A mink coat is a purchase that is not made for one year. That is why purchasing such a product requires a responsible approach. Having bought something you like, you need to be completely sure that you will not return it back to the store in the coming days. Only a very high-quality and beautiful thing will delight and warm its owner for several seasons.
Criterias of choice
When planning to buy fur clothing, you need to answer some questions for yourself . An important role in this case will be played by the appearance and body type of the future owner, her lifestyle and fashion trends. You should not discount your material well-being, as well as the opinion of experts.
Think about the purpose for which you plan to buy a fur coat? Will it be clothes for every day or for “getting out of the limousine”.
Think about how you will wear this fur coat . A model for traveling on public transport and for going out are not the same thing.
In addition, decide how much you can spend on such a purchase and where exactly you will purchase it. If you are a resident of Siberia or another northern region, it is better to give preference to warm varieties of mink and elongated clothing models. Residents of the southern regions can also consider shorter models made from light varieties of fur.
Active car ladies will feel uncomfortable in a toe-length fur coat. In addition, such an outfit will very quickly lose its attractiveness.
For frequent trips on minibuses and the subway, you should not choose light-colored clothes.
How to choose a mink coat? Expert advice will help you avoid mistakes and buy a truly high-quality product.
Color nuances
When choosing a mink coat, you need to decide on your color preferences. There are two main standard fur colors: dark brown and black. But thanks to the hard work of breeders, many new and varied undertones and shades have appeared, allowing you to choose a product to suit your taste. It can be either silver-blue, steel, platinum, beige, light brown, or completely white and even marble color. There may be light or dark inclusions and spots at the ends of the hairs.
And although there are extremely many options for mink colors today, it is worth considering that fur can often be subject to additional dyeing at the factory. Both darkening and lightening of the hairline are used. In the latter case, the mink acquires a golden, copper or bronze color, which it does not have in nature.
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Advantages of a mink coat
Mink is a very popular fur among women of all ages. Why is he so attractive to beautiful fashionistas?
- Mink has a very expensive look. High-quality fur will decorate any woman, especially if you choose the right color scheme to match your individual look.
- Mink products are practical and versatile. You can wear such fur coats both daily and on special occasions. It is very easy to choose shoes and accessories for mink.
- Durability - a good mink coat can last up to 10 years.
- It is from this fur that fur coats of a wide variety of styles can be sewn. Modern fashion designers offer a wide selection of models and styles of mink outerwear.
- Although mink fur is very thin, it perfectly protects from frost and helps to keep warm. This is confirmed by a large number of women. However, if you plan to wear mink in very harsh climates, think about the style and length of the item.
How to distinguish a real mink
There are several signs on how to choose a good mink coat :
- If you lightly scrunch the fur in your hands, it will be quite tough, but by no means prickly. Fur that is too soft is most likely a dyed rabbit. The spiky fur makes one suspicious of a marmot.
- In mink fur, the length of all guard hairs is the same. This is how the mink differs from the marmot, whose guard hairs have different lengths.
- Mink fur is very flexible and easily returns to its original shape when wrinkled. Coarse hairs and flesh that puffs up may belong to the Mongolian marmot - tarbagan. This often happens when buying Chinese fur coats.
- In addition to obvious fakes, you can purchase fur of very low quality, which is passed off as expensive and of high quality. To avoid this, you need to inspect the core of the product - if it has not been painted, the core will be light.
- Expensive, high-quality fur will have dense and dense fur. If you part the pile and examine the downs, you can evaluate the quality of the fur. A low-quality product will have thin and sparse down, and the core will be translucent.
Be very careful when purchasing a fur coat. Hair should never fall off. In addition, the seams should not be felt.
Among other things, they may sell you a fur coat from a manufacturer other than the one you are counting on. Carefully examine the lining pattern, labels and patches. If they are sewn carelessly or do not look authentic, it may be better to discard such a product.
Characteristics of overstretched material
The quality of the fur coat is also affected by whether the skins were stretched too much or not. Often, manufacturers of fur products resort to this trick in order to reduce the cost of the item. Of course, an overstretched skin is much worse than an ordinary skin in all its characteristic features.
Signs of overstretching:
- lack of thickness and density in the undercoat;
- hair follicles can be felt with fingers;
- the leather base is thin and rough, visually similar to a grater.
Excessively stretched skins do not have strength, and the leather base of such fur does not retain the guard hairs and undercoat.
Determining the quality of fur
The next step when choosing a fur coat is determining the quality of the fur . You can iron the product against the lint - high-quality mink very quickly returns to its original appearance. If the pile stands upright and does not want to restore its original position, its quality leaves much to be desired.
Criteria for quality fur:
- If you carefully examine the skin, there should be a light fluff on its surface. A mink coat must have it. If it is not available, it is better to refuse the purchase.
- A very important quality of fur is its strength. You can lightly shake the fur or tug the lint. If hairs fall from the product, this is a sign of violations in the production of fur or in the technology of its storage. Such outerwear will very quickly lose its attractiveness.
- A very important criterion when evaluating fur outerwear is the quality of the seams. To do this, you should study the reverse side. Typically, manufacturers producing expensive and high-quality mink outerwear leave part of the lining unsewn so that the reverse side can be assessed. If all the seams of the product are completely and tightly closed, you should think about the quality of this fur coat.
How to choose the right color
When choosing the color of a fur coat, you should first of all focus on your taste preferences. However, there are some objective criteria that need to be taken into account when choosing the color of a product. The right color of a fur coat will help the product look even more advantageous.
- If the fur is too dark in color, it may be dyed or too old.
- Unpainted flesh has a light color and a characteristic shine. The inside of the skin remains soft and elastic.
- A dyed fur coat will have dark skin - this can be easily checked by carefully examining the skin under the undercoat.
- Check the quality of the paint as well. To do this, you can lightly rub the pile with a clean, light-colored napkin and make sure that there are no traces of paint or falling hairs left on it.
- It should be noted that the coloring of a mink product in itself does not represent anything criminal. Fashion is very changeable, and depending on the season, certain shades of fur coats gain popularity. It’s a different matter when dyed fur is passed off as another, higher quality one and they charge much more money for it.
- Additionally, when choosing mink outerwear, you need to think about how long you plan to wear it. If a fur coat is made from high quality raw materials, it can serve its owner for 10 or 12 years. If you plan to purchase a product for a couple of seasons, you can choose a fur coat of the most incredible shade. However, for long-term use, it is better to take a closer look at things in natural tones - they will never go out of fashion. The same applies to the style of purchased outerwear.
An equally important factor when choosing a fur coat is the shine of the product. High quality natural fur will shine and shimmer beautifully over the entire surface. This outfit will retain its attractiveness for a long time and will delight and decorate its owner. And it doesn’t matter whether the product is painted or has a natural color - the pile in any case should have a beautiful shine.
To choose the color of a fur product according to your appearance , you can use the advice of experts:
- Women with a “spring and autumn” type of appearance are well suited to warm colors - orange, beige and pistachio, pinkish.
- Fashionable women with a “winter” appearance and “summer women” will look good in cold shades - gray, blue, greenish, chocolate.
- Universal colors that suit absolutely everyone are black and white.
- It is very important to remember that color has the function of modeling a figure. Plus-size ladies will look slimmer in black or chocolate-colored fur coats. Slim women can choose a product in lighter shades.
The right approach
Fur is capricious by nature and over time can acquire a yellowish tint, and this process, unfortunately, is irreversible. Yellowing is most noticeable on light-colored fur.
How to choose a mink coat correctly so as not to get into trouble? When purchasing, you should especially carefully inspect the product in artificial and daylight. Remember that there should not be even a hint of yellowness on the new fur coat. And this is noticeable only when comparing light models, since against the background of dark ones the difference will not be so obvious. Snow-white mink is certainly beautiful. This model makes you a fragile and beautiful Snow Maiden, but this happiness will not last very long.
In just 2-3 seasons, the product will acquire an unpleasant yellowish tint. Which mink coat is best to choose in this case? Perhaps the beige option is suitable for you, since such fur ages unnoticed and looks more noble. The mysterious and unearthly shade of blue mink is very ambiguous, as it rarely suits anyone, but it magically transforms a woman into a real queen. If this shade suits you, then you will make a great impression at any meeting.
Black fur coats are a timeless classic, so if you are looking for a universal option, then buy this model. Remember that mink is dyed not only for aesthetic purposes, but also in an attempt to hide defects in the skins.
Light mink, which is respectfully called white gold, is often subject to bleaching, which makes it less durable. But dark fur coats may cost you a little more, because there is a strange stereotype regarding the price, according to which black fur is more durable. Sellers who give advice on how to choose the right mink coat may turn out to be unscrupulous and pass off a dyed walnut mink as a black one. The difference doesn’t seem to be that big, but deception is still deception. It is unlikely that you will want to get into such a story.
How to choose the right mink coat
In addition to the authenticity and quality of fur, there are many more nuances that you should pay attention to when purchasing a fur product:
- Workmanship. Pay attention to whether the fur coat is sewn from pieces or from solid plates. This can be determined with the naked eye.
- Examine the seams on the back surface - they should be smooth and of high quality without any defects. Make sure that there are no traces of glue on the surface of the fabric and the flesh. Typically, glued mink is not of high quality.
- The modern fur market offers budget options for products sewn crosswise, when the fur plates are positioned horizontally. Typically, such products have a lower price. If you're on a budget, you can buy a nice, good quality crossbar.
- When choosing outerwear, pay attention to the manufacturer. The most popular models are from Italy, Greece, Russia, Turkey, and China.
- Don't forget that free cheese can most often be found in mousetraps. Mink fur is very valuable, so such a product cannot be cheap. If you buy a fur coat at an extremely low price, then you should expect the same quality. Focus on the price range of at least 70 to 100 thousand rubles.
- The place where fur coats are sold is also an important indicator. If you decide to go shopping at the nearest market, there is a high probability of purchasing a “pig in a poke.” In order to protect yourself from such developments, it is best to contact a specialized fur salon. You can study reviews from other customers, chat with friends and acquaintances, read forums on the Internet. In addition, a self-respecting salon will definitely provide certificates for its products upon your request.
Word of mouth
Agree, it’s nice to leave the house in a luxurious fur coat on a frosty day, catch the envious admiring glances of others, and feel like a real woman who deserves gifts and compliments! A long-awaited purchase will bring more joy if it collects the required number of reviews from your friends and acquaintances. After all, public opinion is an incredibly powerful engine of trade. Last but not least, thanks to him, the mink coat became a symbol of success.
How to choose the right mink coat? Reviews from experienced buyers can only confuse, because it doesn’t happen all the time. At one point of sale, someone came across a fur coat with some fur coming out, and someone else couldn’t get enough of their fluffy jacket for more than one season. Therefore, reviews from amateurs should be taken into account only at the final stage of selection in order to decide between controversial options.
There will be more sales points in large cities. At your request, the store must present a certificate for sale and tell you what furs are used in production. It is best to visit a retail outlet with an expert who can tell you whether the sellers are telling the truth and how to choose the right mink coat without fear.
It should be noted that there are no absolute advantages to any shade of fur coat. You must decide this yourself, based on which item suits you most.
Professionals recommend storing light-colored items in a case. In general, mink should be protected from direct sunlight and worn carefully, because it is not a jacket that can be sewn up and dry cleaned without fear. A mink coat after repair may look impeccable, but an unpleasant aftertaste will significantly spoil your pleasure from wearing it. If you can afford such luxury, then take care of purchasing and installing a fur refrigerator. Then the product will not turn yellow for a very long time. If this is too costly for you, then it doesn’t matter - in large cities such a service is provided for a fee.
Choice of style and size
Remember about the style and the correct size . When choosing a style, take into account your height, figure features and do not forget about your own taste preferences.
Think about whether it’s worth choosing trendy models if you won’t be able to buy yourself a new fur coat next season. It might be better to stick with the classic model. Such styles are best suited for business status ladies. And girls and young women who prefer a free style of clothing can afford to follow fashion trends.
If you are not tall , you should not choose toe-length fur coat models. Such products are more suitable for tall women - they will look luxurious on them.
Ladies with curvy figures are well suited for flared styles - they will help disguise excess volume.
Choosing the right size is a question that causes bewilderment and confusion for many. In this matter, it is best to listen to your inner feelings. Put on a fur coat and walk around in it, raise your hands, feel it for yourself. If you feel obvious discomfort, this size and style is unlikely to be for you.
Characteristics of individual categories
A normal factory fur coat has a certificate that specifies the categories of skins used in sewing.
Category | Material length (in cm) | Material width (in cm) |
"A" | Above 70 | 7.5 and wider |
"B" | 65-70 | 7 |
Large | 54-65 | 6,5 |
Average | 47-54 | 6 |
Small | 40-47 | 5 |
Sawed-off shotgun | Less than 40 | Less than 5 |
When sewing a fur coat, skins of different categories are used. But they are all stated in the certificate that comes with the product.