Feathers as Fashion Accessories

On a recent trip to the post office I hurried in just before closing. The mail clerk that is usually there was not at the counter but a young woman I had never seen before was there. Because I had several things to mail it took a while, and while I was waiting for the clerk to weigh all the envelopes I noticed something purple and shiny in her hair. Not a barrette or a clip, but long and thin like a piece of very thin tinsel. Since I’m not known to be shy at all I complimented her on her hair adornment and she brushed her hair back with her fingers and played with what turned out to be a feather. Or two! Long and very thin feathers that blended with her hair but were still enough of a contrast to be seen, along with a thread or two of the purple tinsel. She called it a “feather extension,” and assured me that they were all the rage in Hollywood; even giving me the name of someone I should probably know (but don’t) that wears them. Now I certainly don’t follow the trends set by the entertainment industry, or even the fashion industry, for that matter; I tend to follow my own trends, you see. But still, wearing feathers does intrigue me, especially since I do have an overabundance of feathers due to keeping chickens and guinea fowl.

Yes, I have feathers everywhere, even in places not even remotely close to the chicken yard. Beautiful feathers of many colors and sizes, some with fluff and some plain, grace my property wherever I look. Oftentimes I find them stuck to the bottom of my shoes, or a stray feather lodged in my hair, or a feather in the bottom of my pocket. So many feathers! Thinking that there might be a financial component to owning all these wonderful (and now fashionable) feathers, I decided to do a bit of research to get more information.

I did find feather extensions for sale on Etsy, with a query bringing in over 1,300 results! My Google search returned almost 1.5 million results, and my Bing search returned over 3 million hits! Maybe there is more to this feather affectation after all! After more searching using “feather” and “fashion” I can see that feathers are one of the hottest trends for the fashion scene for the coming year. Feathers in jewelry such as earrings and necklaces, on headbands, on shoes and hats, to garments covered in feathers. Yes, feathers everywhere.

Perhaps I do have a chance to sell some of my stray feathers, so I did more Internet research. The results are not good. A dozen rooster tail feathers sell for less than $10.00! I know my rooster wouldn’t give up his tail feathers willingly, so rooster tail feathers are out. Hmmm, plain white feathers with fluff? Speckled guinea feathers? Well, I did find that there is a market for feathers, and if I choose to gather, clean and package them I might find some foo….um customer that wants to buy them. So, while I reconsider whether to embark on my fashionable feather endeavor I can at least know that I am at the height of fashion. That is, if you consider work boots with feathers fashionable.