Where to Buy Pashmina Shawls
You can find pashmina shawls in many ways, both online or directly at the source. Pashmina shawls are made in differing qualities, from 100 percent pashmina shawls to shawls that are a combination of 50 percent pashmina and 50 silk and so forth. You can also choose between 3 ply and 2 ply. Blended and 2 ply shawls tend to be much more affordable in price.
The Pashmina Store
The pashmina store should be among your first stops in finding pashmina shawls. The pashmina store's top of the line 3 ply 100 percent pashmina shawls cost $76 each. Their 2 ply 100 percent pashmina shawls cost $70 each. Their 70 percent pashmina, 30 percent silk shawls are $60 each. Their shawls come in many colors, from olive green to stunning reds and oranges. The pashmina store is a truly wonderful shop for purchasing pashmina shawls online.
Shop East West
Shop east west is an excellent store for shopping for pashmina shawls. They advertise that they buy directly from the source, which allows them to keep their costs low. They offer a bargain basement pashmina shawl for $10. It is a viscose blend. Other shawls they offer are their standard $47 100 percent pashmina shawls that are machine made, which are a great value. At the luxury end, they sell a $175 pashmina shawls with detailed embroidery and leather tassels.
Go to India
Traveling directly to the source if often the best way to find the highest quality products at the cheapest prices. By traveling directly to India, not only do you get a vacation out of the deal, you get to skip on the enormous charges that middlemen charge. Most major cities, especially in Northern India, and even many smaller cities have extensive shops that sell pashmina shawls. Delhi, for instance, has quite a few pashmina vendors. They sell a wide variety of products at much lower rates than if you were to buy them online or in the US. You can talk directly to the shopkeeper and even see some shawls hand made in front of you, where they will stitch and tailor them to your preference. If you really want to go directly to the source, head to the cities of Srinagar or Ladakh in Kashmir. Both of these cities are famous for their natural beauty, as well.
What is Pashmina?
The fabric, pashmina, is a type of cashmere wool, know for its very fine qualities. Cashmere is just an antiquated version of the spelling of Kashmir, a province in Northern India, and Northern Pakistan that the two countries have been warring over for a half a decade. Cashmere wool comes from the cashmere goat, a goat that is native to the himalayan and hindu kush regions of India, Nepal, China and Pakistan. There is now also a booming trade in cashmere products originating from the Gobi desert region of Inner Mongolia.
Pashmina shawls are hand spun and woven. These textiles are generally produced in the province of Kashmir. The goats shed their winter hair every spring, so that is when the wool is collected.
