Welcome back to the gentleman's Gazette.
Today's video is all about cashmere.
We discuss what it is, touch on history, the environmental impact, tell you what to look
for when you buy it, what quality cashmere is, what crap cashmere is, do's and don'ts,
and how to take care of it.
Cashmere today is easily taken for granted.
In recent decades, the price of cashmere at department stores has gone down
and down and so more people have been able to acquire it.
At the same time, high-quality cashmere remains one of the most luxurious fibers you can find
to this day.
So what exactly is cashmere?
It is super soft and it is a fiber which is the under hair from the cashmere goat and
usually, a goat can only produce about 150 grams a year which is only about a third of
a pound.
It is the only defined under hair that has a very narrow diameter which makes the fiber
very soft to the touch.
To protect the term cashmere, the US government has the wool product labeling act which says
that in order for it to be called cashmere it has to be 19 microns in diameter or less.
It can only have up to 3% of cashmere fibers that are more than 30 microns, and it has
to come from the dehaired goat and only from the under hair of the cashmere goat.
Cashmere is called that way because the goats traditionally lived in the Kashmir region
in Asia.
Today, you can find cashmere goats in other places such as Mongolia but you need to have
a certain elevation which creates that fine under hair that is so prized.
Cashmere has been exported from Asia in the 1800's but to learn more about the history,
please check out our in-depth guide on the website here.
Today about 70% of all cashmere in the world comes from China, 20% comes from Mongolia,
and 10% comes from other places.
The climate in the central part of Asia is extreme in terms of heat and cold which leads
to the development of that fine under hair in the cashmere goat.
Traditionally, cashmere fibers are harvested just once a year during the spring time and
there are two ways to get it.
The first method is combing which is much more high-quality but more labor-intensive.
It's done by hand and the hair is physically combed out.
It results in a higher quality cashmere because you mostly only get the under hair fibers
which are desirable.
Option number two is shearing where a machine is used to cut
both the guard hair and the fine on their hair and the problem is you have both combined
which yields in a lower quality cashmere that's not as soft.
In China and Mongolia where labor costs are really low, combing is still a number one
method of harvesting.
If you go to New Zealand or Australia you'll more likely to encounter shearing.
Once the cashmere fibers are harvested therefore they are onto the processors.
It has to be sorted and washed and longer cashmere fibers are more desirable than shorter
ones because they create a more even yarn that is less prone to pilling.
Today, less expensive cashmere that you find at malls and a scarf or maybe like just 20
bucks, means that you get the very short fibers and even though they're soft, after you wear
them a few times and there's some friction, you will encounter pilling which is very unattractive.
Because cashmere is so fine, it is often spun but just into one yarn but
different yarns are spun into multiple yarns.
The process of combining those yarns is called ply so you may find two ply which means two
yarns have been spun together which results into a more uniform, more resistant, and higher
quality yarn.
With cashmere though, for example for sweaters, you sometimes see 3 ply, 4 ply, 6 ply, all
the way up to nine ply or ten ply.
As you can imagine, with the plys, the weight goes up but it's also a higher quality so
if you have a sweater out of a 10 ply cashmere chances are it's gonna cost you 800 or $1000.
Unfortunately, the ply term is not really protected so unless you can trust the source,
if you see a 10-ply label it doesn't always mean it's actually a 10-ply, it could just
be a 6ply and you just don't know it because you don't have the means to test it.
Historically, cashmere was introduced to the US on a large scale in 1947 and up until the
70s when China passed some trade laws, it was a really rare commodity.
Because it was so popular and fetched such high prices, more and more Shepherds decided
to have cashmere goats.
Now that had a substantial environmental impact.
Goats are hurting animals and such, they move on, the problem is their hooves pull up the
roots of the grass in nomadic desert areas in Central Asia and because of that, they're
responsible for the expansion of the desert in those areas.
As more and more cashmere goats have appeared, they've eaten more and more of the grass and
pulled out more and more of the roots until there was nothing left and they had to move
on.
Because of that, Mongolia's grasslands have degraded by 65 percent.
As a consequence, sand and dust storms now plague central parts of Asia thus impacting
the livelihood and the health of the people there.
So what does it mean for you?
Ideally you invest only in the highest quality cashmere because that will last the longest
and therefore, you don't have to rebuy cashmere scarves every season thus impacting the desert
growth in Central Asia.
So what's the best quality cashmere?
One, it's from combed goats,it's from Mongolia or China.
It's about 14 to 16 microns in diameter and it's 50 millimeters long which is about two
inches.
As I said, the higher the ply, the better.
So how can you buy quality cashmere?
Actually, I've always found it was extremely difficult to find out more information about
cashmere especially when you shop online but also in stores.
Sales clerks don't know what they're talking about and people just say "oh it's quality
cashmere", most of time you don't learn about the plies, you don't learn about the fibre
length, they can't even tell you where it is sourced and as such, you should only buy
cashmere from a retailer where you can return it after a while.
Especially if you encounter pilling after a few times of wear.
Now that being said, even the highest quality cashmere will pill eventually, it will just
happen muchlater and pilling is usually encountered in areas of high friction.
For a starter for example, underneath the arms.
Of course, you as a consumer can use common sense because you're not gonna get a super
high quality cashmere scarf for 50 bucks or for five dollars on the street, that is simply
a deal it's too good to be true.
So always check if your retailer provides enough information about cashmere and we try
to do it on our website when we have our scarves for example or our gloves because we want
to make sure that we source quality cashmere that stands the test of time.
So what should you do and don't do when it comes to cashmere?
First of all don't be fooled by gauge numbers when it comes to cashmere, they don't matter.
Do expect that a retailer should explain to you why their cashmere cost as much as it
does.
Don't buy cheap disposable cashmere that has to be renewed every season and instead..
Do buy cashmere in timeless patterns and colors that you can wear from now and for years to
come.
Do consider the cost per wear for cashmere, especially if you plan to wear it for 20 years
from now.
Do buy a cashmere products that best utilize the characteristics of material.
Cashmere is very soft and therefore it's great for sweaters scarves linings, even ties, however
it's not suited for suits or pants because in the area around your thighs there's too
much friction and it will pill very easily.
Also, if you go for cashmere socks, it makes sense to blend it maybe with silk or some
other fibers to give it more strength while maintaining its softness.
When it comesvto jackets, do buy a hundred percent cashmere sport coats such as the one
I'm wearing here right now.
It's very soft or go with suits that have merino wool blended with cashmere to add extra
softness.
Don't buy cashmere that is blended with polyester or nylon because usually it's a very low quality
cashmere and you'll regret your purchase soon thereafter.
Last but not least, how do you care for cashmere?
Unlike cotton, it is normally not machine washable and is a hand wash only item.
I'd also try not to dryclean it if you can avoid it instead, you can get a baby shampoo
andgently wash it by hand and then Pat it dry with a cotton towel and let it air dry
gently, ideally on a hanger, unless it's a sweater, that should be dried flat.
Alternatively, you can also purchase low alkaline detergent which is perfect for cashmere.
Once you wash cashmere and it's dried, it may feel a lot stiffer so you have to kind
of crunch it and make it soft, maybe iron it, and steam it and wear it a little bit,
and it will regain its original softness
In today's video, I am wearing a hundred percent cashmere
jacket by H Freeman & Sons which I found at a vintage flea market for just 20
bucks.
It has a classic Prince of Wales check pattern with nice tones of brown
beige and mustard yellow which is perfect for the fall winter season.
As such, it pairs really well with my dark chocolate brown Polo Ralph Lauren cotton
corduroy slacks and my wool vest for my shirt I chose a custom shirt made out of
a light blue cotton flannel and even though it is very soft it is not
cashmere but it almost feels like it I combined it with a solid brown cashmere
high which is generally thicker than a silk tie and it pairs particularly well
with fall winter outfits I tried to keep the color scheme very muted Brown and
falling the pocket square is from Fort Belvedere it is wool and printed in
England and it picks up the colors of the blue in the shirt and the burgundy
of the waistcoat to run a full character i pair it with trickers boots in a nice
tan cognac color I added contrasting boot laces from Fort
Belvedere to just create a little more interest my socks are a cashmere silk
plant there are pros from Fort Belvedere and their dark green
however with boots that reach over the ankle you'll rarely ever see the socks
my cufflinks are Eagle Claw cufflinks from Fort Belvedere with a tiger's eye
which is a very nice brown and yellow changing look to it which goes
exceptionally well look at my jacket in my pants as well as my shoes in line
with that I have a ring which is that a pinkie ring because too big for my pinky
finger so bring it on my ring finger and it works well with the cufflinks as well
with all the other brown tones in my outfit if I'd go outside I'd wear a
scarf with it such as this for velvety scarf in a nice mustard yellow that is
very seasonally appropriate for gloves most of our gloves have a cashmere
lining and you can check out all four Belvedere accessories in our shop here
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