South Bend news-times., 1915-10-05
Some Fur Fabrics
That Resemble Fur
Clever Materials Not on
Market as limitations. Have
Merits of Their Own.

At the Ritz-Carleton hotel in New
York. there was held recently an eX-
hibition OF garments made Of fur fab
rics"-material so finished as to re-
semble fur and possessing a high de-
gree of beauty. Ightness of weight and
durability Many women who, from
humanitarian or financial reasons, do
not wear fur coats in the winter sea-
son, will welcome these most success
full substitutes for the skins of ami
mails. especially since every good quail
ity of the real fur has apparently been
achieved by the manufacturers.
Although these fur fabrics so closely
resemble the genuine skin that in
some cases IL is hardly possible to de-
tect the difference, they ere in no
sense near furs" nor are they ''imi-
tation fur" intended TO deceive either
the purchaser or the public. They are
frankly introduced as cloth substitutes
for fur. and are really simply an out
growth and a development of their
modest beginning year or two ago in
the form Of plush-finished materials.
wool duvetyns, cloth chinchillas and
other fabrics having a rough surface
resembling short-haired furs. They
are given names which separate them
entirely from the class of limitations
that sometimes spring up in the wake
of genuine articles.
At the Carleton exhibition, one
of the most interesting fabrics was
'1apinex," a dark, silky. furry material
so cleverly approXimating seal that to
the incXpert eye 1t would appear to be
seal. In texture, lightness and beauty,
it left nothing to be desired. 1t was
made up into a long coat on the new
flare" model. a three-quarter length
garment measuring four TO four and a
half yards around the bottom, and
semi-fitted, with q wide self belt at
the sides closing over box plaits. A
stand-up collar and cuffs of real fitch
completed the coat, but il would have
been quite as handsome without the
actual fur; and in fact there are sub
stitutes for trimmings which are be-
ing very widely used The brilliant
searchlight thrown on models at such
exhibitions as this fell full OH this coat
and it had every appearance of rich
color good quality and lightness; yet
it was destined to retail for only $25.
II had been awarded a prize for its
practicability and style. Its manufac-
turer-and all these fur fabrics are
made in America-was most emphatic
in insisting that the material be given
its trade name, as he did not want to
was intended TO pass for fur.
Another material, even more beau
tiful and satisfactory, was a fabric
called "neutria," made to resem BILE
beaver. The color and texture of this
cloth were so perfect that although
the coat was worn with a hat made of
real beaver. it was almost impossible
TO tell them apart without touching
them. The box coat is 80 inches long,
with two bands of fiat fur across the
back and a collar and narrow cuffs
of the same fur. In many cases the
fur fabric is trimmed with the genuine
fur, but it is possible 10 get garments
made entirely of the fabric Muffs Of
the "lapinex' and "neutria' are quite
as rich looking and serve their pur-
pose fully as we'll as those made of |
animal skins. "PolareX" is another
fabric which resem bles seal This is
considerably used for trimmings, and /
for muffs and neckpieces.
There is scarcely a fur on the mar |
ket that has not been reproduced more |
or less successfully in these fur fab |
RIGS The short-haired furs are of |
course more easily simulated, the seal |
and beaver being notably good; but |
the leopard and tiger skins have been !
tried with some degree of success, and |
fitch has been initiated so well that it |
can be distinguished only by touching /
it. Russian krimmer, which is eX-
ceedingly popular this year. is another 1
fur which has been so we'll copied in \
the fabric that only an expert can tell /
the difference. Persian lamb, pony /
skin, monkey skin and mole skin all |
come in cloth materials quite as beau
tiful as the originals.