Kashmir Silk Shawls -Pure and Original Fashion Accessories
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‘Silk’ the very name emanates richness. And true to its name it brings richness to the ensemble, as a whole. Silk shawls make any outfit look more appealing. No doubt it was what the royals were always seen in.a silk shawl is considered to be the most luxurious type of stole in the fashion world. Think of any movie of yore where the king and queen were depicted. The royal cast would always have a silk shawl around their shoulders. When it comes to accessories, silk shawl and scarves are one item that can add spice and beauty to even a very plain attire or a conservative business suit… for men and women!
One can wear a these in several different ways. You can either drape it around your neck, or tie it around your hair to keep it intact, or even as a belt around your waist. Alternatively, you can wrap around a large silk scarf around your shoulders like a shawl. However, the most preferred and common way of wearing a scarf is around the neck. You can do this in several innovative ways in order to improve its aesthetic appeal. These shawl are designed to accessorize with casual elegance. They give your dress more glory. They are certainly not to protect you from the chill weathers. However it may assist you if it is a few degrees lower than the normal temperature.
The silk shawls can be worn for most time of the year. You may want to stay warm in the winter or proect yourself from air conditioning drafts during the summer. Shawl designs are always simple, but more costly ones will have handmade tassels and other improvements.Shawls are supposed to be one of the most versatile accessories now a days.
Sometimes one wonders how is Silk Manufactured?
Below mentioned is the little description.
The first stage of silk production is the hatching of the silkworm egg in a controlled environment such as an aluminum box, which is then examined to ensure they are free of disease. The female deposits 300-400 eggs at a time. In an area the size of an A4 page around 50 moths would deposit more than 20,000 eggs, each about the size of a pinhead. The female dies almost immediately after depositing the eggs and the male lives only a short time after. The adult silkworm possesses rudimentary mouthparts and does not eat during the short period of its mature existence. These disease-tested eggs are raised in temperature and disease-controlled conditions. They are fastened to a flat surface by a gummy substance secreted by the female. The larvae hatch in about 10 days and are about 0.6cm long. Once hatched, they are placed under a layer of gauze and fed huge amounts of cut up mulberry leaves during which time they are left to molt (shed its skin) four times. The larvae may also feed on Osage orange or lettuce. Larvae fed on mulberry leaves produce the very finest silk. The larvae will eat 50,000 times its initial weight in plant material.
After it has reached its maximum growth at 7.5cm at around 4-6 weeks it stops eating, changes color and attaches itself to a compartmented frame, twig, tree or shrub in rearing houses to spin their silk cocoons over a 3-8 day period. This is period is termed pupating. Steadily over the next four days the silkworm produces a fine thread by making a figure of eight movement some 300,000 times, constructing a cocoon in which it intends to spend the chrysalis stage where it is in a state of sleep and casting off of skin. After this the pupae begins the sixteen days, which would normally result in the miracle of transformation to a winged being – the moth. However, if the pupae (chrysalis) remain alive it will begin to secrete an alkali, which eats its way through the cocoon ruining the silk threads. So, as the cocoons are completed the pupae are killed or ‘stifled’. The amount of usable silk from each cocoon is small. Around 500 silkworms or 80 kg of cocoons and 200kg of mulberry leaves are required to produce 1 kg of raw silk.
The various steps of silk production process include:
1) Raising silkworms & harvesting cocoons
2) Thread extraction
3) Bleaching and Dyeing
4) Spinning
5) Weaving
