Good Cashmere

[Caffeine]

^jcrew cashmere are at $100+...
400-500 can afford TSE.

 

[baklanyc]

i love marc jacobs' cashmere, although it is obscenely priced.

Yes, I remember a 12-ply sweater at Jeffrey for like $1200 several years back during the cashmere boom (before Banana & JCrew & everyone else jumped on.... doesn't even the Gap have Cashmere now?!?). That's $100 per ply!

 

[The Baron]

Ply isn't the only indicator for cashmere quality...you can't buy by the numbers alone.

The ply essentially refers to the weight of the thread being used. As a rule of thumb, 2-ply or anything higher should be sufficient to make a fine cashmere garment. You don't have to get 4-ply+, unless you specifically want a heavier-weight garment.

However, you also have to consider the quality of the weave. If you look at a 2-ply garment next to a 1-ply garment at the same price, chances are you'll find the 2-ply garment has a looser weave - the thread is more expensive, so they have to cut corners somewhere. That loose weave is what's going to lead to the garment losing its shape, pilling, and other quality-loss issues as the garment ages.

So when you're buying, make sure to look closely at the weave. It should be dense and smooth if it's good quality. You should be able to stretch it a little bit in front of a light and not see mostly air through it. Also, when you stretch it, it should snap back into its original shape - if it doesn't, then it's too loose for the garment to keep its structure over the long haul.

 

[baklanyc]

Confirming what The Baron said, the fact that it's a heavier weight doesn't necessarily mean it's a better quality. But you could be fooled into thinking it because of the price!

 

[Caffeine]

Thank you so much for the tips!!!

 

[Guessgirl96]

^jcrew cashmere are at $100+...
400-500 can afford TSE.

Thanks what does TSE stand for, or is that the whole brand? Things I could find online would be great, since the only thing we have here is a crummy saks.

 

[Fade to Black]

I always prounounced TSE as "Tsay" rather than T-S-E...since it originated in Hong Kong I just assumed it was the surname of the founder, which is prounounced 'tsay'.

 

[softgrey]

well..crummy saks sells lots of TSE...(pronounced tsay)...

..
check their website...

 

[Guessgirl96]

Thanks I'll check it out as soon as I get home. I didn't mean saks is crummy overall, just that the one by me is, it's ity bity with very little selection.

 

[softgrey]

i know...i'm just playing with ya...
..
the website has some stuff...
but probably not as much selection as the ny store...
but saks is doing a big cashmere promotion this fall, so they should have lots of interesting stuff that they usually don't...

 

[elsa]

Thanks for the interesting posts. To someday: tks for the info. You are right about Cariaggi, I tried it, I had two good nice sweaters made for me in their cashmere. I knit (quite slowly) so I make myself two sweaters each year, in Cardiff cashmere. The problem when I have someone making a sweater for me with the machine is that they just copy an old one I have and like, which is less exciting than having one with a newer design.

 

[ShoeLady]

The best cashmere, I've found, has been at Bloomingdale's. It's this section called Cashmericals. I'm not sure if they have it in other Bloomingdale's or just the one in New York, but you can check it out. Their cashmere is the best and is reasonablly priced too. Ralph Lauren also makes some nice cashmere sweaters every so often.

 

[faust]

The best cashmere, I've found, has been at Bloomingdale's. It's this section called Cashmericals. I'm not sure if they have it in other Bloomingdale's or just the one in New York, but you can check it out. Their cashmere is the best and is reasonablly priced too. Ralph Lauren also makes some nice cashmere sweaters every so often.

Interesting. I thought the Bloomingdales cashmere was probably the worst I've ever seen in my life. That was more than a few years ago though...

 

[Lovin_It]

for me

J Crew cashmere is fantastic - the best for the money I think.

 

[Hipkitten]

I've always liked Polo's Black Label cashmere

 

[cchen]

So you guys are saying that "#-ply" is a good measure of the quality of the cashmere. J. Crew claims that their cashmere sweaters are 12-14 gauge. Whats the difference?

 

[tott]

OK, here's a thorough explanation:

Gauge refers to the thickness of the thread. #-ply to the number of threads that are used, as in the number of threads used in every single stitch: 4-ply means it's knitted with quadruple threads instead of a single thread.

Neither thickness nor number of threads is a measure of quality in itself, but it's a good guide. It would be great if you had both gauge/threadcount.

It's like this with cashmere and other wools: the fibers in lower quality wool are shorter, thicker, coarser and less flexible than in good quality wool. High quality wool fibers are therefore longer, thinner, softer and more flexible (elasic, if you will). This means you can produce thinner yarns from good quality raw material than you can from lesser qualities. And it's better to use several thinner threads compared to a thick one because you get a softer, more flexible knit.

4-ply cashmere made of 4 thinner, higher quality threads will be softer, more flexible and finer* than cashmere made from a thicker single ply thread. Even if they are made from the same raw material; we can compare it to paper. Say you had two stacks of 10 thin sheets of paper, one with loose papers (10-ply) and one where the papers are glued to each other (single thread). Which stack is easier to fold and manipulate?

So anyhow, what kind of threadcount and gauge you use is - of course - also a matter of design: you really can't make a thicker, bulkier sweater using multiple ply, superthin yarn. It would take an awful lot of yarn to make it thick which would make it very heavy, and it would be too soft to get bulky.

*Also more expensive because you get a tighter knit which takes more material (and time) to produce.

 

[tott]

^ The reason why people put so much emphasis on threadcount is for an obvious reason, I suppose: You need super quality wool to produce those really fine yarns, you'll never see a 12-ply cashmere sweater at H&M because it can't be faked.

 

[tott]

I hope you don't find me annoying here...

Definition of ply from www.woolworks.org:

Most yarn is made of plied material. A ply is a twisted strand. If the twist is a firm one, the yarn will be fine; if is too firm, the yarn "kinks." If the twist is loose, the yarn is soft, thick and a bit less hardy.
The number of plies in yarn has nothing to do with thickness. A yarn made of four firm plies may be thinner than one made of two loose ones. That having been said, yarn strength and evenness depends on the number of plies. Yarn is usually plied (the act of twisting the twisted strand together) in the opposite direction of the individual strands. This corrects the tendency of the yarn to slant as it is worked. A sweater made from a firm, multi-ply yarn knit with a small gauge might survive generations of wearers.

Unplied yarn is a hunk of wool that has been stretched out a little. Roving, a fluffy bulky yarn with no twist, is an example of this. Sweaters made of roving are fragile and tend to pill.

And here's a 4-ply relatively coarse alpaca yarn to illustrate:

 

[Curious]

Thanks Tott Handy stuff to know!