Everyone knows you should not wear real fur, right? Not necessarily, this is a political issue and genuine fur is still readily available in many types such as bear, beaver, coyote, fox, lynx, mink, muskrat, rabbit, raccoon, sheepskin, and wolf. It is used to make coats, shawls, stoles, hats, caps, scarves, gloves, rugs, pillow cases, furniture covers, and blankets.

While there are still people who buy it, this market has steadily decreased. Fashion designers, who used to only work with real fur, have succumbed to the pressure from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), to switch to faux fur instead. Many have felt PETA has valid points as the severe animal cruelty has been shown to occur, especially in China.

There's really no need to use animals to provide fur garments. Instead a synthetic immitation can be used. That means no animal has been raised and killed just for fashion. Let's say the slaughter of 30 cute animals to make you a coat doesn't sit well with your idea of a proper fashion item. How do you get the same look and feel? Fortunately, the technology of fabric creation has come to the rescue.

It used to be that fake fur looked cheap and was worn only by people that could not afford the real thing. There is a huge different in pricing for a real vs fake. A good fake coat may run in the few hundreds of dollars where the same cut in real fur will costs several thousands. Most man made animal coats are made from acrylics.

The best is made from cotton/wool blends. This is the same general type of material that has been used for years in the making of stuffed toys and animals. It is soft and can be dyed to match the colors and patterns of real animal fur. Since the quality of fake can vary, the best way to test the quality is to rub it and see if any of the hairs come off easily. This happens much less with high quality immitations.

If you are going to wear fake fur it is probably best to wear a high quality garment. There are some very stylish men's coats where fake fur is used only for the hood which creates quite a nice look. Full length fake fur jackets that emulate the chinchilla fur are quite fashionable for men. Fake fur has become a popular alternative to real fur. Some fake furs are so like the appearance of real fur that it can be hard to tell the difference.

This can be a problem if some protestor makes the mistake of thinking you have a real animal coat on and splashes you with red paint as you walk down Fifth Avenue in New York. In answer to this risk of a fashion disaster, some fashion trends go out of the way to make fake fur look even more fake. The super fake ones may be dyed in very bright colors for example. This super fake fur may be fun to wear or may also be worn as a statement to show everyone that it is indeed fake.