Fur help please - ermine or rabbit?

Discussion in 'PUBLIC Vintage Fashion - Ask Questions Get Answers' started by MagsRags, Jul 2, 2024 at 2:26 PM.

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  1. MagsRags

    MagsRags VFG President Staff Member

    The previous owner of this 1930s velvet evening jacket described the fur collar as ermine.
    furcollarjacket3.jpg

    I assumed she was mistaken and that it would be rabbit. I have no personal experience with ermine, but as I compare the images and the descriptions of ermine and rabbit in our Fur Resource with my eyes and my fingers, I am now wondering if it is actually ermine?
    furcollarclose.jpg

    It is very soft, fairly short, uniform in length, no guard hairs. Underlying skins getting a little crumbly here and there unfortunately.
     
    MagsRags, Jul 2, 2024 at 2:26 PM
    #1
  2. vintagedevotion

    vintagedevotion VFG Board Member

    Based on age and the look/feel, I think it might very well be ermine. Hopefully others will weigh in.
     
    vintagedevotion, Jul 2, 2024 at 3:46 PM
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  3. MagsRags

    MagsRags VFG President Staff Member

    Thanks, Terri.
     
    MagsRags, Jul 2, 2024 at 4:06 PM
    #3
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  4. Jonathan

    Jonathan VFG Member

    Rabbit should feel softer than ermine. Ermine should feel like mink. Problem is that rabbit is often sheared to emulate ermine. Also, one of the features of ermine is its black tipped tails, so without that feature, I would think this is rabbit sheared to look like ermine.
     
    Jonathan, Jul 2, 2024 at 5:28 PM
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  5. MagsRags

    MagsRags VFG President Staff Member

    But mink has guard hairs, yes?

    I definitely think of the black tipped tails when I picture ermine, but our fur resource has several all-white ermine examples, as well as an all-brown jacket, which I did not expect.
     
    MagsRags, Jul 2, 2024 at 6:38 PM
    #5
  6. Rue_de_la_Paix

    Rue_de_la_Paix VFG Member

    It looks more like rabbit than ermine, to me.
     
    Rue_de_la_Paix, Jul 2, 2024 at 6:39 PM
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  7. dollsntrolls

    dollsntrolls VFG Member

    I think it is sheared rabbit. They feel very, very similar, but while the actual hair on a rabbit feels thinner individually, it is much denser in quantity (both are fantastically butter-y soft). I was reading this and thinking, I should grab some pieces and take a picture. And, then I remembered I have a pile of "notions" behind me, at my desk.

    The pure white puffs are rabbit, the two-tone tails are ermine.

    IMG_3101.JPG IMG_3102.JPG IMG_3103.JPG IMG_3104.JPG
     
    dollsntrolls, Jul 2, 2024 at 7:38 PM
    #7
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  8. Jonathan

    Jonathan VFG Member

    Brown ermine is called summer ermine or stoat (the same animals are white in winter and brown in summer)
     
    Jonathan, Jul 2, 2024 at 10:05 PM
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  9. MagsRags

    MagsRags VFG President Staff Member

    Thanks, I didn't know that.
     
    MagsRags, Jul 2, 2024 at 10:16 PM
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