Pashmina is the current buzzword of the fashion industry and this season's must have for the status seekers.  The pashmina wrap is now regarded as an essential component of the modern woman's wardrobe. A simple shawl costs $500.00 and can be found popping up everywhere.from Nieman Marcus to ebay.com, in fashion magazines and on celebrities.  

Pashmina is the finest wool shorn from the soft undercoat (neck and belly) of Himalayan mountain goats.  Touted to be lighter, softer and finer than cashmere, pashmina has a texture so fine "it is the fiber equivalent of meringue" according to Veronica Chambers of Newsweek magazine. Designer Gabriele Sanders, known for her embroidered pashmina shawls says, "pashmina makes regular cashmere feel like cardboard."  The feather light fiber is extraordinarily soft and light, yet exceptionally warm.

 Discovered by the fashion world only in the past year, pashmina has been a status symbol in the East for hundreds of years.  In India and Nepal, a pashmina blanket was an essential component of a wealthy woman's dowry.  Shawls and blankets woven from pashmina wool have been adored for centuries in the Far East.  And like other things rarefied and Eastern, it's been translated eagerly into Western decadence.

 But according to Karl Spilhaus, president of Boston's Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers Institute, "Pashmina is just cashmere.there's no difference. Pashmina is simply the Indian word for cashmere."  He contributes all the hype to the aggressive marketing of pashmina.  Spilhaus stresses that the better made pashminas are not rip-offs at all:   "A good quality cashmere shawl is worth very dime you pay for it, and it will last you a lifetime."

 Kenneth Langley, professor of textile sciences at the University of Massachusetts, agrees with Spilhaus.   "Cashmere fibers have a unique appearance under the microscope.and pashmina fibers look exactly like cashmere fibers."  Langley also says pashmina wool does not just come from the neck and belly.  He claims the fibers are combed from the goat when they are molting.  "You obviously get as much as you can, and do not pick a place."

 The pashmina shawl trend has sparked an interest in shawls of all descriptions.  The pashmina shawls are versatile, all-season pieces that may be worn over a bare or sleeveless dress on a cool summer night, with a suit in the fall, and with a coat in winter.  The shawl can be wrapped around the upper body and worn as you would a jacket.  The can be worn as a muffler around the neck or wrapped at the waist.  Pashmina is often blended with silk, which sound more luxurious, but is not as good.  It does make it lighter, but also makes it cheaper.

 In fact there is something even more luxurious than pashmina.but it's illegal.  It is called shahtoosh, and it comes from the fur of a chiru, an endangered Tibetan antelope. A pure shahtoosh wrap is sometimes called a ring scarf because it is so fine and delicate that a whole shawl can easily be slipped through a wedding ring.  It is also touted to be warm enough to hatch a pigeon's egg.  To clip the hair, hunters kill the animal.  An estimated three to five chirus are killed for each shawl. It is illegal to buy or sell shahtoosh under the U.N.Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

 References: 
Chambers, Veronica.  Newsweek, May 11, 1998  "Passion for Pashmina" 
Chambers, Veronica.  Newsweek,  October 7, 1999  "Now,  This Should Get Your Goat"
 White, Jackie.  The Tennessean, January 2, 2000  "The Frill is Back"