Cashmere – Am I missing something?

I’ve never really understood the desire for Cashmere, call me a philistine but I just don’t get it. It feels a bit softer and seems to come in a vast array of pastel shades but apart from that its just a bit of goat hair isn’t it? Its super pricey and always seems to be accompanied by some pearls so it really is lost on me. To double my lack of understanding, it does seem to be sold in really hot places. We were lucky enough to go to Mauritius before we started a family and low and behold, there was loads of traders, shops and market stalls selling Cashmere when what we really wanted was flip flops and sun hats. It may have been exceptional quality and a lot cheaper than at home but something doesn’t fit with buying winter jumpers when I was wearing a sundress.

At a recent trip to the races at Cheltenham, in between putting bets on,  I went for a wander round the shopping area which sold lots of tweed, fur and yes you guessed it Cashmere (the women selling the jumpers could not have looked more frosty and spikey as they gossiped and played with their pearls). I’m now even more confused.

On my weekly excursion to the charity shops whilst waiting for the bank to open I was having a mooch round The Salvation Army shop and stumbled across a lovely striped turtle neck jumper in bright colours and I thought it looked gorgeous. I checked the label, one I’d never heard of “Weill” which sounded nice and I liked that is said “made in France” so why not. Yes, here I am buying a jumper in Spring and you may have guessed but I couldn’t believe it but it was Cashmere. Not only that but it turns out that Weill is quite a nice brand and their jumpers sell for over £160!! What I result, I got it for £3.99. The only downside is that its Dry Clean only, a right old pain but it is cashmere darling!!

So, I may now be a new convert to the delights of Cashmere, I don’t think I’ll be dashing out to buy lots of it, I’m not quite ready for the twin set and pearls option but I can now see how nice cashmere is, especially when I paid a fraction of the price.