Visible Monday: Rocking a fake pashmina

Once you start wearing a big old shawl everyday, you’re on the express train to old ladyhood, right? Well, that’s what I’ve always thought.

So it was with mixed feelings that I fell in love with this cozy, oversized scarf the other day. We were sightseeing in a small town that we like to visit. It’s the perfect browsing town — quaint but not too sleepy, bustling but not harried, and very, very stylish, without being intimidating. It’s full of unique shops and galleries, brimming with items that we just don’t find at home.

And yes, there is money in this here town. So of course I wanted to hit the local consignment shop.

The shop was a bit unusual — small, with an odd mix of things. For clothing, I didn’t see much. There was some gorgeous amber jewelry, but that seemed a bit extravagant — I just wasn’t in the zone.

But there were a number of scarves.

As I tried them on, the store owner heard me voicing my old-lady fears. “I just sold a couple of these to some teenage girls, and they loved them,” she assured me. (And I must confess, the catty part of me briefly pictured hordes of teenage girls wearing the scarves with pajama pants and Uggs).

But I just fell in love with the scarf, so I bought it, for $13. I’m very happy with it, even though I know the whole thing may be a bit of a sham.

In the store display, the scarf was identified as a “silk pashmina.” The label says “55% pashmina, 45% silk.”

But the label is also glued in. It doesn’t say where it was made. And the “brand” name is, I kid you not, “Pashmina.”

Now, I wasn’t born yesterday. I know that glued-in labels are not a sign of top quality. I’m pretty sure that “Pashmina” is not a brand, and I also know that real pashminas are expensive. True, I didn’t know what “pashmina” meant until I looked it up online.  (It’s a cashmere-like fabric, for the record.  And apparently it’s so fragile, it could never stand up to a glued-in label).

Not surprisingly, my Internet search also revealed that there are a lot of fake pashminas out there. A veritable black market! Picture it, if you will:  furtive clusters of chilly, shawl-deprived women scurry into a dingy side street, seeking the hidden, forbidden, counterfeit pashmina shop.  (“Knock three times!  Tell ‘em Joe sent you!”)

Now, the store owner told me that this scarf was consigned, but she had a whole bunch of them. Was she being untruthful? Is her “source” a fake pashmina mill, rather than a wealthy dowager with shawls to spare?

Or — and I think this is more likely — did somebody in this small but stylish town order a bunch of pashminas online, only to be cruelly disillusioned when she realized they weren’t real?

Well, her disappointment is my gain. Because I love this scarf! It’s warm and cozy. The colors are rich and vibrant, the fabric soft yet substantial. And no, I’m not a fabric expert, but my current scarf collection includes some synthetics that feel lush as well as some natural fibers that feel skimpy or scratchy. The bottom line is: if it looks and feels nice, I don’t really care what it’s made of.

And at $13, I consider it a bargain, no matter how fake it may be. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve browsed scarves in chain stores — scarves in serviceable but unremarkable fabrics and patterns, repeated dozens of times over, scarf after identical scarf — priced at $30 and upwards.

In contrast, this scarf seems unique and striking. When I wear it, a certain kind of sumptuous, Old World glamour creeps in, and I start to feel very 19th-century Russian novel. It’s just the thing to feature for Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style!  (Be sure to visit the site to see what all the other stylish women are wearing to feel visible today).

So now I’m ready to rock my fake pashmina all over town.  Now, if only I could figure out how to remove the label without ruining it…

 How about you?  Do you love something that you know is “fake?”  

As a postscript, two of my favorite bloggers — Debbie at She Accessorizes Well and Serene at The Elegant Bohemian – recently awarded me with the “Liebster blog award.” They both have such wonderful blogs, and I’m so touched that they thought of me!

To be honest, kind bloggers have sent me awards once or twice before, but I’ve been reluctant to participate for various neurotic reasons. I worry, for example, that I’ll insult some great bloggers by leaving them out.  Or, I hesitate to break with my blog’s theme — such as it is — by tailoring a post to the blog awards.

But we small bloggers have to stick together, so I am participating in this one. Liebster means “dearest” in German, and this award is given to bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. Each recipient is asked to choose five other blogs to award. It was hard to choose which blogs to feature because there are so many good ones, and with the WordPress blogs, it can be hard to determine the number of followers.  But enough obsessing:  I had to choose, so here is my list.

1. A Curious Girl’s Guide to Life - Gail is a British blogger who writes about a broad range of topics with a keen eye and playful sense of humor.  Plus, her David Bowie obsession is simply charming.
2. Average in Suburbia - Very, very funny posts, as the title would suggest.
3. Fashion Me Blog - Angie blogs from Greece, and I just love how she documents her process of creating interesting, low-cost outfits during troubled times.
4. Hagfest - I can’t resist blogs with ironic titles spoofing our misconceptions about aging. Very funny.
5. The Chronicles of Lady K - Kari and I joke about having been separated at birth.  I love her funny, self-effacing style as she documents the struggle to get oneself out of the house looking presentable.  I can relate!

These are all great blogs — check them out!

And to these five excellent bloggers:  if you choose to participate, the stipulations of the award are as follows:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your 5 blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Hope that the people you have sent the award to will forward it to their favorite bloggers.

Have fun!

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