It’s time for that ever-expanding category of “80s comedies that haven’t aged well.” In Troop Beverly Hills, that’s for the usual reasons: blatant ethnic stereotypes and homophobia are just the start. Lucky for us, there’s another reason one of more “modern sensibilities” could point to as well: the use of real fur.

Troop Beverly Hills – The Film

Divorcing Beverly Hills housewife, Phyllis (Shelley Long) decides to become a Wilderness Scout troop leader, which will help her stay close to her daughter during the proceedings. Unprepared for the minor inconveniences of camping, she brings the girls back to Beverly Hills to earn custom merit badges for the *checks notes* ultra-wealthy.

Troop Beverly Hills – The Furs

Phyllis’s wardrobe in the film is intentionally “over the top,” and by 1989, that included fur coats. Either that or the costume designer couldn’t let go of dying ‘80s stereotypes, which would fit in pretty well with the rest of the film’s poorly aged-one-note jokes. 

Up first is this white rabbit fur coat. The economically savvy fur fashion enthusiast may think it’s an oddly “cheap” choice for what they were going for. All will become clear soon.

The reason it’s a “cheap” fur coat is that it’s going to get drenched and dragged through the mud. Literally. In what passes for the film’s attempts at a physical comedy, Phyllis is caught in a rainstorm and pratfalls to crawl through the mud to her tent. I’m pretty sure this is not a “stunt coat,” unlike some other notable (and entirely noticeable) transitions to faux.

The troop ends up at a Beverly Hills Hotel, where we see a version of the distressed coat. Is it the same one? It’s impossible to say, but I doubt it because the two scenes were likely shot days apart and not even in the correct order.

Later that night, the troop tells “scary” stories, and we find Phyllis cleaned up and in a pink robe with… enormous fox cuffs. The night scenes provide only partial details.

Fortunately, she’s wearing it the following day, when we may enjoy these masterpieces in all their glory.

Troop Beverly Hills packs both sequences with fur almost back to back, which is nice. Both are nice and give us good looks at the fur fashion, even if some may consider the first sequence to be a tad “traumatic.” 

• Fur Runtime: 5:10 minutes
• Film Runtime:  106 minutes
• On-Screen Ratio: 4.78%

Find-a-Fur: Troop Beverly Hills, 1989

(All times are approximate and are affected by the cut of the film.)

• 22:55 – 29:15 – sheared white mink to pink fox cuffs
• 31:00 – 33:00 – pink fox cuffs

Fur Fashion Gallery – Troop Beverly Hills, 1989