The Customers, who buy “Personalized Holiday Gifts” have given us following feedback :-
“The wrapping was handmade rag paper with flowers in it. And the shawl is absolutely gorgeous. So delicate and feminine with sparkles sprinkled throughout. Just the right weight to wear in San Diego evenings. “
“This shawl is beyond lovely – everything I wanted and more. I ordered it to replace one I loved dearly (given to me by my mother) and lost on a recent trip. I searched everywhere for one like it and saw this beautiful shawl on line – I couldn’t be happier with my choice or the seller.”
“It was truly a pleasure working with Shalini. The tie dye wool shawls i purchased are gorgeous…i am thrilled with my selection. Not only did my parcel arrive very quickly, it was beautifully packaged, and Shalini had enclosed a very sweet, handwritten card! I would absolutely recommend this merchant to anyone searching for beautiful quality & personal service! Thank you, Shalini!”
Among apparel, the shawl weaving takes the first place undoubtedly. However large may be the contribution from different states, Kashmir remains for ages, and the king of Indian shawl weaving. Bringing to the world the unsurpassed softness of Pashmina and toosh, popularly known as cashmere and the intricacies of the Jamawar style, the master weavers of Kashmir have certainly proved their unmatched skill. Shawls in Pashmina and toosh are all hand woven since the fragility of the yarn does not allow the use of a machine loom. Toosh is however now banned by the Government of India as it involved indiscriminate killing of the chiru antelope. Jamawar is another woven splendor of the Kashmir craftsmen. Here the task is further complicated as the designs on these shawls are realized not by embroidery but by the simultaneous weaving with wool shuttles of different colors. These shuttles known as ‘kaani’ in the local language gives ‘Jamawar’ another name-’kaani shawl’. The wool being delicate, it is essential to use the hands instead of machine and that requires enormous patience of the weavers among all the other qualities. Due to the enormous effort put in weaving and the amount of time it requires to be completed, the prices of the real Jamawar shawls are very high in the market since the old times. These shawls were so special that they often made the exclusive royal gifts to the foreign guests. They were also en vogue in many parts of Europe mainly as they held close resemblance to the Paisley shawls. The colours used in one shawls vary from two to fifty. More the number of colour, more difficult the weaving. However to meet the large demand and to cater to the middle class customers, the weavers of north India have come up with beautiful Jamawar like shawls with at much lower price than the original Jamawar.
The most significant reference to the jamawar also comes in the Ain-i-Akbari but it does not say anything regarding the designs of these jamawars and the visual evidence from Akbar’s period, does not tell much. The next important reference is Moorcroft’s. He says, ‘The length of this cloth is three-quarter gaz and the breadth one and a half gaz and these were specially made for the Persian and Afghani markets.’ It appears from literary references that initially the jamawar was the trade name for a special kind of woolen fabric that was prevalent among Afghans and Persians. Later, other communities also wore it. It becmae so popular that weavers started using the term jamawar even for those long shawls that had floral designs over the field and did not have any border. These jamawars were made of pashm wool though some cotton or silk fibres were also used a times.
A general definition of brocade is a fabric with a woven pattern which is purely decorative and independent of the structure of the cloht. This is achieved by using extra pattern weft or extra warp, as in the case of lampas. The effect resembles embroidery. The term brocade is a derivation from the Latin word brocare (to prick), which suggests needle work. Therefore, the brocade-weaving technique is often defined as embroidery weaving or loom embroidery. Although a fabric made of any fibre, such as wool, linen or cotton, can be decorated using this technique, the term brocade is generally restricted to richly designed fabrics wovne with silk and gold or silver thread.
Silk Shawl
Body Wraps
Ladies Silk Shawl
Indian Silk Shawls
Elegant Shawls
The basic raw material of many brocades is mainly mulberry silk thread. This was originally imported from China, Persina and central Asia, and later was also brought from Italy. Apart from the inherent beauty of silk brocades, teh fact that they were made from non-indigenous materials added to their value. Japanese and Chinese silk threads were renowned for their superior qualities of evenness and lustre, and were, therefore, coveted by weavers.
Shawls are no longer limited for use during only the cold winter months. They have become fabulous ways of spicing up your winter outfits. Men and women could take advantage of the trendy and fashionable look of shawls to enhance and improve their appearances.
You could also go for the shorter variations of shawls that are lifted from Indo-Western styles that could be draped around your arms or around the neck, much like scarves. And the good thing about them is that you can now buy them online.
Shawl Wrap
Kashmir Shawls
Wool Shawl
Before you start buying shawls on the web, you should be equipped with a fairly good knowledge about them. Shawls are primarily made using one or more types of wool, fibers, shahtoosh and pashmina. Wool would be the most affordable, while the shahtoosh ones are very expensive. The price of pashmina types would fall somewhere in the middle. Pashmina would be the second lightest fiber in the three. Shahtoosh and pashmina shawls surprisingly provide great warmth and comfort.
