Posted by mauriz on September 2, 2012, 1:08 am, in reply to "Re: Queen Mary"
--Previous Message-- : Thank you, mauriz. : Is the all-white fur ermine?
Yes, I would think so. Ermine minus the black tail tips. The tails tend to be more yellowish than the rest of the fur, so they often were faked by using other parts of the skin with the black tips attached, whenever the tails were considered necessary for the desired effect, i.e. creating an iconographic reference to reign and purity (think of the robes of judges). Sometimes black dots were just "painted" onto white fur to create that effect. When wearing ermine was not limited anymore to certain classes and for a time became the epitome of luxury, you could find both - the use of the tail tips to make clear "look, it's ermine" and a more understated use only of the better parts of the pelt. I find it somewhat significant that fashionable queens like Marie José and Marie would wear their fur capes without the black tips, but Mary would choose to have them used.
Here's a fashionable example with black tail tips from 1923-25, an evening cape by Worth, worn by Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer, Sr. (Collection of the Museum of the City of New York)