ONE FOR THE LADIES: THE FOX FUR STOLE

A popular fashion style from the turn of the last century was women’s fox fur stoles.  These stoles were actually the pelt of a fox, with the tail, legs, and head (with glass eyes) intact.  While it might sound strange to us now, it was quite a fashion statement at the time for the ladies who wore them.  The photo above is of my paternal grandmother, Virginia Ludwig White, and while her hat is most impressive, it’s the lovely fox stole that completes her outfit.

This second photo is of my maternal grandparents George and Kathryn (Heims) Gadient on their wedding day.  The beautiful fox stole that she is wearing was my grandfather’s wedding gift to her.  He hunted the fox himself and had it made for her.  It was one of her most prized possessions, but that story, however, does not have a happy ending.  

One evening while my grandparents were attending a dance, my grandmother’s fox fur was stolen.  The fur was never recovered, and my grandfather bought her another one to replace it, but it never meant the same thing to my grandmother.  While she liked the new fur, it could never replace the fox fur stole, made from the fox he had hunted, and given to her for their wedding.

 

***Have you ever seen one of these fox fur stoles?