Your Stylist: Giving faux fur a try for fall

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Resident Image stylist and market editor Melissa Magsaysay soothes your sartorial woes in the weekly Your Stylist blog column

What’s your take on the fur/faux fur trend? My sister just bought a jacket with a faux fur collar and cuffs and we were arguing about it looking cheap (I think it looks kind of cheap; she says it’s “in” right now). Can you settle this debate? KM, Santa Monica

I agree with both of you. To your sister’s point, the fur (and much more politically correct) faux fur trend is in full force this fall, coming in everything from swing coats to duffel bags. But I also think that faux fur can easily go very wrong if made of some cheap acrylic mess that looks more like an old Chewbacca costume than a trendy piece of clothing. So if you’re going to buy a jacket or cardigan trimmed with or made entirely of faux fur this season, first make sure it doesn’t feel like a can of Aqua Net was let loose all over it. That tacky-to-the-touch feeling equals tacky to the sight as well. The texture should be as soft and plush as possible.

The pieces I particularly love when it comes to faux fur are jackets that have a removable faux fur collars. This army- green bomber jacket from Rebecca Taylor ($495, pictured bottom right) has an optional faux fur collar that looks real and lays nice and flat so the wearer doesn’t look like she’s giving a piggyback ride to a Muppet. Plus you’ve got options -- collar on makes a statement, collar off is a little more understated -- and ultimately you’ll be getting a little more bang for your buck.

There are some faux fur items on QVC (yes, I said it, QVC) that actually look really good. Rachel Zoe, who is a lover of fur (more real than faux) is doing some faux pieces for her line on QVC. The V-neck vest with faux fur front ($62) could be worn with some cutoffs and Wellies for that end of summer/early fall music festival vibe.

Also on QVC, Dennis Basso is doing faux fur bags and blankets ($81.12 for the bag and blanket, pictured above), which I must say I have touched and they feel like chenille while looking just like fur. A faux fur tote bag looks chic when traveling –- just watch out for the paparazzi because really, who travels in fur besides Victoria Beckham and Andre Leon Talley?

Personally, my favorite way to wear this faux fur trend is with a “Mad Men-esque” twist. This simple sable colored swing coat from Wink ($288, top picture) has short sleeves and a 1960s appeal that works with skinny black pants and flats or a high-waist pencil skirt and heels.

Don’t go overboard with the faux fur trend (or with any trend, for that matter), because it’s one that can definitely leave you looking like a fur-swathed fashion victim.

Send your style queries to melissa.magsaysay@latimes.com.

-- Melissa Magsaysay

Photos, from top: Wink faux fur jacket ($288, shopbop.com); Dennis Basso faux fur duffel bag ($81.12 with blanket, QVC); Free People faux fur-lined jacket ($248; shopbop.com), Rebecca Taylor bomber jacket with detachable faux fur collar ($495, QVC)