Best cashmere jumpers from men are from...?

cazs

Hi,

Just searching for some views here.

I want to get a cashmere jumper for my boyf (26yrs).

Any recommnendations as to the best store for mens' cashmere?

Hopefully not something too too costly.

Thanks

jenniewb

I'm a bit of a cashmere fiend!! I love cashmere (probably a bit too much!!) and although I cannot afford to own what I want I can say that both Gap & M&S have some amazingly soft and great quality cashmere. The stuff at Brora is fantastic too but about 3-4 times the price of that in those stores.

Uniqlo is about the same price, its OK too but the cut is terrible IMO.

I have not yet found "cheap" cashmere that I rate, Tesco and any other supermarket stuff just doesn't feel that much softer then merino wool and even a little scratchy. I also don't rate the cut of the clothes which no matter what size I tried on looked frumpy (both male and female stuff).


TKMaxx could be a good place to look but do read the labels as many will have some cashmere added (like 15%) and then be mae with merino wool or even angora which isn't as soft and obviously isn't cashmere.

The deal with cashmere is that its taken from a certain breed of goat which lives in a remote place. However they can be interbred and as a result the wool isn't as soft. Its still allowed to be called cashmere despite being interbred as a certain amount or even "most of" the wool comes from the cashmere goat but its not pure and its not as soft. If you spend long enough comparing or your especially sensitive to the softness of different types of wool you can tell by feeling for it but otherwise I'd say stick to a reputable retailer and you shouldn't go far wrong.

Think I'd suggest waiting for a price reduction or the sale though. Gap have a sale on at the moment (think its up to 60%) and M&S are offering 25% off menswear. Both offers may well change for the better as it gets closer to Christmas day though and keep an eye out for the day after the final posting date which is when I'd place bets on proper reductions starting to kick off.

dogstarheaven

Hi jenniewb - I've noticed the women's ones in the Gap sale, and altho' they're something like half price £49.99, I'll be looking out for these to go down a bit more. I wish there were other colours than the beige one I saw tho'. Do you think they'll be more reduced in the New Year sales? or do you think it's worth buying before? As it's Gap, I'd rather think it'll sell better than other stores at their prices.

jenniewb

dogstarheaven wrote: »

Hi jenniewb - I've noticed the women's ones in the Gap sale, and altho' they're something like half price £49.99, I'll be looking out for these to go down a bit more. I wish there were other colours than the beige one I saw tho'. Do you think they'll be more reduced in the New Year sales? or do you think it's worth buying before? As it's Gap, I'd rather think it'll sell better than other stores at their prices.

To my memory yes they will be reduced further...but if you can find them you'll be very lucky, they go like gold dust! Keep an eye on them maybe, work out what you can afford to spend not what you think you should spend and if the stores can't match your needs then its not a deal.

With Gap they do have a decent refund policy, you could buy what you want and if you do see the jumper go down further AND manage to get hold of it you could exchange what you had already bought for it and get something else? Some stores will offer a refund but not all and it is worth asking first, at the tills as with it being Christmas some rules may change to the benefit of the customer.

dogstarheaven

i wasn't completely enamoured by their fawn colour nor the design (shapeless long wide neck wide in width jumper), so for the price at they're selling at, is not really the deal for me, really. i'd rather spend £50 on something I love then go half-hearted on something much cheaper. Seen the TKMaxx ones too some weeks ago, but they were around £80+. They were also in a fawny-grey colours as well, and the shapes of them were asymmetrical so i'm not sure about that particular design as i know it's the fad now for them, but for how long?...

I didn't spot the Men's Gap ones, maybe I'll look tomorrow..

Suzanne_Louise

I bought one for my brother from Tesco a few years ago, and it's still going strong now - it's his and his fiancee's favourite jumper!

dogstarheaven

i remember that one from Tesco's tho' i'm sure it wasn't fully cashmere. it was a polo-neck, wasn't it? i bought mine for about £30 and it bobbled v. quickly and regretted it afterwards.

Suzanne_Louise

dogstarheaven wrote: »

i remember that one from Tesco's tho' i'm sure it wasn't fully cashmere. it was a polo-neck, wasn't it? i bought mine for about £30 and it bobbled v. quickly and regretted it afterwards.

The one I got him was round neck - think it was about £50.

jenniewb

dogstarheaven wrote: »

i remember that one from Tesco's tho' i'm sure it wasn't fully cashmere. it was a polo-neck, wasn't it? i bought mine for about £30 and it bobbled v. quickly and regretted it afterwards.

They've had cashmere in before and I've seen it and didn't feel it was soft enough, wondered if it was a rogue cashmere rather then pure-bread type (read post I wrote at the start) I just was not convinced and it felt too scratchy on my skin when tried on. Soft, but not soft enough and the fibers looked too short so would bobble easy.

Tesco is a mass market producer on another level. I'd imagine they'd have variety within the jumpers seeing as its not coming from one goat, its coming from thousands of goats! Maybe a few produced good quality fibers and others didn't, either way I wouldn't spend cash on them if I were looking for cashmere, maybe as a better option to angora or merino wool but not my idea of cashmere.