Ballantyne cashmere

[Christofuh]

Anybody know how their sweaters merit the $1175 retail price ? Hand-made in Scotland and so forth. The patterns are either plain or outright gruesome; while the fabric isn't terribly luxurious. Apparently my local Bloomies is the only location in the chain lucky enough to carry that maker

.
Early this year I picked up a cashmere Canali 1/4 zip going for $700 & change, followed by SAKS house label Scottish-made argyle 1/4 zip sweater going for couple hundred $$ less. Both of them send the Ballantyne stuff to Spanksville without even passing the touch-n-feel test.

 

[Baron]

I got a Ballantyne grey cashmere v-neck from ebay for $19 about a month ago. The quality is as good as anything I own, but I don't know about a retail value of $1175. I do know that I have a Saks brand v-neck that cost about $250 and it's a piece of crap.

 

[nighttrain7404]

Originally Posted by Baron

I got a Ballantyne grey cashmere v-neck from ebay for $19 about a month ago. The quality is as good as anything I own, but I don't know about a retail value of $1175. I do know that I have a Saks brand v-neck that cost about $250 and it's a piece of crap.

I agree on the ballantyne cashmere..excellent(seem it at a boutique) BUT don't think it's worth 1175.

Have you guys heard of Paulo Mondo pure cashmere 2ply sweaters?
I have one for 49 dollars discount store style and it's comparable to anything I see at Saks

 

[romafan]

I thought they were $500....

 

[RJman]

It's going to depend on the design as well. Intarsia designs (such as argyles, or any other design or image woven into the sweater) are complicated and if done right make a sweater very expensive. The Ballantynes that crack $1000 generally are intarsia sweaters. Ballantyne is commanding a premium due to its relaunch as a high-fashion cashmere brand. It was one of the best Scottish cashmere houses; I think certain other houses are comparable in quality but I haven't really tested them. My very subjective impression is that Ballantyne is better than N. Peal, which at least financially seems to have suffered recently. A good Scottish cashmere sweater is going to retail at $400, and go way up from there. The good Italians such as Cucinelli, Agnona and Avon Celli might be even more, frankly.

 

[itsstillmatt]

From what I have seen it is very nice stuff. The women's sweaters with the intarsia designs are especially nice. My (uninformed) opinion is that it is probably the nicest cashmere readily available nowadays.

 

[Tomasso]

Originally Posted by Christofuh

The patterns are either plain or outright gruesome; while the fabric isn't terribly luxurious. .
I like much of their plain offerings and you'd be hard pressed to find finer cashmere.

 

[Christofuh]

I'm not feeling that stuff. Let alone @ under $1200

That SAKS, as well as Barneys, offer a fair amount of crap under sourced-from-Gawd-knows-where house label is true. My Scottish-made argyle retailed for $500 and change, if I recall, and was probably from Fall/Winter '05 season. Yet despite SAKS tag it's a very good piece.

 

[HeyYouItsMike]

I have a Ballantyne cashmere sweater that I picked up for about $80 at Saks. At the Saks in NYC, the Ballantyne section is generally ignored so you can pick up stuff pretty cheap sometimes. Love the sweater, BTW, especially for the money.

 

[Full Canvas]

Mrs. FC has several beautiful old Ballantyne sweaters. We are talking 1980s or older. The Ballantyne knits are nicer (in my opinion) than any of her Loro Piana knits and equal to her Hermès or older Chanel knits both of which read "Made In Scotland." Maybe it was Ballantyne (or Pringle?) that made her knits. Does anyone know???????????????

I have no Ballantyne knits of any sort.
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[RJman]

Originally Posted by Full Canvas

Mrs. FC has several beautiful old Ballantyne sweaters. We are talking 1980s or older. The Ballantyne knits are nicer (in my opinion) than any of her Loro Piana knits and equal to her Hermès or older Chanel knits both of which read "Made In Scotland." Maybe it was Ballantyne (or Pringle?) that made her knits. Does anyone know???????????????

I have no Ballantyne knits of any sort.
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Johnstons made cashmere for Hermes. At least some. Not sure if it was made to a higher standard.

 

[bengal-stripe]

Originally Posted by RJman

My very subjective impression is that Ballantyne is better than N. Peal, which at least financially seems to have suffered recently.
N. Peal has just closed down their two shops in Burlington Arcade, London.

 

[shoefan]

An interesting article about cashmere and the impact of Chinese production on the Scottish firms. Apparently N Peal has laid off at least some of its production employees in Hawick, Scotland. Also interesting is that Johnstons of Scotland buys half of the annual production of the top grade of cashmere fiber, the Mongolian super white.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...098553,00.html

 

[Full Canvas]

Originally Posted by RJman

Johnstons made cashmere for Hermes. At least some. Not sure if it was made to a higher standard.
Thank you, RJman. Thanks, also, to the other Style Forum members who so graciously share their knowledge and resources.

This is a perfect example of why I love these clothing fora. The collective knowledge on SF, AAAC, and LL is absolutely astounding.

Johnstons was never even on my radar screen. I just went to their website and found a nice gift.
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[RJman]

I can say that certain other luxury French makers used multiple Scottish firms to make their knits, at least at one point.

Ballantyne was famous for its intarsia work, which go far beyond argyles. I have a Ballantyne cashmere sweater with an intarsia image of Fred Astaire, front and back, mid-leap. Manton thinks it's naff but I think he's just jealous.