Cashmere

As a former Londoner, I've owned my fair share of knits. As a youngster, I couldn't understand why I hated my woolly school sweater but loved the way my sister's green scarf felt around my neck. Unlike the itchy sweater, the scarf was impossibly light, almost magically enveloping me against the icy English winds I faced on the way to school each morning. What was this Golden Fleece? The clues on the label read "100% Cashmere" and "Made in Scotland." Cashmere. Just the sound of it conjures images of sophistication.

"It's been a disaster, a disaster," bellows Ubaldo Grazia. The owner of his family's 500-year-old ceramics business isn't talking about the financial meltdown in his country or the Eurozone debt crisis, but the weak U.S. economy that he said had cost him one customer after another. Saks, Tiffany, Nieman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma — his list goes on. Grazia's company, now in its 25th generation, is one of dozens of ceramics makers struggling in this picturesque medieval town known for its handcrafted pottery.

Cashmere 101 With so much cashmere out there, how can you tell the good from the destined-to-disappoint? And how can you keep your cashmere fresh and lovely for years? Try our tips for buying and caring for this luxury fiber. Labels Read labels carefully, and opt for 100% cashmere if you can afford it. When cashmere is part of a blend, there is a compromise in quality. By law, all cashmere labels should show country of origin, percentage of cashmere and the name of the manufacturer.

H&M and other big-box retailers are obvious go-tos for fast fashion. But they aren't the only stores in town for shoppers seeking that little black dress in lace or a cashmere sweater that won't break the bank. Many of L.A.'s independent boutiques offer a curated selection of dresses, sweaters, pants and accessories in a more intimate environment with attentive service. Below we look at five of those boutiques, with current styles and prices that frequently average less than $100.

Chinese authorities are taking action to restore order to the international trade in cashmere, one of the world's most luxurious fibers. The cashmere trade has been in crisis for more than a year because of the attempts by China, which produces almost all of the world's cashmere, to liberalize its internal trading system as part of its economic reform program.

Of the endless shenanigans that Curious George has gotten himself into in the popular children's books and current film adaptation, surely none is this zany: Banana in hand, the whimsical simian now flashes his cheeky smile from the back of a Raw 7 cashmere sweater--price tag $385. Cashmere is flooding retailers from posh boutiques to Costco: Depending on your point of view (that is, your age and income), cashmere is becoming either fun and accessible or hopelessly vulgar.

Judy Leaf of Beverly Hills admired some $400 cashmere shawls in London about five years ago, so when a friend went there recently Leaf asked her to get three of them. After seeing the bill for $2,100, Leaf said, "I almost dropped dead. It was like a house payment." Designer Donna Karan charged stores $195 a pair wholesale for her first 100% cashmere pants in 1985. By next fall, they are expected to be almost $425.

Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, used to test the fineness of her cashmere shawls by drawing them through her wedding ring. Today's consumers tend to leave their rings on their fingers when choosing their cashmere, but they would do well to follow Empress Eugenie's example and study the quality of the garments carefully before they buy. The price of cashmere is up; sweaters can cost thousands of dollars.

Cashmere, because of its rarity and expense, always had been considered a privilege of the wealthy. It was possible, perhaps, to find a sale or to catch a close-out, but mostly, cashmere sweaters, scarves and such were pricey and exclusive. But now, led most aggressively by Banana Republic, the fashion world is bringing forth a democratization of cashmere. Banana Republic's advertisements are tacked up on the sides of buses.

"It's been a disaster, a disaster," bellows Ubaldo Grazia. The owner of his family's 500-year-old ceramics business isn't talking about the financial meltdown in his country or the Eurozone debt crisis, but the weak U.S. economy that he said had cost him one customer after another. Saks, Tiffany, Nieman Marcus, Williams-Sonoma — his list goes on. Grazia's company, now in its 25th generation, is one of dozens of ceramics makers struggling in this picturesque medieval town known for its handcrafted pottery.

Reinout Oerlemans, the former Dutch soap star who founded the Eyeworks television production company, has listed a Beverly Hills contemporary for $14.9 million. The newly built house has an 80-foot lap pool with panoramic views encompassing downtown L.A., Century City, the Wilshire Corridor and the ocean. The home was designed as a showplace for an art collector or an owner who likes to entertain. Sliding walls of glass push back in all the principal rooms to bring the outdoors in. Padded cashmere walls and custom treated oak floors are among interior details.

Cashmere 101 With so much cashmere out there, how can you tell the good from the destined-to-disappoint? And how can you keep your cashmere fresh and lovely for years? Try our tips for buying and caring for this luxury fiber. Labels Read labels carefully, and opt for 100% cashmere if you can afford it. When cashmere is part of a blend, there is a compromise in quality. By law, all cashmere labels should show country of origin, percentage of cashmere and the name of the manufacturer.

As a former Londoner, I've owned my fair share of knits. As a youngster, I couldn't understand why I hated my woolly school sweater but loved the way my sister's green scarf felt around my neck. Unlike the itchy sweater, the scarf was impossibly light, almost magically enveloping me against the icy English winds I faced on the way to school each morning. What was this Golden Fleece? The clues on the label read "100% Cashmere" and "Made in Scotland." Cashmere. Just the sound of it conjures images of sophistication.

Sleep can be elusive when you're flying, but two pillows have arrived to make passengers more comfy. The Ultimate Travel Pillow packs a lot of squishy coziness into its long torso. It inflates vertically, attaches to the seat and seat belt to avoid slipping and provides head-to-waist support. Or, for a first-class vibe, try the cashmere-clad pillow by pb. It's half the size of what's on your bed and is an ideal mix of feathers and down that offers softness and support. Another plus: It's crushable.

Say what you will about the "Enjoli" campiness of some of the ads, but I defy anyone to speak slightingly about the cast of "Cashmere Mafia," a female foursome so formidable that two of them are Australian. Not the characters, which are straight-up American power babes, but the women who play them prove once again that limited opportunities for female leads in film are a tremendous boon for television.

PATRICIA FIELD'S deep and smoky voice echoes through a cavernous photo studio where she has been readying the cast of "Cashmere Mafia" for their publicity stills. Field whirls onto the set with magenta hair, turquoise frame spectacles and her fists full of vintage leather belts. She is debating which belts the show's four leads should wear. In the end she decides to mix it up. She is very good at mixing it up. To call Field a costume designer is an understatement.

Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, used to test the fineness of her cashmere shawls by drawing them through her wedding ring. Today's consumers tend to leave their rings on their fingers when choosing their cashmere, but they would do well to follow Empress Eugenie's example and study the quality of the garments carefully before they buy. The price of cashmere is up; sweaters can cost thousands of dollars.

H&M and other big-box retailers are obvious go-tos for fast fashion. But they aren't the only stores in town for shoppers seeking that little black dress in lace or a cashmere sweater that won't break the bank. Many of L.A.'s independent boutiques offer a curated selection of dresses, sweaters, pants and accessories in a more intimate environment with attentive service. Below we look at five of those boutiques, with current styles and prices that frequently average less than $100.

Back in the day, wearing your favorite band merchandise meant scoring a Hanes Beefy-T in a beer-soaked parking lot outside the venue for $6. The front was inevitably plastered with a poorly screened band logo, and the back listed tour stops (just in case you were too plastered to remember where you were). That was then, and this is now.

IF there's an emblem for this season's distinctive romanticism, it's the hand-sewn petals designers have tucked into necklines and scattered across bodices and skirts like errant bouquets. Rosettes were strewn all over the spring runways, stitched to Thakoon's organza petal skirts, spilling across the delicate dresses from Rodarte and causing a sensation at 3.1 Phillip Lim's show, where a simple white T-shirt dress with hand-sculpted rosettes quickly became the dress of the season.