The Pashmina is an article of clothing that will always be useful not only to keep us warm but also to add a touch of colour to any outfit. It has been woven for centuries from the Chyangra mountain goat which is to be found in the Himalayan Belt and is actually the same animal from which cashmere is obtained.
The winters there are harshly cold being 10,000 feet above sea level and so the goat has had to invent a coat that will keep him warm. Pashmina is obtained from the fine inner hairs of the goat that lie beneath all the dead outer hairs. This hair is so fine and so exquisite and this is what makes the material so soft and light in weight but at the same time very warm. Once the hairs have been woven on a warp of spun silk, each piece is hand dyed. The colours of pashminas are often very bright and very vivid having beautiful colours such as cerise, emerald green, turquoise, and cobalt blue, but in fact they are obtainable in any and every colour you could think of. During some summer evenings when you may only be wearing a thin summer dress and it suddenly turns a little chilly it is ideal for wrapping round your shoulders and it’s large enough to wrap around you nearly twice. In the winter choose a pashmina with a colour to go with or complement the outfit that you are wearing and just casually sling it over one of your shoulders and if you don’t like the way it seems to keep on falling off the edge of your shoulder you can choose a large brooch to clip it down in place just at shoulder level. Or another way to wear it is to drape it loosely around both shoulders over a coat or jacket. This is a piece that will always be in fashion.