Vintage 1980s cream beige mouton shearing fur jacket coat immaculate beautiful stripes & checker pattern texture
All wrapped up the same? Not for me and likely not you either if you are looking here. This is a gorgeous pristine sheepskin shearling fur jacket from c 1980. Perry Ellis, Sprung Freres, and Dior all did mouton shearlings around then with these bands of sheared shearling separated by leather or suede, in various colours. But I haven't come across one in cream before and fab to find it in such pristine condition. No label but I'd be surprised if it wasn't a brand like one of the aforementioned.
It is a UK size 8-10, maybe a small 12. A UK 6 could wear too. (It is labelled USA 10 FR 40 but remember sizes were smaller then, so a USA 6 more like nowadays. The measurements are
Bust 38 waist 36 inches and hips 44 inches as it flares very slightly. Shoulders are 18 inches across.
Has lovely Princess cuffs that very slight bishop sleeve coming in to meet them, and a cute stand up mandarin collar set in that lovely checker board pattern. Interior snap closure set on a kid soft suede which also separates the bands of soft sumptuous shearling. Check the video to see a similar styles from the time by Perry Ellis and Sprung Freres. Our coat is a little more subtle but def of that spirit.
That year Teardrop Explodes brought out 'Reward' a great song so it's my 'Spirit of the Age and Garment' song. Julian Cope & Alfie Agius of the band both sported sheepskin jackets...though they were of the flying jacket variety and probably dated back to WWII. And that is the thing: sheepskin is durable...and of course, very warm. Warm enough to keep bomber crews alive at minus 40 five miles high then. Sheepskin wasn't rationed during the war, as the UK had many millions of sheep , and even the glamorous 1940s sheepskin fur coats weren't rationed as they were considered essential for warmth as fuel most definitely was. I have a mouton one in dark brown dating from that time in my stock if you want to see. So, this jacket certainly has plenty of life left in her! She has a nice sheen and so very soft....and he design with checkerboard effect at the top, and the shoulders and slight bishop sleeve are all gorgeous!
Incidentally Julian Cope of Teardrop Explodes is also an author on the Neolithic period: a period I studied myself re the advent of textiles. Wool textiles date from c 7k yrs BP in the Balkans, and there have been sheep there ever since. Yet, there is 36% forest wolves bear lynx etc. So it's demonstrably false that sheep are bad for environment when the area so long involved sheep farming has best biodiversity in Europe! And certainly they save on heating and washing costs (wool is never hot washed) and sheepskin in articular so very insulating and durable lasts decades. And unlike synthetics and cotton of course, sheep also feed us!
So we really must learn to accept our reward! And wear wool & sheepskin with a little justified arrogance!
And boy, does this gorgeous jacket have it....I can have it, you can have it too..... I may keep myself so quick before I change my mind! Let her be your Reward...you deserve !