40s Fur Stoles

I enjoy a good stole just as much as the next person but I also want my stoles to be authentic to whatever period I am looking at. Were stoles period for the 40s? What did they look like? What shapes, colors, styles? To answer this question, I turned to my tried and true sources first: the Sears Catalogs! Looking through these, I found coats, jackets, and fur trimmed outerwear. I did not find stoles. Then, I turned to my other go-to: Der Golden Schnitt. Then, I found a few stoles but I bet they were not what you would have thought . . take a look:
All of these stoles are from my 1942 supplement of Der Goldene Schnitt. It is a little hard to decipher but these fur stoles are long, rectangular, have large bushy tails. It can't be determined if these have the little heads and legs on them.  They are also not shaped around the choulders like the stoles that immediately come to mind (those are from the 50s an 60s). These are simple in shape and design.

you can see this outfit made up here

Model sporting a large fur stole with an evening gown, 1941:

see this dress all made up here

Here is an American example. It is much easier here to see the tail and even here you can see the legs. It can't be determined if there is a head on the fur or not.

At this point you must be wondering about the little mink ones that have the heads and tails on them . ... are those period to the 40s? Unfortunately, there is a complex answer to this. But first, those little minks we think of are, I argue, from the 30s . . possibly even earlier. In fact, they are very common in the Éclair Coupe Paris. . .almost each model in a coat or suit is sporting one. Of course, in the 30s, there were many other different kinds of stoles too.


1938  - source

So, that brings up to the question of are those little minks period for the 40s? This is where the complexity comes in. Based on the sources I used above, those were seldom used for the 40s, but were incredibly popular for the 30s. Looking at 40s films, those little mink ones were actually seen and often too depending on the film and the character wearing it. As a whole, I think a crucial question that needs to be asked is who can wear one and when? Character is a huge component to determining when one of these can be worn and with what. Although there is no concrete answer to a question like this, there is some flexibility to suit any particular individual. When deciding to  buy or wear a little mink stole, think of it as it is: an accessory. Like any accessory, will it enhance the outfit, or not? Do I need it or not? I think by asking and answering those questions a mink accessory will be well placed and accurate too.