My love affair with (Blue) Iris continues ...

[JGalanos]

I stopped by a furrier in a (for lack of a better term at the moment) predominantly African American neighborhood of Chicago this past weekend. It was my first time to visit both the neighborhood and the furrier. The men's fur variety was not great -- They primarily carried mink and beaver -- But the mink styles and color spectrum was decent. I tried on full length beaver, Blue Iris mink, ranch mink, mahogany mink, and American Legend ranch mink coats. I also tried on Blue Iris mink, mahogany mink, ranch mink and Blackglama ranch mink jackets. The American Legend and Blackglama garments were superb (as you would expect) but my favorites were the Blue Iris garments -- Especially the bomber style jacket I tried on in a rich, deep blue color. I'm just going to have to break down and get one of them one of these days.

[mailonfurs]

Blue Iris is one of my favorites too. This is why we work too much with it too. I just love the colour.

[RonGav]

J- you are SO bad !

[Furbabe]

I have a full length blue iris which I wore to an upscale restaurant in downtown Los Angeles

one cold Friday evening in January. The maitre d' smiled and said, "Your coat is gorgeous. I'm so glad you're here." Maybe he was happy because it seemed to be a slow night, but I'd like to believe that the coat really made a difference in this darkwood, art deco setting. Other people seemed to be dressed appropriately but my fur coat was the only one in the place as far as I could see. After I got home I gave it a hug and an "air-kiss" before putting it away. BTW, re: the furrier in the Chicago African American community, African Americans seem to be big consumers of fur and most, thankfully, seem to be free of the toxic animal "rights"-itis and anti-furitis bacilli.

[DKMain]

I worked briefly for a major furrier in New York City a few years ago as a seasonal salesman at a temporary store location in a suburban mall, just outside of the city limits, out on Long Island. The clientele there was overwhelmingly black, as was the patronage of the mall itself. I was told by the company's manager, however, that they also made up close to half of all of the company's business, despite being barely over a quarter of the city's population, and a much smaller portion of the population in the metropolitan area at large, and having lesser disposable incomes than practically any other demographic group. People tend to show what they value, and how much, by how they choose to spend their money-- and expend their credit. We had people with horrific credit constantly applying to buy furs on credit at outsized interest rates, and being turned down-- which, of course, just made their credit history even worse the next time that they had such an irresistable impulse. Furbabe is quite right, also, that blacks are almost invisible in the animal-rights universe, as they are among environmentalists. Anyway, as a former denizen of L.A., as well, Furbabe, the maitre d' might well have been speaking for himself, rather than for the sake of the establishment!?! I do miss strolling through Beverly Hills, past the likes of Somper Furs (now relocated to L.A. proper, it seems), Revillon (long-closed, I believe), Edwards-Lowell Furs, et al.

[Furbabe]

I have shopped at, and I store some furs at Edwards-Lowell. Somper has moved from Canon Drive in Beverly Hills to a less elegant location in L.A. I bought a huge fur flower from them two months ago. Dicker and Dicker is still in Beverly Hills and Canoga Park (the latter location is also home to Last Chance for Animals or some similar AR organization-ugh!) along with two other smaller B.H. furriers I haven't visited: D. Arpel and Flyer Furs. In L.A. there's Somper, Furs by Lafayette, Emba in Koreatown, and several showrooms in a single downtown building. At one time I stored with Revillon until they closed and Edwards-Lowell took over.

[Furbabe]

Oops! Correction needed. That other small Beverly Hills furrier is David Appell. I think they have a website.

[DKMain]

My recollection from the mid-'90s is that Dicker & Dicker-- which many older fans will recall as sponsoring fur give-aways on "Let's Make a Deal" and other game shows of the 1960s and '70s, before the likes of Bob Barker went over to the dark side in the 1980s-- had a store on the second floor, which made it not amenable to window shopping, unlike Somper and Revillon and others in that luxurious (and uxorious!) neck of the woods. I recall that Revillon was also on South Robertson, as Dicker & Dicker still is, but just off of the corner of Wilshire, next to some bank!?! Even with the fur district in Manhattan, I still have a soft spot for Beverly Hills and the good old days!