs, but I think there is nothing warmer, softer, and more luxurious.
Once again, we never hear this outrage over the delish leather products.
Mary J, I bow to your fabulosity.
Alloy Jane

There is no logical/ethical/spiritual reason for excusing the VAGINAL AND ANAL ELECTROCUTION of another living being for anything, much less the sake of VANITY. But then again, she’s wearing DeBeers diamonds, and we all know how those are produced.

This whole photo spread and everything it represents explains why Westerners are so afraid of being oppressed/destroyed/anally probed by aliens during times of peace. Rather than face our own atrocities, we project that collective guilt on violent, scary monsters that represent the sort of destruction and abuse that humans inflict on our fellow Earthlings, including other humans.

I think it’s sad that there’s this mentality that just because someone choses to eat omnivorously, they can’t care about animal welfare. Everything in it’s own time. As for vintage? I think all vintage furs should be donated to homeless people in cold climates. They need them more than anyone’s wardrobe does.
Christy Cricow

It must feel better for people’s consciences, at least here and there on
this thread, to write that if people are omnivores, then they have no
right to object to fur; or perhaps those who find fur abhorrent are nasty people who would be
cruel to a cancer survivor; or those people care so much about animal
suffering–but WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?? Sort of like if you don’t live up to this person’s artificial standard, or that person’s, well, then you have no right to care, be horrified, and speak your piece about cruelty and mistreatment of animals, and the vulgarity of the wealthy swaddling themselves in the grotesque result of that cruelty.

I get that this is a bitchfest fashion blog, and I enjoy it as much as any of you. But I didn’t check my humanity at the door, and I won’t.

I think that a lot of us are especially attuned to the suffering of animals because they are the least able, especially in the confines of a cage, to defend themselves. Anyone who has loved a dog or cat must certainly recognize, if she is honest, that other fur bearing animals are sentient beings too.

I am happy to see so many readers here see the truth behind these admittedly dramatic pictures.
Anonymous

Same expression in every photo. Nice but boring.
http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray

I don’t mind fur in and of itself. I mind inhumane death and torture. I think if we’re going to get worked up about animal rights we ought to be worrying the most about animals in large scale meat processing. I wonder how many people who complain about fur go and buy soulless meat parts in nicely sanitized foam packaging so they need never think about the source. That does more harm, in my mind, than fur ever could. (you can only have so many fur coats, but many people eat meat every single day) I am an ethical omnivore and I think complaining about fur can mask a lack of real knowledge and care about animal issues.

As to M. J. I think that bitch is fierce. Love her.
- http://twitter.com/qrter Alexander Peterhans
  
  You have a point, but not a very strong one – trying to right one wrong does not mean you have to right all other related wrongs first. You have to start somewhere.
  - http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray
    
    Starting somewhere, certainly, but tackling issues related to the slaughter of food animals seems a more productive place to begin. If what a person is concerned about is wholesale slaughter and cruelty, I think one’s efforts are better directed there.
- http://twitter.com/artfulhome1 Christy Bishop
  
  Does it have to be either/or?? I haven’t eaten meat in 40 years, for this reason only, so I speak as someone who DOES walk the walk. I will laud compassion in any form it takes. And if people aren’t perfect–if they eat meat from a soulless container and still are sickened by fur, if they make the connection there, and take a stand–well, good on them.
  - http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray
    
    I don’t see it as a thing you can make the connection with in only a single avenue, in the sense you’re describing. It’s easy to complain about fur on the Internet. But if one gets all up in arms about a fur jacket yet participates in the larger meat industry, that’s being a hypocrite. Certainly one can expect better than that. If the real motivators behind hating fur involve the suffering, for example, then it’s a wrongheaded way to approach the issue of ending said suffering.
http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray

Also it’s my understanding that a lot of times fur farms these days shear the fur instead of killing the animal outright. Someone in the comments said they skin the animals alive? Uh. I’d love to see a reputable source on that. Not saying it’s not possible but it reads to me like something a reactionary group with a lot of feelings and not a lot of information would say.
- http://twitter.com/artfulhome1 Christy Bishop
  
  Uh…..and by what magical process would sheared fur be made into a skin coat? Fur is sheared to change its appearance for garments, not to make a more humane process. The only exception I know of is long haired animals like some goats, where the hair can actually be sheared and then woven.
  
  China, for one, has a history of terrible, terrible practices–and they are a major exporter of fur. There is an article from the Standard, a Chinese business paper, for one fast, Google-able article. And here is something from Time’s newsfeed. http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/10/11/report-chinese-raccoon-dogs-skinned-alive-for-knockoff-ugg-boots/
  
  Here is the problem. Animals don’t have publicity agents, other than the humanitarian groups that worry about them. How exactly would you think that information about cruel practices would get out to the public? How do you suppose that anything EVER happens in defense of any animal? How do you think the Humane Society finds out that there are starving horses on a farm, or dog fighting, or beaten pets? Whistleblowers, and people who care enough to follow through, obtain evidence, and go public. Corporate media brings up the rear on issues like this. Guess it wreaks too much havoc on a huge, multinational business.
  
  But please don’t err on the side of automatically standing up for cruelty, kneejerk, because you think someone might be a bleeding heart.
  - http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray
    
    I hardly think I am standing up for cruelty because I don’t buy in to every description of potential cruelties. Foie gras for example? That whole issue is to my eye largely based on a misunderstanding of bird anatomy and knee jerk emotions. Granted I’m going to err on the side of food issues because I’m a foodie, but there’s been footage of perfectly pleasant foie gras farms. Of course then it’s always, oh they’re just hiding the cruelty from you! It’s like only footage of what a person wants to be true gets the stamp of credibility. (the Humane Society gets a pretty bad rep from some corners, or so I hear. I haven’t been involved in shelters and such for awhile now, but) I am in no way saying cruelty doesn’t happen. But yes, I get frustrated when I see people who only care about animal rights when some celebrity puts on a fur coat. Then again I don’t have a problem with death being a thing that happens for us to get certain things, though I’d much rather we found a use for all parts of an animal, including those raised for fur.
- http://twitter.com/artfulhome1 Christy Bishop
  
  PS….and I’m done hectoring.
  
  Tim Gunn is chief creative officer for Liz Claiborne, and a person of integrity in the fashion industry. He is adamantly against the use of real fur. That someone of his background, position and integrity takes the position he does should make you pause to think a little before assuming that emotional, ignorant people are anti-fur.
  - http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray
    
    I don’t think I said all anti fur people are ignorant and emotional, (and I didn’t intend to imply them as across the board qualities, so my apologies if I wasn’t clear) but I do think it’s an issue that lends itself to those qualities. Tim Gunn is wonderful and I agree with him on a lot of points but I don’t think he’s a saint and using synthetic fabrics can also have very high social costs. It’s not as simple as from an animal = bad from a factory = good. I mean, I sense you know that, but I see the issue boiled down to those very simplistic points fairly frequently.
    - Christy Cricow
      
      Fair enough. I certainly agree that there are high social costs involved with a LOT of the consumables we crave here. (And by ‘here’ I am thinking the US. Incidentally, my husband’s company does a lot of its production with companies in Taiwan and China, and I have spent a fair amount of time touring Asian small production facilities, trying to strike the balance between our bottom line and ensuring humane working conditions. So finding the sometimes complex, reasonable compromise is something with which I am familiar!)
      
      For me, and many others, some of whom may abstain from eating meat, we abhor cruelty, and the softness, warmth, luxury of fur is an unacceptable payoff for the suffering of the animal who created it. I have never confronted a person wearing fur, and can’t imagine ever doing that. But online–in response to a magazine and industry glorifying that product–well, if I don’t say something now, then when?
      - http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray
        
        Wow, touring factories sounds really interesting actually. (totally not being sarcastic! ) So many layers to deal with there, I bet, when trying to make any changes.
        
        Fair enough. You’ve got a good point. I’ve just become sensitive to what feels like people getting up in arms about easy things (FUR BAD) and yet I (and no one else, it seems) can’t get them to do that over war and death and infinity. It’s a thing I see about a lot of issues and in a lot of circles. Oh, I did my activism for the day because I pushed someone around on the Internet!!! Now I can sleep the sleep of the righteous knowing I schooled some stranger. Not that I think you’re doing that and I apologize if I put any of that on you, but this fur thing all too often de-evolves in to what I feel is unproductive shrieking.
        
        In the end though it doesn’t sound as though we differ that strongly. I eat meat and so forth but I buy from a local farm I’ve actually visited when at all possible. If I can’t get anything but Anonymous Chicken Number Five from a factory farm, I don’t eat chicken that night. Can I ask, are you a vegan?
      - http://tigergray.blogspot.com/ Tiger Gray
        
        the vegan question isn’t meant to be jerky, either
Anonymous

I don’t do fur, but she looks awesome
bloodshothalfblind

personally, i despise the use of fur. but miss mary looks incredible here. no denying. she is the diva. this spread is fierce.

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