NYC-NJ Furriers: A Short Trip Report

[samurman]

About 3 weeks ago, just before Thanksgiving, I had the chance to go visit several furriers in NYC "fur district" as well as the Flemington Furs in NJ. My intention was to shop for a full length fur coat for myself, preferably mink but possibly fox. In general, while it was great fun, I had been expecting to see and try more men's furs than I actually did. Here is a short summary of what I experienced in some of the stores:

 

- Henry Cowit/Madison Avenue Furs (151 W29th St): I was greeted by a very helpful associate named Mitch. Although the place was full of great women's furs, he took me to a backroom where there was (only) a rack of men's furs, mostly mink bomber jackets, as would prove to be typical in many other places. They were mostly plus size furs, but there was one very nice mahogany mink jacket that fit me well and was priced just north of 2 grand. I was told they could custom design a coat to my liking easily.

 

- Fur Warehouse or NY Fur Wholesalers: These two places are next to each other at 208 and 210 West 29th Street. Either one was one of the best places for men's furs. I put on a fantastic fisher coat. It was the first time I experienced fisher, and now, along with crystal fox, it tops my want list. The coat was quite big for my size, but it felt wonderful. I was really tempted to buy that coat, but it required a lot of resizing, and I was not sure how it would end up. It was knee length and the pelts were just beautiful. There was a similar fisher coat with crocodile details and a fisher bomber jacket, but the first coat was the one that stole my heart. I tried a knee length sheared mink coat, and it was very smart and formal.

 

- The Fur Studio (216 W 30th St): I tried a number of great furs here. There was a crystal fox parka with hood and it was soo fluffy and puffy! And mink jackets and coyote parkas. But the best of them was a lynx jacket. It was the first time I put on lynx fur and it was quite good. Actually, the colour and the pattern of the fur first led me into thinking it must be wolf or coyote, but I was mistaken and I think the reason is that the coat was not made from whole pelts but some pieces. I can usually tell the difference right away but it must have been pieced together expertly. Anyway, they offered it at a very good price, about $2300 and I was again tempted and it took some courage to leave that fur. There was also a a knee length coat made from sable pieces (or paws?). The fur was very smooth and the colour was a beautiful chestnut brown, but the pieces were in horizontal strips and the coat did not look so good.

 

- USA Furs by George (212 W 30th St): Again, they had lots of mink bomber jackets, mostly in plus sizes. I suppose the men's fur market today mostly caters to black guys and they tend to be quite huge fellows:)

 

- Kaufman Furs: I had very high expectations from Kaufman's, but I was disappointed to find that they could only offer shearlings and fur lined leather coats.

 

- The Fur Palace: Just like Kaufman, they could only show me fur lined raincoats and reversible fur lined leather coats.

 

- Hennessey-Webfurs: I was a bit intimidated by the 345 7th Street building. Following my notes, I tried a floor number (I guess it was 5th floor) in the elevator but that number would not light up. And when I tried an exit door at a floor, an alarm bell started ringing-apparently it was only for emergencies! So I had to cut short my exploration of the building. I visited webfurs in 3rd floor, but I was told they had only two or three men's furs at the moment. The owner (I suppose) said "in September I had more than 10 men's fur coats, but it is nearly December. I have sent them all." As noted by many people before in various threads, most places in this building seem to be wholesale shops, so I think timing and some knowledge of the fur business are essential.

 

- Juliana Furs: On the 2nd floor of 224 West 29th Street, Juliana is a charming old Italian lady. Though her store is just a small room, I tried a hooded coyote parka, a coyote vest, a dyed fox vest and a sheared nutria lined cashmere coat. Her prices were very reasonable as well. The vests when worn on top of a black leather jacket look beautiful, smart and very chic. Next to Juliana's, there was a Guilana Teso "sample sale" going on, and I would very much have liked to have a look, but I did not have time unfortunately.

 

- Macy's Fur Vault: I was not impressed by the Fur Vault at all. I mean, when someone says "Fur Vault" I expect a place bursting with fur coats, even in overhead racks, and in the past it may well have been so, but compared to other sections in the Macy's, the room designated as "Fur Vault" could easily accomodate twice the number of furs that were present.

 

I also had the chance to drive up to Flemington, NJ for Flemington Furs. The town, especially the historic center is old and cute, and I suspect a very touristy place, and it was great to see Flemington Furs featured prominently in the street signs showing directions to the store. Flemington Furs is a certainly large place, but unfortunately, when I was led to the "Gentlemen's quarter" more than half of the space was devoted to shearlings and leather. Still, Terri, the sales associate, showed me a few very nice fur jackets, a sheared beaver and a sheared mink jacket and another great looking fisher. There was a dyed raccoon coat that looked somewhat like silver fox. I also visited the associated used fur store "Fur Exchange" nearby. There were some incredible full length power foxes, a cross fox, a crystal fox and a few blue foxes and they were all priced very reasonably (around $1200), but unfortunately they only had a coyote coat and three fur lined leather jackets for men:( Besides the full length coats, they also had several beautiful golden island and platinum fur strollers for women, again very reasonably priced (around $800). One golden island stroller (or jacket) I almost bought for my wife.

 

One observation about NYC furriers: I knew beforehand that Greeks (or Greek Americans) were big players in the NYC fur district, but I was surprised to find them speaking Greek among themselves! I mean, I would assume they would have "melted" in the great American melting pot, but I was pleased to see them keeping their traditions, and possibly contacts with the Kastoria furriers, intact. Although some of the business owners in the places I visited were Greek, they either employed women or African American men as sales assistants, and I think this says something about their clientele. I also had a feeling that for a middle to upper class American couple, the fur district might not be the first address to go shopping for a glamorous fur coat; there was a sense of wholesaler or bargain attitude in the air. I mean, a tourist stepping into Manhattan for the first time at Penn Station and going around 7th street may completely miss the fur district. I saw a number of huge signs on some of the buildings advertising some long gone furriers but these signs had all faded or been painted over, so it is clear a long time ago this place was even more of a hub than it is today.

 

In summary, the highlight of my trip must be my discovery of fisher as an extremely beautiful fur. I should also note that full length coats and foxes were pretty much out of question for men's furs, which usually meant mink jackets or bomber jackets, or coyote. Many places made it very clear there was a room of bargaining for the prices they quoted me and many places tried to steer me towards having a custom made fur.

 

Finally, in the one and a half day that I devoted to this fur trip, I tried on a lot of furs and it was great fun, and I learned a thing or two about the fur district in NYC. But I am also aware that as far as the fur district goes, I barely scratched its surface, as the buildings on W29th, W30th and the 7th streets clearly has lots of places dealing with various aspects of the fur business.

[Funinfox]

Thanks for telling us all about your trip around the furriers of New York. It was fascinating! I have been to New York several times myself and have allways been a bit nervous about going in. So it was interesting to find out what happens when you do go in.

 

When they say these furs are for men and these are for women what are the criteria for making those decisions? Is it style? size? or both? Would you only stick to furs that had been designated for men? Wouldn't it be possible to ask to try on a few "women's" coats and decide for yourself if they suited you or not?

 

Cheers

Funinfox

[paul2809]

I think the chance I had to Explore Morris Kay and Sons Furrier of San Antonio, Tx basically South Texas.

Very friendly people. They educated me quite well on the different furs. Let me try on a few minks. One of them was a gorgeous I mean gorgeous full lenght mahagony mink coat with a beautiful lining.. I tried on a few other minks, but that about all they had... they had a huge fox stole/boa up on the wall which I wanted to try to wear but that was ok. The Ladys let me wear the full lenght mink ... gawwd for almost an hour as I looked around and other ladies came in and loved me in it.... I have a pic on my facebook for any one who wants to see me in that full lenght mink... let me know for those that wanna see... I really enjoyed being in the furriers there in san antonio... they are my furrier of choice when it comes to fur buying unless I find a better deal online such as ebay or something like that..

 

like as some of you have said.... it was a medium sized furrier but nice ....

 

paul2809

[auzmink]

I have a Fisher full length coat.....it IS amazing...for me one step short of Sable......oh that Lotto..

 

Auzmink

[Aldhissla]

Samurman - Thank you very much for your report! Sounds like a nice trip!

[samurman]

Thanks for telling us all about your trip around the furriers of New York. It was fascinating! I have been to New York several times myself and have allways been a bit nervous about going in. So it was interesting to find out what happens when you do go in.

 

Most of the stores had this small area behind their front doors, covered in iron bars where you had to press a buzzer to be let in, and it is quite uncomfortable to be greeted this way, but again this is not restricted to fur salons, jewelry stores and other places selling expensive stuff also do that. Apart from that, once I got over the initial uneasiness, the whole experience was quite welcoming.

 

When they say these furs are for men and these are for women what are the criteria for making those decisions? Is it style? size? or both? Would you only stick to furs that had been designated for men? Wouldn't it be possible to ask to try on a few "women's" coats and decide for yourself if they suited you or not?

 

Cheers

Funinfox

 

Personally, I do not have much qualms about wearing a women's fur coat, but there are several issues with that. Firstly, none of the fur sellers ever asked me if I wanted to try on a fur coat designed primarily as a women's coat. Secondly, there are size issues. I own several women's fur coats that I bought over ebay, thinking they would fit me. At the time of purchase, I was primarily concerned with the chest size, and indeed those coats fit my chest. But then, their shoulders are too narrowly cut, and their sleeves are shorter for me as well. So, it is not easy to find a suitable match. Thirdly, I think there are certain designs that are not suitable for men. Spiral sleeves, diagonally placed pelts, certain collar designs come to my mind first. Some Italian fur strollers have horizontal pelts at the bottom, to increase the length of the coat, and I think they don't look good on men.

[White Fox]

Agree totally here. The style does not matter if the coat looks good on you.

 

Two coats I own have the so called "Tux" style with a hood. And they do both look good on me. Yet I would not have thought of that working for a man. Yet a lot of so called men's coats don't look good on me. If I go to a store and they are really big on having me try on "Men's" coats, I pretty much know that it is going to be a dead end with that store.

 

I think that a lot of furriers just think that men don't like to try on a woman's coat. So they don't like to suggest it as they think that would make the men feel uncomfortable.

 

There is a way to help this out. I've used often. If you are in a store and see something you might like to try. Just walk over and look at it. Start asking them what fur it is. etc. Often then they will mention that they could make you a coat in that fur. Then, just wait maybe 30 seconds more talking about it and say it is hard to tell how good it will look on you without trying a coat on. If the colour will good on you for instance. Ask if the coat would be big enough to try it on.

Often times then, you will be quickly trying on the coat. And once you have tried one on, you will probably be quickly trying on others. I do hate though with a passion where they do not write the size on the coat!

 

Again, it has nothing to do if the coat is for "Men" or "Women" on the rack. In fact I've had furriers tell me that a coat was ordered too large for most women so they reversed the buttons to try to sell it that way. All that counts is if it looks good on you.

 

I agree though as to the fur running horizontal on the bottom. Often done with white fox. I don't imagine that there would be many times that such a coat would look good on a man.