Well, here we come, at our last launch of 2020…
To end the year in style, here is the program for this week which promises to be epic (hello Santa).
Sometimes we want to be prepared for everything. Ready to sprint to catch a bus. Prepared against the cold and showers. Ready to take phone, wallet, mask and keys out of our pockets at any time. Ready to spread out on our couch if we ultimately decide to telework.
Sometimes we just want to be chic. Primed, neat and well presented.
Why choose between the two?
This Saturday, December 19, we offer you 10 pieces of clothing that are practical, comfortable and elegant for everyday life that goes quickly, or not:
- Two waterproof wool flannel parkas . More off-road than ever
- Two sweaters in very soft cashmere that has staying power. Scottish expertise strikes again
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Our Reda Active merino joggers return in gray and navy. This time we put a warning for addiction
- With two matching zipped hoodies . Yes, in Reda Active and yes, it makes a very cool costume
- Two pairs of socks in a pleasant cotton/camel wool blend. You will have a hard time going back.
Today, it’s time to present our cashmere sweaters!
Why a cashmere sweater at BonneGueule?
Because it’s a gourmet’s pleasure
Well because it's one of the rare fibers that we haven't yet explored 100%, even though its place in a beautiful men's wardrobe is certain! The cashmere sweater is a (luxurious) must-have , and yet we still haven't worked on it.
Indeed, cashmere — I'm not telling you anything — is a rare and expensive fiber, and we really didn't want to rush.
We therefore took the time to think about which supplier to choose, how to capitalize on our experience in knitwear, in short, how to offer a unique piece.
To do this, we took inspiration from some sportswear codes that we subtly integrated into this sweater... or rather these two sweaters!
There are finally two colors, and we didn't want to explore anything other than navy blue and beige.
A sea green color, very successful on this cashmere (we'll come back to that).
A light, luminous blue!
Except as you will see, finding beautiful colors of cashmere, which are out of the ordinary, turned out to be a little more complicated than expected...
You will be able to taste a gourmet pleasure: wearing cashmere next to your skin . Yes, yes, it's done very well, and it's even super pleasant!
But first of all, let's start with the most important thing in a cashmere sweater: cashmere! I wanted cashmere from a reputable and proven supplier, particularly in terms of durability over time and wash after wash.
There is no question of falling into the caricature of the ultra delicate cashmere sweater, which disintegrates after 5 wears and one machine wash!
And precisely, the cashmeres known to be the most sustainable are found in Scotland, that’s where our journey begins…
Cashmere from Todd & Duncan
A very long-standing reputation
Identity card of this sweater
Weight for size M: 275g
We'll come back to this, but know for the moment that this corresponds to the weight of a 4-season sweater:
- in winter, next to the skin or over a shirt or t-shirt
- in spring, obviously
- but it must also be able to be worn on a cool summer evening!
Gauge: 14
The gauge indicates the number of knitting needles in a width of one inch (yes it's inch and not centimeter).
Where it is counterintuitive is that the higher the gauge, the finer the mesh will be. There are some subtleties, but in general , remember: high gauge = fine mesh, low gauge (4, 5 or 6) = thick mesh.
We had tested with lower gauges, but we found that this did not bring out the softness of the cashmere enough.
For comparison: our wool cashmere turtleneck is gauge 12.
Fiber length: 37 mm
This is an important criterion, which affects longevity and pilling.
The shorter the fiber, the more likely it is to “come out” of the yarn and create pilling.
In general, cashmere fibers are between 28 mm and 42 mm. On ours, with a length of 37 mm, we are clearly at the top of the basket in terms of quality.
2 sons
It is an indicator like any other, not to be taken alone.
It simply indicates the thickness of the wire used. Here: two strands make up a knitting yarn. On a 3, 4, 6 or even 8 thread sweater, this indicates that the thread will be thicker, therefore more expensive, but you can very well make a 3 thread with three threads of average quality!
I emphasize this point: a higher thread count only indicates a thicker thread, but not necessarily a softer or more durable knit!
What is an indicator of the quality of the strands used is the titration.
Titration: 2/28 nm
Here it becomes a bit more technical…
The “2” refers to the number of strands seen above making up a thread. But how can we measure the fineness of these strands? The thickness of the fiber is absolutely not enough, because you can choose to make more or less thick strands.
This is where the count comes in: this means that 28 meters of each strand makes one gram of cashmere
This is an interesting quality indicator. Most brands use 2/26, but Todd & Duncan's thread is more premium, as it is 2/28. The finer the strands, the softer the resulting yarn will be.
“Nm” simply means “number metric”: we therefore measure this length in meters, and not miles or yards.
Origin of cashmere: Inner Mongolia
This region, located in China, is where 95% of global cashmere production comes from. Indeed, there are unique conditions related to the food goats eat, the terrain and the climate that produce the best fiber.
Some breeders are trying to produce cashmere in Australia, but at the moment, they cannot achieve the same quality as cashmere from Inner Mongolia, because the climate, although close to the Mongolian steppes, is not quite the same.
The cashmere comes from Todd & Duncan, where we had already produced a video report when our thick lambswool sweater was released:
To summarize, Todd & Duncan is:
- 150 years of experience in Scotland in sourcing and spinning the finest fibers… with all the traceability that goes with it!
- one of the most renowned cashmere suppliers in the world (yes, yes, in the world)
- a maniacal worry with double and triple checks in every direction
- an unrivaled reputation for the beauty of their colors
What grade is our cashmere?
Before putting our cashmere in a box, we still need to know what grades we are talking about. To my great surprise, it is not completely clear, and there is still debate among professionals to know at what micron thickness a fiber is considered grade A, B or C.
Some say that below 15.5 microns a cashmere is grade A, for others it is below 16 microns, while others think it is any fiber below 19 microns.
The average fiber diameter of this sweater is 15.9 microns, so it is "more or less" grade A, depending on your point of view. What is clear is that this is luxury quality.
But the most interesting is yet to come…
At 15.9 microns, I guarantee that you will fully experience the joy of wearing cashmere!
When we ask Todd & Duncan why they don't use finer fibers, they are adamant on one point: a finer cashmere fiber is certainly softer, but also more fragile and pills much more.
They believe that cashmere that is too fine can lack “body” and become deformed more easily.
For them, with several decades of experience working with cashmere, this thickness of 15.9 microns is the perfect balance between softness, thermal quality, very reduced pilling, and durability.
In this regard, I also invite you to read the interview with the excellent “Put this on!” from the managing director of William Lockie, a Scottish cashmere sweater brand that buys its cashmere from… Todd & Duncan! The specificities of Scottish cashmere are very well explained there.
Like me, it's a room that you won't really leave, including at home...
The big recap!
Microns, titration, number of threads, that's a lot of concepts covered in this article. Here is a summary:
- At the base, there is the cashmere fiber, it is the harvested hair. Here it is 15.9 microns thick,
- From these fibers, we make strands (“threads” or “strands” in English), and we measure their fineness by titration. 2/28 nm on this sweater,
- these strands will be assembled into yarn, and more precisely into knitting yarn ("yarn" in English). To know how many strands are used to make a thread, we give a number: 2 threads, 3 threads, etc. Here, it's a 2 son!
Why is Scottish cashmere so famous?
Because it lasts!
“Created to last” is the famous credo so dear to Todd & Duncan.
It's not enough to spin cashmere to make it strong; it requires a lot of research into how the yarn is spun, twisted, etc. In short, it requires solid experience, and Todd & Duncan has largely contributed to the reputation for sustainability of Scottish cashmere.
It's no coincidence that the cashmere sweaters you can find in thrift stores are almost all Scottish.
And when I see my personal experience of this cashmere, I want to agree with them!
For the record, Scottish cashmere professionals often claim a lifespan of 10 years, or even more when the cashmere is properly maintained. Indeed, Todd & Duncan are well aware that buying a Scottish cashmere sweater is an investment, and as such, it must last as long as possible.
And I wholeheartedly hope to see you in 10 years with my prototype!
Obviously, I'm talking about "normal" use. If you want to wear it every day, with a well-loaded backpack with straps that will rub again and again on the sweater, if you plan to play with your cat, or if you systematically lean on the same elbow when you are seated, yes, it will last a little less time.
Todd & Duncan quality: my personal test
We often hear right and left "this is high quality cashmere" but often without understanding what the word "quality" means, the brands are often vague on this subject.
So I'm going to tell you my opinion on what "quality cashmere" should be.
First, I'm going to be very transparent about my testing process: as soon as I received the prototype, I wore it almost every day , most of the time next to my skin, and I washed it four times (I (I could have washed it more often, but I wanted to test the anti-odor properties intensively).
This is absolutely not the wearing frequency that I recommend , but I wanted to try to obtain accelerated aging.
Not only does it hold up very well in the wash (I'll get to that subject in a moment), but to my great surprise, its pilling is almost non-existent. Tiny pills barely appeared after a few weeks in the places with the most friction, but they remain very rare.
Of the little cashmere I have worn, it is by far the one that pills the least.
When Todd & Duncan states that they only select fibers of at least 37 mm, I am willing to believe them, because given that they are very long, they are less likely to come out of the sweater, and therefore much less chance of pilling.
I can't wait to wash my cashmere more often, because they say that after around fifteen washes it begins to reveal its full potential.
So you wanted the great thrill of cashmere which lasts over time, and which gets better with each wear? You have it before your eyes.
Todd & Duncan's famous strong point: its magnificent colors
Simply sublime colors
When creating our previous Todd & Duncan sweater (in lambswool this time), I had already had a glimpse of their mastery of colors.
It's quite simple: for me, the most beautiful colors of cashmere - especially mottled - are from Todd & Duncan.
Look at this light blue with all its nuances! It was only at Todd and Ducan that I managed to find such a mottled color.
There is a subtlety, a finesse, an accuracy, and a singularity all their own. I didn't understand why entry-level cashmere colors all looked the same, well now I know: having worked and unique colors requires a lot of experience and perfectly mastered machines.
It also requires rigorous sourcing to select the whitest fibers , which are, you guessed it, rarer and therefore more expensive. This is why the cashmeres with the most beautiful colors are more expensive.
A color not easy to describe, but which I love: depending on the lighting, it is more or less blue, gray or green... or all three at the same time! Here too, it’s a very unique color that you only find from high-end suppliers.
And you also need real “artistic direction” (and the desire to have one) within these spinning mills, which is rather the least of an entry-level supplier’s concerns.
This is all the quality of Todd & Duncan: maniacal care to create highly renowned colors, durability and proven softness.
The question of gentleness
Softness that improves with time
It's a bit like the "dirty secret" of certain brands: it happens that certain cashmeres sold (especially entry-level) are very soft when purchased, because they are washed with a lot of softeners.
And inevitably, with washing, the softener will leave and the cashmere will be less soft and will pill.
In the case of our cashmere, things are different, it is exactly the opposite.
At first glance, you will see that our cashmere is "simply" soft. No need to worry: I guarantee that as you wear it and wash it, it will soften even more. I am categorical on this point.
This cashmere is one of the clothes that gets better with time.
It's very obvious to the touch between the prototype I'm wearing and a new sweater, never worn.
This is precisely a characteristic of high-end Scottish cashmeres: they become increasingly soft over time, a sign of carefully chosen fibers.
So remember this: the softness of our new sweater is not at all the definitive softness. It will improve with use.
Derek Guy, the founder of the excellent Put this on! , made the same observation as me: Scottish cashmeres, when they are new , are less soft (and they are more durable) than Italian cashmeres. Softness comes with time, just like the fading of raw jeans which happens little by little.
Why this thickness?
For a cashmere that we wear in winter, it would have been very tempting to push the idea to the limit and release a very thick cashmere that would weigh 600g or 700g.
Except that :
- the price skyrockets (but really skyrockets) with such a quantity of cashmere
- and its thickness limits it to almost winter use
For our first cashmere sweater, and given that for many of you this will most likely be your first 100% cashmere sweater, I wanted a thickness that we could wear almost all year round : in winter of course, but also in spring, or even on a cool summer evening in the Basque Country.
It’s a thickness that makes it easy to wear a shirt underneath.
I'm not stopping myself from offering thicker cashmeres in the future, but for our first cashmere sweater, we wanted a piece that was wearable all year round.
Moreover, its thermal range is quite "modular" if you wear it next to the skin, with a t-shirt underneath, or a shirt, or even an overshirt on top.
This is an important point: still with the idea that you can wear this sweater in many outfits, the thickness of this sweater is the perfect compromise in my opinion for testing numerous layerings on two levels:
- over this sweater: overshirt, military shirt, blazer, sleeveless down jacket or even very thick cardigan
- underneath this sweater: shirt obviously, but also t-shirt, in cotton or merino wool , or nothing at all, next to the skin!
Does this sweater keep you warm? My personal experience
In photos, it is very difficult to imagine the thickness of a cashmere sweater, and its advantages, so I will try to explain to you what to expect.
As I said, it's a sweater that weighs 275g for a size M.
It is in the category of so-called "fine" cashmere sweaters, but not in the "ultrafine" category. It is a so-called "4 seasons" weight, which corresponds to the bulk of the market for all the good reasons cited, on this point we have not tried to reinvent the wheel.
To be worn all year round with pleasure!
In terms of thickness, it's a sweater halfway between a (luxury) base layer to wear next to the skin (which I tested extensively) and a fine wool sweater.
To give you an even more precise idea, it is a tad thicker
In terms of thermal insulation, it is clear that cashmere is warmer than wool , I realized this after all these days of wearing it next to the skin. I'd say it has the thickness of a fine merino wool sweater, but the thermal insulation of a mid-weight merino sweater . While being very pleasantly breathable.
If you also add a t-shirt or shirt underneath, you're on top! With our long-sleeved merino wool t-shirts , you have a set that can cope with vast temperature ranges, without ever feeling suffocating inside a building.
I find that the warmth of cashmere is softer, cozier than that of wool, in short, simply more luxurious...
A sweater fitted like a sweatshirt
Yes, yes, it exists!
Here is a “modesty”, this famous triangle inherited from sportswear.
When we imagined this cashmere sweater, it was very clear in my head: I wanted to avoid at all costs creating a cashmere sweater with “old-fashioned” accents in a color I had seen and seen again.
That's why we wanted to rejuvenate it by "twisting" it with details borrowed from the world of sweatshirts:
- the most visible is the famous triangle at the collar, which we call "modesty" and which contributes greatly to rejuvenating this piece
- the sleeves are sewn with raglan seam, like a sweatshirt
- and there are so-called "flatlock" seams on the sleeves and collar. These are flat seams which come from sportswear, and whose aim was to avoid friction with a classic prominent seam.
A raglan shoulder, a sportswear detail that also looks great on cashmere!
The result ? A cashmere sweater to wear with sneakers as well as a blazer, it is at home in several worlds.
Don’t hesitate to wear this sweater with sneakers!
Care of this sweater
This is the point of tension when you own a cashmere sweater, and it was mine too. To tell you the truth, that's why I'm quite cautious (no pun intended) about buying cashmere pieces: it's expensive and there is often a risk in maintenance.
But this is not the case with our cashmere sweater. So here is my test protocol.
I washed this sweater four times:
- each time in wool/delicate program, with wool detergent
- spinning at 400 rpm, and cold or at 20°C,
- in a washing net (I also tried with a pillowcase).
Bottom line: it came out like new every time (and softer than the time before).
Don't forget to dry it flat (I put it on top of my drying rack) and not hanging, this is very important so that it keeps its shape.
In terms of washing frequency, you can wash it after 4 or 5 wears, that's more than enough.
So you can wash it with peace of mind! And no fabric softener, it's useless.
The most anxious will choose hand washing, but I'm not sure that makes much difference.
Important point: after machine washing, this sweater may "fit" a little, and you will have the impression that it has shrunk very slightly. You just have to wear it normally so that it returns to its shape after a few hours, like after washing jeans for example.
Little tips to extend its lifespan
Avoid wearing it two days in a row, just to give the fiber time to breathe, like on suit blazers. If you wear it two days in a row for a weekend, it's obviously not dramatic, but its lifespan will be optimized by spacing out the ports.
I just want you to avoid acting like me where I wore it almost every day for a month and a half!
And don't hang it on a hanger, because like any other mesh, there is a risk of deforming it.
By following my washing instructions, you can have peace of mind about its durability.
The question of price
I know, talking about the price of a cashmere garment is often frowned upon among brands, but I think it's necessary (and interesting) to do so.
Indeed, it is cashmere of the same quality that can be found at luxury brands, avenue Montaigne, which sell navy blue cashmere sweaters for €1,000
But the comparison is almost too easy, and necessarily in our favor.
To be more realistic, I would say that it is a sweater that would normally cost around €400 (+/- €50) in the “classic store” .
Regarding the price of our sweater, it will be under €250 for one of the best cashmere suppliers and made in Portugal.
I might as well tell you that I am super proud of the quality of this cashmere considering the price we offer!
The size guide
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