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Ladies
Fashions Skip Intro, Go shop
 Kashmir Shawls: There are three fibers from
which Kashmiri shawls are made - wool, pashmina and shahtoosh. Woolen shawls
being within reach of the most modest budget, and shahtoosh being a
one-in-a-lifetime purchase. Woolen shawls are popular because of the
embroidery, which is unique to Kashmir. Both embroidery and the type of wool
used bring about differences in the price. Wool woven in Kashmir is known as
raffel and is always pure. Needlework is generally done in a panel along the sides of the shawl. Motifs, usually abstract designs or styled paislies and flowers are worked in one or two, and occasionally three subdued colors. The stitch employed is not unlike stem stitch, and only the outline of the design is embroidered. The fineness of the workmanship and the amount of embroidery determines the value of the shawl. Needlework is often done so skillfully that the motif appears on both sides of the shawl, each side having a different color scheme Another type of needle embroidery is popularly known as 'papièr mâchè' work because of the design and the style in which it is executed. This is done either in broad panels on either side along the breadth of a shawl. Flowers and leaves are worked in chain stitch in bright colors such as those of papier-mâché and each motif is then outlined in black. A third type of embroidery is hook embroidery. Motifs here are the well-known flower design finely worked in concentric rings of chain stitch.  Pashmina is unmistakable due to its softness. Pashmina yarn is spun
from the hair of the ibex found in the highlands of Ladakh, at 14,000 ft above
sea level. It is on pashmina shawls that Kashmir's most exquisite embroidery is
executed, sometimes covering the entire surface, earning it the name of Jamawar
shawl, by virtue of the embroidery, increase the value of a shawl threefold.
Shahtoosh, from which the legendary 'ring shawl' is made, is incredibly light, soft and warm. The astronomical price it commands in the market is due to the scarcity of the raw material. High in the plateau of Tibet and the eastern part of Ladakh, at an altitude of above 15000-17000 ft., roam the Tibetan antelope. During grazing, a few strands of the downy hair from the throat are shed which are painstakingly collected by the nomads to create shahtoosh. |
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