Last Saturday as temperatures plummeted and the snow fell, The Times Magazine mentioned our superfine cashmere Ringshawls as ideal for alfresco fashion.
Below is a picture of our classic cashmere shawl (black of course!).
Click here to browse our whole collection of superfine cashmere shawls
It's usually around this time of the year that brands start to roll out their spring/summer collections, the days begin to lengthen and we all start to see the spring light at the end of the long winter tunnel. And with the unusually mild winter weather that has seen daffodils and snowdrops bloom early, we can all be forgiven for thinking that spring was on its way.
However, the recent cold snap which has envoloped the whole of the UK proves that Mother Nature does have a sense of humour.
With snow due to fall over the weekend and the cold weather looking set to continue, here are a few essential cashmere accessories that will keep you warm from head to toe.
Classic Black Cashmere Shawl >>>
Black Quilted Leather Gloves with Cashmere Lining >>>
Grey and Ivory Long Cashmere Socks >>>
Mens Black Cashmere Beanie Hat >>>
Double Faced Cashmere Scarf >>>
Men's Rabbit Lined Leather Gloves >>>
... is a bit like the naming of cats. As T S Eliot distinguishes, a cat has three names:
1. His sensible everyday name
2. His peculiar, dignified name (a name that never belongs to more than one cat) and;
3. The name that only the cat himself knows.
It's worth underlining at this point that I understand that scarves aren't cats.
However part of my job is to name the products we make.
"Why don't you just call a scarf a scarf and be done with it. Who cares?" you might proclaim.
"Fair point," I might reply. And then I would run away as I am scared of a) strangers and b) confrontation.
After a while, I would catch myself in reflective isolation considering your question and would respond in this manner:
1. We have in our inventory around 40 different styles of scarf so each requires a name to set it apart from the other.
2. Within this inventory are six different fabrics: woven cashmere; knitted cashmere; hand-woven cashmere; 50:50 cashmere silk blend; 70:30 cashmere silk blend; silk; silk and wool; merino wool; silk, wool, linen and cashmere. And each of these has its unique tactility.
3. There are also five different sizes of scarf ranging from 160 x 33cm to a whopping 200 x 100cm. Size matters in the Land of Scarf because it dictates how a scarf can be worn and its weight.
4. The internet precludes the sense of touch when it comes to shopping. This sense holds a key function in decision making in the physical realm that must be somehow bolstered in the virtual. One way of doing this is through the power of language. Words can trigger the touch memory; 'feather light', 'sandpaper coarse', 'whisper soft' helping our customers to visualise the weight and feel of our fabrics on their skin.
Case in point:
The Mist Scarves (pictured: Lagoon Mist)
I know what you're thinking. Blue Steel.
This is indeed a highfalutin name for an accessory. But when I tried it on and felt its silken softness; the way it slipped gracefully through my fingers and how the light, liquid colours gave way to an immediate sense of summer, I thought 'to heck with it. This is my Blue Steel'.
So in the tradition of the naming of cats, what we have here is a:
1. Blue and White Cashmere and Silk Shawl
2. Lagoon Mist Cashmere and Silk Shawl
3. [never you mind]
Dégradé is a dyeing process by which one colour bleeds into another, creating a vibrant, eyes-on-stalks contrast. Having had such great success with these shawls throughout the summer in our BrightByBlack collection (featuring luscious and tropical red-to-purple, blue-to-green and the phenomenal orange-to-pink), we set about creating a range for Black for A/W - summoning up our classic palette of earthy, natural colours (plus our signature magenta) and casting them across a hand-spun, hand-woven cashmere canvas.
Here are the results:
Dégradé Military Green to Fire Shaded Pashmina Shawl | £195 | Shop Now>>> http://bit.ly/csUn4k
Dégradé Black to Magenta Shaded Cashmere Pashmina Shawl | £195 | Shop Now>>> http://bit.ly/bYpAMc
Dégradé Flame Shaded Cashmere Pashmina Shawl | £195 | Shop Now>>> http://bit.ly/ahXCDn
* We mean 'dégradé' here. The internet can bring utility companies and sovereign wealth funds to their knees, but it can't apply an accute accent to a blog title. That said, the notion of a 'degrade' cashmere shawl is certainly curious.
So begins the influx of our Autumn/Winter men's accessories, featuring scarves, gloves, beanies and cufflinks, among other things.
New in today are these scarves and beanies - and with prices starting at £29 we hope that we have the stuff to stir your autumnal sartorial senses:
Cheyne White and Grey Dogstooth Merino Wool Scarf | £29 | Shop Now >>> http://bit.ly/8XpLsT SOLD OUT
Two Tone Grey Cashmere Beanie | £49 | Shop Now >>> http://bit.ly/bJYwFL
White Rib Knit Cashmere Scarf | £79 | Shop Now >>> http://bit.ly/bTxFUD
Navy and Grey Dogtooth Merino Wool Scarf | £29 | Show Now >>> http://bit.ly/cKaD48
Two Tone Beige and Brown Cashmere Beanie | £49 | Shop Now >>> http://bit.ly/b4Tuwo
Gresham Grey Reversible Cashmere Scarf | Pure Cashmere | £79 | Shop Now >>> http://bit.ly/9Bv5t6
For the next few weeks, we are all over The Cashmere Scarf because it's starting to get cold and windy and you will need one and there is no better place to come than to us for one. See our homepage if you don't believe me.
Rather than fill your head with textile-lesson info about yarns, ply, softness, thickness, length, width, weave, knit, spin etc we thought we'd get straight to the important questions. Such as:
"Will [a cashmere scarf] completely improve my life, eg make me more attractive to the opposite sex, get me a pay-rise, enlarge my, er, IQ, send me to Barbados, bask me in eternal joy?'
Maybe it will. Maybe it won't.
Ultimately, the most important thing about choosing your cashmere scarf is deciding which one is for you and once that is nailed, how you will wear it.
So at the risk of being reductive, we have conjured up The Scartoons; five cashmere scarf aficionados who might be able to help you make that decision:
Meet The Scartoons or Read The Whole Tootin' Cashmere Scarf Feature:
Johnny Cashmere. Read On >>>
Princess Pashmina. Read On >>>
The Printista - Read On >>>
Ursula Unusual. Read On >>>
When the delivery of a spectacular one-of-a-kind cashmere stole arrived unnoticed in the office last week, I was placed in a moral maze. Upload or pocket? Immediately, I pictured what I would wear with it; J Brand jeans, racer back black vest, Gucci blazer, my Joan of Arc Zara pumps. Winner. Just enough of a memory of Summer with which to trip into Autumn. Hand out, ready to stash it into my bag and (obvs leaving an anonymous cheque for I am not a crook) head for the hills, The Boss entered and exclaimed with bright-eyed zeal:
"What is THAT? GORGEOUS!'.
THAT is this: a Sheer Purple Cashmere Stole with Giant Butterfly Applique. I found the sample for this a few months ago having failed to notice its existence in the sample cupboard for the last 4 years. And having spent days draping it languorously around myself as if in some Cliveden reenactment I decided to produce another of these cashmere miracles. Here it is:
I assume the above makes the outcome of my moral maze pretty clear...
£225 Shop Now >>>
On Friday night at around 10:30 I arrived back from holiday into Gatwick's North Terminal. Joy and rapture. Because, just as our flight touched the ground, so did 11 other flights which meant frantic must get in the fastest queue must get in the fastest queue mania at immigration and then an hour long wait eyeballing the baggage reclaim screen with the apocalyptic zeal of hedge-fund shorter followed by another hour 
tracking down a cab. It was fun and certainly did justice to a good holiday (see gratuitous blurry Blackberry holiday snap). Ah Espana.
Then came the domestic stuff: unpacking, washing, drying, ironing, shopping and disinfecting the Gaggia. Followed by the work stuff: scrutinising the emails that, days earlier, I had merely scanned with a glibness of heart and a fluttering of soul. Then yesterday was our management meeting and boom! adrenaline injection what with all the enormous Christmas (yes indeed Christmas) preparation to do, sales reports, traffic reports and so on. Business. Boom!
This morning, however, was my husband's first day back and so begin the 5:30 starts, at desk by 7. As a consequence my days also start this fiendishly early. So I like to break in the day by doing the following:
1. Updating our Twitter page
2. Checking our Facebook page
3. Analysing our website's traffic for the previous day.
The latter is the most fun. This is because as well as providing us with vital information about the traffic we get to our site at www.black.co.uk, we also see what terms or keywords people type into Google that lead them to our site. In among the searches for the products we actually sell such as women's scarves, women's scarfs (sic), men's scarves, wraps, pashminas, leather gloves, cashmere throws, cashmere socks* and so on are searches for products and 'things' that we certainly do not sell.
Here are a few gems
1. 'are leather placemats a good idea'
2. 'cashmere mother of the bride'
3. 'bedroom accessories for men'
4. 'i want to buy hair of a black woman'
5. 'straw Robin Hood'
... needless to say there are also searches that should never see the light of day...
The wonders of the internet. Rivalled only by the wonders of the British Aviation Authority.
ps. Are leather placemats a good idea?
* Over-done linking here is at the behest of our SEO guys. Reads easily doesn't it?
Isn't it good to know that when a woman gets hold of the subject of football she gets right to the heart of the things that matter?
And those would be:
1. Why does David Beckham look so dramatically better in the M&S for England suit than Capello?
2. Does Frank Lampard exfoliate and if so what brand does he use?
3. Isn't there a certain unexpected tenderness in Steven Gerrard's eyes when he does that interview thing at the end of the game?
4. (And crucially) How well dressed is the Germany coach?
Joachim Loew, the Germany coach, knows how to wear a cashmere scarf. Sorry to say it given Sunday's imminent tie, but he does. Regard Exhibit A:
As an Accessorist* I have an internal response mechanism that leads me to compare this scarf instantly with Black's cashmere scarves.
On this occasion I thought of the Rivington Superfine Scarf; lots of caps, er, etc. But it would not do just to post a standard picture of it. No. Because Loew wears it so well, we needed to step up to the plate. Go head to head.
Introducing Toby (and England), our Sales and Marketing Manager, wearing the Rivington Superfine Cashmere Scarf (£85):
Who wins in this crucial Scarf Tie**? England or Germany? Comments below please...
* Do not consult dictionary. This is a real word.
** We sell these too.
Back in stock and just in time for this sumptuous summer, drrrrrrrrrrum roll!
Safi Square Shawl.
When this shawl first hit the site it sold out almost instantly, thanks I think to the tantalising lusciousness of the colours (we were also featured in a magazine, which helped). We've had reports back from the customers who bought from our first delivery and, by consensus, it is an absolute favourite. These same customers report that they have been stopped in the street when wearing it by women who ask where they can get one. This is also, phenomenally, the case with the Babylon Scarf.
So here we go, back in stock for all of you who have been keeping an eye out for it. I have one and find that it looks winning with grey marl and white; these neutrals really bring out the colour. (NB: limited stock available).
