This column, and eventually the sidebars on other pages of this Web site, will feature marginally useful mini-essays as well as short doses of information that is available elsewhere (in more complete form), notably on these pages:

• Advice for First-Timer Shoppers
• Frequently Asked Questions
• About Pashmina
• About Sunrise
• How to wash a pashmina
• How to wear a pashmina

On this Page

• Why you should shop here
• Meaning of pashmina
• Summary of products & prices
• Sample fan letter
• Update notes
• How to spell pashmina
• Ombre teaser
• Embroidery teaser
• How to wear a pashmina
• Wedding pashminas
• Tsering's family
• Sunrise contact info

All of these topics are addressed more thoroughly on separate pages!

Flying?

These days, a lot of airlines make you pay for the blanket and pillow. Which, in a way, is not such a bad thing, since they probably haven't been washing them between uses. Renowned travel guru Peter Greenberg says that the free ones were basically a science experiment at the Centers for Disease Control.

If you’ve seen those blankets, first of all they look like they’re fire hazards, second of all they don’t keep you warm, and third of all, who knows what’s on those blankets? If we ever took the black-light test on those blankets, it would be wild. [from When Nickel-and-Diming Pays Off ]

So... pack your pash. It's warm, schleppable, and you know what kind of company it's been keeping.

What is pashmina?

Short answer: pashmina is cashmere, which is a fabric made from the hair of certain long-haired breeds of domestic goat. The word pashmina can also refer to a particular style of shawl, generally with knotted fringes, woven out of pure cashmere or a blend of cashmere and silk. Given the prevalence of fakes and imitations, the word may now refer to shawls made of cotton, viscose, or other fabrics.

Is pashmina the same as shahtoosh?

Short answer: No. Shahtoosh is different. It is made from the undercoat of the endangered chiru, or Tibetan antelope. It is banned by international law.

How can one recognize good quality pashmina?

The short (but virtually useless) answer is that you can feel the difference. Pashmina, even blended with silk, is soft, spongy, almost buttery, and it gets softer as it is used.

But... lots of fabrics are soft, and if you aren't already familiar with cashmere, it's hard to be sure what might be meant by "soft, spongy, almost buttery." In fact, freshly woven pashmina is not soft enough for market expectations: these days, virtually everybody (including us) uses a chemical softener, which is mixed into the dye. That apparently does not harm the fabric, but it does make the short answer somewhat useless.

Given the money at stake, and Chinese ingenuity, it is not surprising that counterfeiters have made considerable progress in recent years. Merino sheep wool can be descaled to make it look like goat yarn. An objective determination requires a qualified technician, but there are very few textile fiber labs in the world, and they don't cater to curious shoppers.

A few general pointers: Good pashmina yarn has a preponderance of long fibers. Any wool or cashmere fabric may pill up (form little balls) if it is rubbed, as occurs when it is worn under a belt or a coat. If there are a lot of short fibers, the pilling will be more noticeable. Pilling should stop after the first wash.

De-hairing is the most time-consuming aspect of pashmina production. The presence of thick guard hairs and extraneous matter such as straw fibers is a bad sign.

What about that smell?

Goats are smelly creatures, and their oil (lanolin) has a distinctive odor. The smell might be considered a good thing, as the lanolin protects the yarn. On the other hand, it dissipates with use and laundering. So it might be considered a badge of authenticity, not necessarily prized by others in the elevator.

What if it smells like airplane fuel? We've had that problem, actually. Embroidery entails the tracing of a design on the shawl with a soap pen; the marks are removed with a petroleum based solvent. The shawl then has to air out to allow the smell to go away. Unfortunately, the guys who do this work live with that smell all day long and, as we all know, the nose becomes desensitized to even the most foul odors within about fifteen minutes. So those guys don't necessarily know when the smell is gone. If the shawl is folded up and packaged too quickly, it may have an odor when you get it. The odor goes away if you air the shawl on a clothes line... or wash it.

What about price? It's not actually true that you get what you pay for. The fancy designer brands are generally purchased in quantities that cannot be supplied by local craftspeople. Instead, the shawls are mass-produced on machine looms. They may look better made -- more regular, straighter edges, fewer "defects" -- than handloomed shawls, but... which would you prefer: a Bokhara Persian carpet machine woven in Brussels (such as you can purchase at Sears) or one woven at home over a period of months and months by a traditional craftsperson? Same thing goes for pashmina.

On the other hand, the kind of cheap prices you see on e-Bay (for instance) should raise your suspicions. The cost of the raw material for a shawl is not negligible. Unless someone is dumping shawls at a loss, those shawls have to be inferior quality. The cost of labor is a big variable, and if you find a family business with no middleman costs at all, the price can be pretty low. Generally, those businesses will have clunky looking Web sites with lots of grammar mistakes, and they may not accept credit cards. You take your chances -- but you might get a very good deal. Just be careful. What's the point of owning a soulful artifact from a traditional culture if you're actually supporting a sweat shop?

How should I clean my pashmina?

We recommend hand-washing. Why would you entrust your baby to a dry-cleaner? [ Read more about how to wash your shawl. ]

How do I wear my pashmina?

If you're looking for Oprah's interview with Charla Krupp, editor of Glamour magazine, the clip seems to have disappeared. We do have out-take photos and a summary of her advice. On the other hand, there are quite a few resources that have more styles and are better demonstrated. Check out what we've got on our how to wear pashmina page.

Wandering Educators
A Global Community of Educators
Sharing Travel Experiences

"Here at Wandering Educators, we are sometimes happy to recommend global apparel. I've found an incredible Nepalese company that makes the most extraordinary handloomed Pashmina, called Sunrise Pashmina. These Pashmina are so very beautiful - and the story behind Sunrise is pretty cool, too." [ Article about Sunrise ]