malefic
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 10, 2009
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I found this article on the WSJ, which pits a thousand-dollar Cucinelli cashmere knit against a competitor's hundred-dollar equivalent: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119629923865107298.html The obvious question, and one I wanted to ask even before I saw the article, is whether cheaper cashmere is worth it at all. If the stuff is sold to couturiers in an auction format, surely the highest-grade stuff is going for the most money, so cheap clothiers simply can't afford the same divine fluff that went into my recently acquired US$3,800 Marc Jacobs hoodie. On eBay I see pure cashmere sweaters/hoodies/etc. by Hilfiger selling for <$50 incl. shipping. Is that worth it? I see John Varvatos and Vince cashmere for $100-150, is that worth it? What about Prada cashmere for $200? There is a cashmere hoodie-sweater by Hermes listed right now that looks absolutely gorgeous, but it's $2.2K -- worth it? Incidentally, I have an Hermes cashmere & silk V-neck sweater I picked up for almost 300 bucks and it is soft as ****! Way softer than my Club Monaco cashmere hoodie, but maybe that's partly as a result of the silk? Then again I bought a pure cashmere hoodie by Dirty English (it's lined with rabbit fur) and it's way softer than the Monaco even without silk. So as the WSJ rightly concluded, higher prices do get you higher quality. BUT . . . . Is it worth buying a couple of Hilfiger-level pure cashmere sweaters for $40-50 each, or more worth it to spend $100 on John Varvatos cashmere or $200 on Prada, or is it best to just save all that dough so at the end instead of 25 Nothing-designer cashmeres I have just one by Hermes or Loro Piana or a similar company? I think in a lot of similar questions, taste enters the equation, but here I think it ought to be possible to divorce ourselves from subjectivity. I'm talking about relatively simple garments, so complex structure/tailoring/detailing don't really matter, I shouldn't think (or do they? Weigh in!), it is purely a matter of the direct financial value of the cashmere in question. How much softer is the expensive stuff? Would you (do you) buy it, or stick to the cheaper brands? Is there even any difference?