Cashmere scarf. Men's and women's cashmere scarves

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Cashmere scarf is not only a means of protection from the cold. Of course, first of all, a stylish neck accessory can protect your throat from a cold, but a nice bonus is that this fashionable, fashionable wardrobe item will add an accent to the created image. If you decide to buy a cashmere scarf for yourself, your soulmate or a child, we will tell you what cashmere is, how it happens and how not to run into a fake.

Softer than soft, warmer than warm

What could be warmer and softer than a cashmere scarf? Only the hugs of a loved one. There is no softer fabric in the world than cashmere. Only a true connoisseur can distinguish the original from the fake. What is cashmere? Many mistakenly believe that this is nothing more than the highest quality wool or beautifully crafted wool.

In fact, true cashmere is the down of mountain goats, which is plucked or combed out without any machines by hand. This painstaking work is carried out in the spring, after the winter cold has left, and the animal no longer needs additional heating.

Cashmere is called "woolen gold", and the ability to correctly and accurately pluck down is passed down from generation to generation.

Basiccountries from which cashmere down is supplied are China and Mongolia, as well as Afghanistan, Iran and India. At the same time, the quality of Chinese and Mongolian raw materials is the highest, while cashmere from other mills is coarser, tougher and thicker. Accordingly, the price of such material is several times lower.

Facts in numbers

There have been several attempts to breed cashmere goats in other countries - Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. However, they were not successful, because due to the lack of necessary climatic conditions, goat down lost its precious qualities.

By the way, from one goat you can get a maximum of 200 grams of soft fluff per year, and in order to knit a cashmere scarf, you need raw materials from two or three animals, which is 400-600 grams. A sweater will take 800-1200 grams of down, and a cardigan - 4 kilograms!

Gift for your beloved

In Europe, cashmere became famous after the great emperor of France - Napoleon Bonaparte - brought from the East an unusually thin, soft and warm shawl for his beloved Josephine. Struck by the magnificence and incredible tenderness of the product, Zhazefina was delighted with the gift. With her light hand, cashmere began to be imported to France, and only very noble ladies could afford it. Several centuries have passed, but cashmere scarves, women's shawls and stoles made of delicate goat down still remain a kind of symbol of luxury and style.

Quality difference

Cashmere fabric is of two types - pashmina, and, in fact, hecashmere.

Pashmina is the highest quality down. At the same time, the thickness of the fluff barely reaches 15 microns - that is, it is many times thinner than a child's hair. The lightest, weightless, openwork shawls and stoles are made from pashmina, the price of which cannot be lower than 5000-7000 rubles. Beautiful pashmina scarves and shawls with ornate, frilly designs can sell for one average wage.

Cashmere (or semi-pashmina) tends to be somewhat denser - down is 19 microns thick. A semi-pashmina cashmere scarf could well cost 2000-3000 rubles, depending on the length and width of the product.

Color as a sign of originality

Products made from real cashmere cannot be bright, flashy colors. As a rule, they are white, gray, brown or black. At the same time, a scarf (children's or adult - it does not matter), which has a white color, is much higher in quality than black products. The thing is that white down is the most delicate, black is somewhat coarser, and raw materials are cheaper.

Real cashmere is very difficult to dye. This is due to the fact that even the most intense and persistent dye interacts poorly with down, as a result of which the cashmere fabric becomes faded or simply smoky.

Unscrupulous sellers often sell colorful items, passing them off as natural cashmere. As a rule, a thread of acrylic, polyester or wool is added to such products. The above materials are beautifully colored, and inexperienced buyers, buying into the seller's beliefs, acquirescarves for men "cashmere", shawls or sweaters "pashmina", that is, a fake, at rather high prices.

Silk help

Popular manufacturers add silk thread to a pashmina or cashmere fabric. Thus, increased wear resistance of products is achieved, whether it be men's cashmere scarves or any other things made of this material. In addition, the addition of silk refreshes the color of natural down, making it more attractive to buyers.

Detecting silk threads in a cashmere product is easy - just look at the item carefully. The added silk can be seen in the thicker, sheer threads. Prices for such products are more affordable, and high wear will allow you to wear a scarf or shawl for more than one year. Especially if this scarf is for children. Cashmere in combination with silk will protect the child from the winter cold for a long time, and parents will not have to buy a new thing for each season. In addition, the cashmere scarf never has pills, which means that the thing will look fresh for many years.

And one more definite plus of cashmere - it is not prickly, does not cause irritation, and is absolutely hypoallergenic. Perfect for baby!

Beware of fake

It is sometimes very difficult for an inexperienced buyer to distinguish real cashmere from a fake. It is worth considering the product carefully. Women's shawls and stoles (as well as men's cashmere scarves, by the way) have the thinnest (like a cobweb) interwoven threads in the light, creating the lightest haze over the entire surface of the product.

If the product is compressed for 10 seconds inpalms, hands will become very warm, even hot. You just won't want to tear yourself away from the product! And this feeling will remain after the palm opens. This is due to the fact that the fluff is great not only gives, but also retains heat.

And of course the color! As described above, a real cashmere product simply cannot be bright. Besides, it cannot shine. If the product shines, it means that silk has been added to it (this should be indicated on the label).

What about wool?

The wool of mountain cashmere goats is also in use - products made from it are cheaper than downy ones and are inferior in quality, and yet they are loved by many people. Sweaters made from such wool do not cause itching, retain heat and last for several years even after repeated washings.