A to Zebra

There's never an instance where I would advocate the killing of an animal, especially the killing of an animal for decorative or fashionable reasons. Wild animals are beautiful and majestic creatures and belong alive and in the wild. But don't get me wrong, I'm talking wild animals; you could never convince me that my cat isn't perfectly happy to live out his days basking on the windowsill of my flat, and similarly you can pry my dog's lead from my cold dead hands. I suppose in both of those instances the animals are still alive, and therefore irrelevant to the point I'm trying to make.

That being said, you can rarely go wrong with animal print, and this is as close to decorating fact as you can get. A set of black and white zebra stripes sets off any room, and as you can see from the selection of images it doesn't have to match, it doesn't have to go, it doesn't have to be tied to anything else in the room, it just works. The distinction here is the word PRINT, not skin, not actual used-to-be-alive animal, but print.

We live in an age where anything can be faked, from faux fur and chick'n patties to spray tans and knock-off handbags, so there's no reason animals need to be a part of any product. However, this is still a relatively new concept. There was a time not too long ago where literally every designer living room had a zebra skin rug. And not just zebra print, but an actual zebra hide splayed out across the floor. Recently the world went into an uproar when that jerk shot Cecil the Lion, and rightfully so, but back in the 60s and 70s it was en vogue to have a Serengeti carcass under foot. Très chic! However this is one time where it's okay to leave the past in the past, and leave this trend where it belongs – in the history books.