The Big Freeze

The Big Freeze is hitting Europe. Since Friday, the media has been whipping itself up into a frenzy that very soon, the snow, ice and Big Freeze that is paralysing mainland Europe is going to hit the UK. Starting Saturday night, apparently.

As I have blogged before, I hate the snow, but getting some of the white stuff shouldn't be quite so newsworthy. After all, it is February, traditionally the worst month of the year for weather and the dullest month of the year altogether. The trouble is, it's not consistent in this country how much of it we get, when or indeed whether we will get any at all.

So far as I can see the only benefit of the snow is that I get to wear my fur coat for practical reasons which, regardless of your stance on animal cruelty, you will not be able to deny. I'm as soppy as anyone about being nice to all varieties of our four legged friends, but I had always hankered after a real fur coat and when I got the chance a few years ago (I got paid for doing a show in a nice lump sum) I blew the lot and some savings on a 3/4 length mink with a red fox fur collar. It's beautiful, warm, and makes me feel like a million dollars. And yes, before anyone starts to lecture me I know that deep down, it's probably wrong and a Bad Thing to be proud about possessing.

The whole fur debate was started up again a couple of years ago when we got the first lot of very harsh winter weather for about a decade. That was the first weekend of February too. Several designers started using it in their next autumn/winter collections, and all of a sudden it was fashionable again. I've never shied away from wearing it when it's cold enough and so far (fingers crossed) no one has thrown paint over me. Most people either think its a very good fake from Top Shop, or don't bat an eyelid because they have one in the back of the wardrobe too.

There are some things I would never wear because I don't agree with how the pelt is obtained or because the animal is endangered. Big cat fur, for instance, should be illegal as numbers in the wild are so small, and I would never wear sealskin because all the time I would be seeing pictures of those doe eyed babies being bludgeoned by some burly Canadian hunter. But mink is farmed, killed humanely and plentiful and, if let loose in the countryside, is vermin. Wearing mink is no different to wearing leather or suede. Foxes also are plentiful and by and large killed quickly and humanely (forget about those stories of foxes being pulled to pieces by Beagles - they're rubbish. Foxes killed for fur are shot with high calibre rifles and die instantly; all those doggie teeth would ruin the fur). Of course that doesn't mean we can go around and take another creatures' lives willy nilly, but some are worse than others.

So if the Big Freeze does strike I will be wearing my fur this weekend, the same as millions of others that live in cold climates do every day. It will keep me warm far more effectively than any manufactured fabric can, and I'll feel great. You wear what you want, but the mink is mine!