What is a shawl?

It is hard to know how long people have been using shawls but certainly since the advent of weaving thousands of years ago. In simple terms a shawl is a piece of fabric, rectangular or squar in shape, that is large enough to drape over the shoulders and arms of the wearer. Sometimes they are also worn over the head either for religious reasons, as in the muslim Hijab, or for added insulation in colder climates. They can of course also shade the wearer from the sun. 

Although in the West we associate shawls with womens fashion, in many other countries shawls are worn by both men and women and have been for many many years. Here in the UK in these modern times the "shawl" is very much seen as a fashion accessory for women. The use of a shawl was really popularised in Britain around the middle of the 18th Century when the East India Company started to bring them to Britain from the kingdom of Kashmir from what is now a disputed region claimed by both India and Pakistan. It is ironic that this accessory became a womens fashion as in Kashmir it was almost exclusively a garment worn by men to keep the harsh Himalayan cold at bay as they laboured and toiled out doors. 

These original imports were of the finest quality and totally handmade with some pices that were heavily embroidered taking literally years to complete. As you can imaging items of this nature were exceedingly expensive and completely out of the reach of all but the wealthiest members of society. A shawl really became the must have aspirational accessory for any self respecting women and to meet this demand around the 1780's weavers in Edinburgh, Norwirch and Paisley started to weave there own shawls. These were woven on jaquard looms which meant intricate patterns could be incorporated in the design doing away with the need for labour intensive embroidery and thus keeping the price more reasonable. By the 1830's the Scottish town of Paisley was leading the way in shawl manufacturing innovative "Paisley" patterns and many hundreds of looms running day and night. The popularity of shawls also took off across much of Europe.

Today the "shawl" is a mainstay of the fashion industry and an accessory that many women wear on a regular basis. Shawls these days also go by many other names such as pashmina, wrap, stole or large scarf. In fact they are almost essential attire in some circumstances but especially at weddings, balls and formal events. Thankfully these days shawls are an affordable accessory, though there are still some very costly handmade pieces available. Probably the most popular wedding shawl, or bridal pashmina these days is a large plain cream or ivory coloured piece with tassels of which we have hundreds.