Rescuing Ladybugs by Jennifer Skiff

Author:Jennifer Skiff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New World Library

Sydney, Australia

When I was a teenager living in London, I was influenced by style icon Anita Pallenberg. Pallenberg was an Italian actress and model who hung out with the Rolling Stones and dated guitarist Brian Jones and then Keith Richards. She was all over the fashion magazines. Much of the time, she was wearing fur.

I loved animals and I loved fashion. It’s funny, but at the time, I would never have thought about buying a new fur coat — but I did collect used fur coats at vintage clothing shops. And I wore them.

It’s strange how you can love animals but sometimes not be aware of the ways humans hurt them. My transition to understanding came in bursts of connections.

I have a thirty-three-acre rural property in West Australia. One day I found a sheep caught in the wire of my fence. She was in a bad way, so I called the vet. He asked me if I wanted to put her down and I said no. So, to save her life, he amputated her leg. The vet bill was hundreds of dollars, and my friends joked that it was the most expensive leg of lamb I’d ever had. Mark called her I-lean because she had to lean on you to stand up. I called her Sheepy.

Until we rescued Sheepy, I had no idea how inquisitive and connected sheep were. She was adorable and nosy and followed me everywhere. She loved playing with the dogs and often leaned down to them and gave them gentle head-butts. Like the dogs who barked to let us know when someone was coming down the driveway, she baa-ed. I loved her personality. She was part of our family. That’s when I stopped eating lamb.

Then I got two baby cows, and that was the end of beef. I changed when I realized that everyone has a personality. I didn’t want to kill someone just for my pleasure in eating it or wearing it.

It was around this time I started spending time with Chrissie Hynde. Chrissie is a founding member of the Pretenders rock band. I met her because my partner, Mark, wrote one of her hit songs, and we started hanging out. She loved my fashions, and I began designing her tour wear. We had a lot in common in that we both loved and cared about animals. We talked about that a lot. Chrissie was a passionate animal rights activist and a supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). We’d often go shopping in London together, and as we walked around she’d point out people wearing furs and call them “fur whores.” It got me thinking about how some people chose to wear fur to advertise social status.

At this time, I’d been in the fashion business for about twenty years. I considered myself a conscientious designer. Despite suppliers trying to sell me everything from rabbit fur to crocodile skin, I always said no.

In 2008, I started designing a little over-the-shoulder shrug sweater. It was a fifties-inspired look, from the Brigitte Bardot sweater days.

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