Vintage Shearling – Men’s And Women’s Coats And Jacket Styles
September 16, 2015You’ll know from this blog that this autumn there’s going to be a lot of shearling going on, for both men and women.And it doesn’t have to be brand new either, to fall in with this autumns coat trend you can go with vintage shearling and in this week’s post we’re going to take a look at what you should be looking out for.
Vintage Shearling is best
What exactly is shearling?
There’s dyed shearling or plain shearling and you can wear it as a jacket or as a full length coat. But what is shearling exactly?
Although some of you may be familiar with the term, for those that aren’t, shearling is the skin of a lamb or sheep that’s been dyed with the wool still attached.There’s suede on one side and fur on the other.Normally, a coat or jacket would be worn with the fur on the inside and the suede part on the outside.
If you don’t like wearing real fur or sheepskin for whatever reasons, you can wear one made from synthetic fibres.The quality is no less than what you’d get from a real sheepskin coat, if you buy from a quality label.
Wear it well, but check for quality
Wear it as a trim, on a collarless coat or all over shearling.As long as it has shearling there’s no reason why you should have to follow a particular trend.
Having said that, do be careful of vintage shearling, don’t buy the first thing you see that catches your eye.There is nothing worse than old, tatty, worn out and faded shearling/suede.
Any shape or length
Keep an eye out for strong shapes on jackets and coats.What condition is the collar, has it kept its colour well over the years?
A vintage shearling, if it’s not been cared for will certainly look awful, as it needs a great deal of care to keep it in pristine condition.
As you can imagine, anything that’s sheepskin, suede or shearling is going to be pricey even if it’s vintage.You need to think about how much you want to pay and where and when you’re going to wear it.
Richard Byrd wearing flight_jacket – 1920s
It’s graded so look out for that
Apparently all sheepskin fabric is graded for quality, which is referred to as a seed, from one to five, if it has a 1 one it means the fabric is free of contamination, a five means it has hard seeds embedded in it.
This is fascinating stuff and certainly not something I’m familiar with, but it does provide a useful guide when shopping for vintage shearling.
Vintage Shearling can be worn any time of year
Shearling isn’t shaved wool, but has gone through the process of shearing which gives it its uniformity.It will only happen once and then the pelts are tanned.
They can deflect as well as retain moisture, so you could possibly wear them in warmer weather, such as during the spring, as well as during the colder months.
Looking for good quality vintage shearling
So if you’d rather do vintage shearling than brand new high street shearling, look high and low and everywhere in-between.Examine the garment, check the inside as well as the outside and don’t buy until you’re 100% sure.
Once you’ve made your purchase and it’s a good quality garment, your shearling number should last throughout autumn, winter of 2015 and every year after that.
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