The Best Faux Fur for Fall 2010

It's finally under 90 degrees outside and I've had a request to discuss faux fur options. While I am a die hard real fur fan (bad joke), I am 100% behind the faux fur that is everywhere this fall/winter. While you may think that this post is ridic-io here in sweaty Texas then I implore you to wait one minute sir or madam because fashion, I'll be the first to admit, is not always about what is practical (please see the shoes in my closet). However, someday soon the temps will dip below 50 degrees and we'll all reach for our gloves and big coats and our friends up north will simply chuckle at how wimpy we are. Chuckle away folks, it may be colder where you are in comparison, but we are happier and have better tans. I bid you a good day sir. 

So, if you'd rather go naked than wear fur (thanks PETA), you're in luck. This fall, faux fur is everywhere. Many fashion mags include spreads spotlighting faux-fur coats and other creations - boots, purses, hats, etc. Even uber designer Karl Lagerfeld featured head-to-toe fake fur in his fall collection for Chanel (remember the Chanel Yeti Chic?):

Chanel F/W 2010

"Technical advances are so perfect you can hardly tell fake fur from the real thing," says Lagerfeld. "Fake is not chic ... but fake fur is."

Urban Outfitter's Faux Fur Purse

Whether it's a sign of a slow economic recovery (fake fur is considerably cheaper than the "real thing") or a nod to the growing "eco-fashion" movement it hardly matters. Thanks to a serious upgrade in the quality and varying styles of faux fur once what seemed ridiculous is now looking downright legit. 

Forever 21's faux fur's come a long way

My advice for buying faux fur is go for quality over quantity. If you are going to go faux make sure you get the best faux for your dough because it will make all the difference in blurring the lines between real and fake. Let's be honest: Forever 21 (or what I like to call Forever 24) faux fur looks and feels cheap and plastic-y (left), but the faux fur that Rachel Zoe uses in her QVC line is downright luxurious (right). 

Rachel Zoe's Faux Fur Vest

It has the texture, depth and glossiness of real fur - it is twice the cost of the Forever 21 version but that is still well under $100. Most importantly, and this is kooky, I'll admit it, you need to really smell fake fur before you buy it because sometime the cheap stuff has this smell and when you wear it and you sweat the smell starts to emanate and not in a good way either, trust me.

So, Texans be smart and get yourself a vest or a jacket with a faux fur lapel. I am partial to Zara's versions (left), which now has a website with search-able items, but alas, you cannot purchase anything online much to my chagrin - my wallet is grateful though. 

Zara's Interpretation of Yeti Chic

These partial fur items will keep you from sweating up a storm in your new duds here in Texas where we may get a freeze in January of 2011? Happy shopping this trend - it's a keeper - here are some more options of faux fury items I'm totes-mcgotes into:

Zara's Short Sleeved Fur Coat - perf for TX winters

Asos' $33 Snood (scarf + hood = Snood)