Well, let me tell you, that fur, it’s been around since, you know, forever. I mean, way back when, folks needed it to keep warm, right? Ain’t nobody had them fancy heaters back in the day. You had to wear what you could kill, you see?
That New York Times, they talk about all sorts of things, that paper. That fancy place in the world. They wrote about fur fashion and how it came to be the big thing. That fur, people started wearing it ’cause it was all fancy-like. Made ’em feel like a million bucks, even if they only had two nickels to rub together. I mean, that fur was warm, so was needed. They put it on to show off they have.

Some big shots, these Michael Kors and Jean Paul Gaultier, they started puttin’ fur on them fancy clothes they make. And Jeremy Scott of Moschino too, they say. Those models, they’d walk around with fur all over ’em, lookin’ like they just stepped out of some fancy magazine. It was somethin’ else, I tell ya. And they still put the fur on the show, the fur fashion show. They just show off.
I remember readin’ in that NYT Crossword, they had a question ’bout when fur first came into fashion. They had some questions about fur and they had answer for them. It’s those newspaper puzzles, you know. That fur, it wasn’t always about bein’ fancy. Long ago, it was just ’bout stayin’ alive when it was cold outside. You didn’t have much of a choice. You just put it on no matter what it was like.
But then, things changed. Folks started seein’ fur as somethin’ special, somethin’ rich folks wore. Like a crown or somethin’. And then these designers, they put it on them fancy clothes, and everyone wanted it. They wanted that fur to be rich. Even if they didn’t have a pot to piss in, they wanted to look like they did.
But then, you know, people started thinkin’ ’bout them poor animals. And how it ain’t right to wear their skin just to look good. They said it was no good to wear fur, just to look good. They said it was bad. So less folks started wearin’ fur, ’cause they didn’t want to be seen as mean. And the fur sales, they went down, they say. The fur business was not good in the 80s and 90s, they say.
They say there’s a company called Saga Furs. Started in 1954, they say. Long time ago, before I was even a thought in my mama’s head. They were all about that fur. Sellin’ it, buyin’ it, the whole shebang. They sold all the furs. That company sold that fur to make money. And it’s big money in the old times.
And that NYT Crossword, they keep askin’ ’bout fur. Like it’s some big mystery. But it ain’t no mystery. It’s just people, you know? Wantin’ to look good, feel good. Even if it means wearin’ somethin’ that used to be runnin’ around in the woods. They just wanted to look good and to feel good, no matter what.

- That fur, it’s been a sign of bein’ rich for a long, long time.
- Designers put it in their clothes, made it even more fancy.
- People started worryin’ ’bout the animals, though.
- Fur sales went down for a while.
- But that NYT Crossword, they still askin’ ’bout it.
- That New York Times, they reported on that fashion.
It’s like them old quilts, you know? Made from scraps of old clothes, old memories. That fur, it’s got a lot of stories in it. Stories of cold winters, and fancy folks, and people tryin’ to figure out what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s just a thing, but it’s got a history, that fur, a real long history.
So next time you see that fur, in a store or in that New York Times, remember, it ain’t just about bein’ warm or lookin’ good. It’s about a whole lot of things, all mixed up together, like a big old pot of stew. It’s a thing, you wear it to be warm, but it’s more than that. It is about how people think and how they want to be seen.