Vintage 1990s sleek soft luxury faux fur black and leopard print long straight cut Couture Helene high quality perfect condition
 
Ah are you ready to Step Out?
It's the early 1990s, and last century that meant you were either getting ready to showcase a new outfit, or go on...a date!

Either way, you were going to dress to impress as that ethos of the 1980s was still with us. 
This will fit a UK size 6- small 12 I'd say. 8-10 being the optimum. 
The black faux fur is very sleek and soft as is the leopard front and cuffs. 
So luxurious. I like belting these now and again for drama, but please take care not to use a synthetic or hard leather. Use a soft Obi belt so it doesn't mark the fur. I have some stock of the one pictured so this IF you want it (real leather) will come as a gift with the coat.
 
"She was dressed up in leopard skin
And her soul would never be denied
I met her down the disco in a beat up car
She was burning down the road
She looked just like a star with a Jaguar.." ('Step Out' Oasis)
 
sang Oasis the undisputed winners of the Britpop battle of the bands, unless of course you count the Manic street Preachers and even those guys were glammed up in faux leopard fur back in those days. 
And we still aspired to have a Jag....and the model that the discerning would have bought , and probably still have, was the XJ220 supercar that was launched in 1990. Oasis started in 1991, and Step Out released as the B Side of 'Don't Look Back in Anger'....and no I never do it is always with fondness for some quality vintage gear music cars the lot! 
 
So this coat is by Couture Helene, who were the 'Jaguar' of the faux fur coat industry at this time along with Apparence, Margot de Ray and Astraka. The coats all have dense weave thread count so are rather more robust than modern equivalents, and especially these sheared beaver fauxs. So sleek soft and glossy too, But the secret is don;t let tem get rained on badly and certainly NEVER put them in the washing machine seriously so many vintage ones wrecked condition wise by this particular lunacy. Anyway Couture Helene were Brussels based and started out business as a confectioner but these faux furs are every bit as sweet. They were sold in UK in exclusive dept stores like Harrods and John Lewis, and there would be bun fights over some of their new styles, or for them in the sales as they retailed for around £300-£400.
 
So if you were stepping out on a date with a new beau or simply showcasing your new look, you'd have needed a quality faux fur for so many events as people dressed well eve for discos and cocktail bars and of course the horse races in winter. The 1980s and 90s the sport was at its height and there was a new hero in the nation: his name was Desert Orchid. He dominated the London tracks especially and won so many big races at Sandown and Kempton, winning Kempton's King George for eg 4 ties culminating in 1990 victory.  And being grey, he has a legion of female fans., to win big on  then it would be off to central London to celebrate and likely Stringfellows, the top nightspot in London where you'd have mixed with celebs and likely a few jockeys owners and trainers would get there too, but you'd likely go to the 5th floor Cafe at Harvey Nichols first where you also rub shoulders with the staff of Harrods and Harvey Nicks who'd used their staff discounts to but faux furs like these from the stores. It was a glam time. 
And there were more popular greys in the 1990s who won the King George at Kempton One Man and Teeton Mill. They flocked to the courses glammed to the nines on Boxing Day literally expecting grey victories after Desert Orchid won it 4 times, and they wouldn't be disappointed , though the shred also backed The Fellow in the middle

By the end of the 1990s, grunge had arrived and it was the end of the era for glamour but now its back, and don't you DARE think you can wear this spill pints of beer over it and wear with a synthetic orange backpack and Dr Martins :). NO. I simply won't sell it to you. It belongs to someone who will care for it as well as its previous owner and wear with the wardrobe it deserves, and that is elegant, edgy (rockabilly girls may appreciate!)  or simply sexy glamorous.
 
So wear to some luxury Rooftop London Gardens for cocktails and disco, Beach Blanket Babylon oppulence, some romantic winter hotel break, or indeed to Kempton for evening racing as they now have a floodlit track.