This list of types of fur describes the characteristics of types of fur used in fur clothing. Each type of fur serves its own purpose and has its own unique characteristics in garment manufacturing.
Beaver Beaver fur has long been used in making muffs, stoles, collars, trimmings, and felt for hats. The American beaver scores a 90/100 on the Austin Fur Durability Chart making it practical for utilitarian items such as linings. In the twenty-first century beaver is considered a premium fur and is often seen as very attractive to designers. Sheared beaver is slightly less durable, with an Austin score of 85/100, but has a velvet-like texture and is very plush. The process of shearing involves shearing the pelt to make it shorter and then plucking all the guard hairs to reveal only the soft under-fur beneath, this underwool is what beaver felt is made out of. The under-fur of a beaver is vary dense, keeping the animal warm in freezing waters.
Chinchilla
Characterized by their dense, velvety texture, chinchilla fur is one of the most expensive and luxurious of all fur types. Each follicle on a chinchilla's body produces 60 hairs, making the fur the densest of any land-dwelling mammal. The most common coloration for chinchillas is a medium grey body, black dorsal stripe, and white underbelly but other colors such as mosaic (white and grey), and all white are also common. Indigenous to South America, chinchilla fur became first became popular in the 19th century in Western countries where the unregulated hunting of wild chinchillas quickly led to their becoming an endangered species in their native range. In 1923 chinchillas were brought to the United States of America to be bred for their fur as the hunting of wild chinchillas became illegal; these were the antecedents of all chinchillas used in the fur trade today.
Coyote The fur of coyotes is dense and durable, and produced in a wide range of colors and qualities, depending on the subspecies of coyote from which the fur was removed. Primarily seen as a pest animal in many locations, coyotes are not often utilized for their fur, but are nonetheless well-suited for producing practical garments. The long guard hairs, often confused with those of the raccoon dog, are normally dark and long, making them suitable for use as parka ruffs, similar to wolf fur.
Faux
Faux fur or fake fur is a material made of synthetic fibers designed to resemble fur, normally as part of a piece of clothing.
Fisher Fisher fur varies from grayish brown to nearly black. The fur is about two and one-half inches (about 60 mm) in length. It is used mainly for muffs and neck, shoulder pieces. The trapping of fishers is restricted in many states leading to it becoming a more uncommon type of fur in comparison to the mink. Fisher fur is more durable and water resistant than other types of fur such as fox.
Fox
Red fox
Because of their abundance, red foxes are among the most important furbearing animals harvested by the fur trade. Their pelts are used for trimmings, scarves, muffs, jackets and coats. They are principally used as trimming for both cloth coats and fur garments, including evening wraps. The pelts of silver-morph foxes are popular as capes, while cross foxes are mostly used for scarves and very rarely trimming. The number of sold fox scarves exceeds the total number of scarves made from other furbearers. However, this amount is overshadowed by the total number of fox pelts used for trimming purposes. The silver morphs are the most valued by furriers, followed by the cross and red morphs respectively. In the early 20th century, over 1,000 American fox skins were imported to Britain annually, while 500,000 were exported annually from Germany and Russia. The total worldwide trade of wild red foxes in 1985–86 was 1,543,995 pelts. Foxes amounted to 45% of US wild-caught pelts worth $50 million. North American red foxes, particularly those of northern Alaska, are the most valued for their fur, as they have guard hairs of a very silky texture that, after dressing, provide less restricted mobility to the wearer. Red foxes in southern Alaska's coastal areas and the Aleutian Islands are an exception, as they have extremely coarse pelts that rarely exceed a third of the price of their northern Alaskan cousins. Most European peltries have very coarse textured fur compared to North American varieties. The only exceptions are the Nordic and Far Eastern Russian peltries, but they are still inferior to North American peltries in terms of silkiness.
The greatest source of fox pelts is from fur farms located in Scandinavia, Canada, the United States, Russia, and China. The two most commonly farmed species of fox are the American red fox (Vulpes vulpes fulva) and the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus). The red fox was initially farmed in 1895 in Prince Edward Island in an attempt to boost the number of silver fox (melanistic fox) pelts which were the most coveted at the time. As well as silver and red foxes, farms were also able to breed other natural morphs such as cross (partially melanistic) and albino fox pelts. As time progressed farmers started to produce foxes of various colors such as marble (white with a different colored stripe down the back), platinum (light silver with white face and neck marking), and amber (a light brown). Farmed red foxes express a wide variety of colors, longer fur, thicker neck ruffs, and are significantly larger than wild foxes.
Gray fox
Gray fox fur is obtained from the gray fox, a species distinguished from most other canids by its grizzled gray upper parts. It has reddish coloration on some parts of its body, including the legs, sides, feet, chest, and back, as well as on the sides of the head and neck. White fur is seen on the ears, throat, chest, belly, and hind legs, and it has a black stripe along the middle of its tail, which ends in a black tip. The species occurs from southern Canada to northern South America.
Arctic fox
The fur of the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is currently the most popular of all the farmed fox species, particularly the blue fox (white with grey tips) and the shadow blue fox (all white). The overwhelming popularity of this fox has to do with the size of the production of arctic fox pelts and the dyeable nature of the color lead it to being a very accessible fur for designers and furriers to work with.
Blue fox
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