The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1895-03-08
FORTUNES IN FURS.
An English Furrler Gives Some
Details Of High Prices.
Goats of Fur That Cost $4,000 Altered
Every Year to suit tho Latest
Fashion-rinc Wardrobe Of
Fur Worth $4,000.

Speaking of the $4,000 fur coat stolen
from Lady Warwick, in connection
with her description of herself as n
splendid pauper'' under the new Eng
lish tax laws, furrier says to the West
minister Budget:
s'As a matter of fact, $4,000 for a
lady's fur coat is absolutely nothing
out of the way in our experience. ca
the contrary, it is rather a low price for
a fur coat of lady of means and of
social position. There arc large num-
bers of such ladies who wear fur coats
of about 81, $50 to just over $1,000, and
now and again, not so very rarely, we
make a coat up to 81 ,50O."
"What kind of fur are these coats
lined with?'
"There are three kinds of expensive
fur-Russian sable, natural black fox
and sea otter. But it is not the lining
only that makes coat expensive.
The trimming is another very valuahlc
often the most valuablc-part. Take
a set of Russian sable tails; that alone
costs $4,000, nor is this surprising,
since we pay s40O for one tiny skin ~
1t comes to us straight from Russia, in
an unpreparcd state"
Then, what constitutes such sct?"
Simply plain front, collar and
cuffs, and deep garnitnre roand the
coat. But remember how many tails
go to such q set, and remember, also,
that this is the most beautiful fur that
oo,1Id noScih1r he had -"
81 suppose coat like this lasts for
cver?n
''It does last for many years, unless
ladies are careless with it. But il YOU
give them very hard wear and neglect
them, it is only natural that they
should soon be spoilt."
'But what about changes in fashion?
Is the $1,000 fur coat worn whether it
is made fashionable or not?"
"0h, no; n great number of these
coats come back to us every year TO
be altered according to the latest
fashion,"
Are your customers of this class
very fastidious and troublesome about
these costly garlnents?"
mo, not in the very least. OF course,
there may be exceptions occasionally,
but, on the whole, these ladies are far
easier to please than many. They have
confidence in us; they know that the
firm would supply nothing but what
was thoroughly good and genuine. 1t
is the people who want an ancient seal
skin jacket altered, or something of
that kind, who often prove the most
troublesome. They seem to think that
we can put the fur back ON the animal,
and turn il, from being worn and rot
ten, into new material. We do any
thing which it is possible to do but to
turn old fur into new is beyond the
limitation of even the cleverest fur
rier."
ITO return to the splendid paupers'
fur. What constitutes complete
wardrobe of furs9"
"a long coat, q short one, perhaps a
third, trimmed with fur, and muff
and cape, Such wardrobe is worth
several thousands, and you would be
surprised to know how many ladies
have such wardrobe. They look upon
seems. / know one customer of ours
whose wardrobe of fur is worth S15 900
and only the other day we mndc coat
for $4,000, and the trimming for the
coat OF another lady cost 5000"
"Then about fur coats for men. II
looks as II they were becoming more
popular. Is that sop
te fta1 a,tx.
years ago Englishmen seemed ashamed
to wear fur coats, and If you saw q man
in such n coat you sot him down al
once to be either an actor, an artist oI
foreigner. That is no longer so, al.
though there arc still a good many men
who are q little shy about tho matter
They want fur coat, bat they don't
want it to be recognized rs such. Sc
they have cont lined with fur, but
they don't have fur collar or cuffs
And since we have made it for years q
special feature to make fur coats lit, il
is quite possible for u man to wear q
fur-lined overcoat that looks exactly
like an ordinary overcoat.
"rhc majority of mon, however, dc
not mind it being noticed that they
wear fur coats. And why should thcyI
Surelya man who goes out to his clut
or to dinner at night, in evening dress
which is much thinner than the clothes
he wears during the day, requires q fun
coat. But mems coats are far less ex.
pensive than ladies' We make them
up to $4,000 or $4,000, but we also sell
good coats, lined with muslSrat (which
Is the best fur for wear), ut $50. That
is our cheapest coat. The average price
man pays is from $3.50 to $500, but
there again the collar and cuffs form
an important part of the value"
TEABERRY JACK.