Article Treasures | Pashmina Shawls - A New Passion Or Pashmina To The Rescue?

I got my first Pashmina shawl 2 years ago when my niece brought one back from India for her mother, but my sister in law didn't wear it and passed it on to me. I've got to say that although I thought that it was pretty I didn't think that I would ever wear it. The only type of scarf or shawl that I have ever worn is a wooly knitted scarf in the winter, or a Manchester United scarf when I went to matches. In fact I'd never considered shawls as a fashion accessory, thinking that they were too old maidy or old fashioned.

The silk pashmina that Jenny gave me is a lovely violet colour with fringes. It looked great draped over my wardrobe door but I didn't think that I had anything to wear it with until one evening when I was going out with my boyfriend. We were going out clubbing for his birthday but his parents parents asked us to join them for a celebratory drink first.

I have a black dress which is rather low cut, when I say rather it displays so much cleavage that any more I might as well be topless. My boyfriend loves that dress but I have always felt uncomfortable wearing it outside the home and my jackets dodn't cover up what nature has given me. Jack especially asked me to wear his favourite dress that evening and I didn't want to disappoint him, but how could I wear it in front of his elderly parents without them and myself feeling embarrassed?

Of course the answer was the pashmina. It looked really good with the dress and I felt quite sophisticated and ladylike. Jack's mother liked it too so it solved the problem of what to buy for her birthday the following week! Jack said it was sexy, he knew that it was covering a low cut dress and kept imagining it slipping – typical male! Later on at the club I took it off and rolled it up in my handbag, but it came in handy when we left the club because we had to wait a while for a taxi and it was a bit chilly.

After that success I've found that my shawl looks good with quite a lot of my outfits and have purchased a purple and pink pashmina scarf and a red shawl from the Internet since. I was going for a job interview and wanted to wear my black trouser suit to impress. As it was for a managerial position I needed to look smart and efficient, but I also wanted to look feminine.

The shawl was too much but the scarf draped loosely around my shoulders looked really elegant and freshened up the look of my trouser suit. I felt so anyway and went into that interview feeling good about myself and really confident. I got the job, more because I had the right qualifications and attitude than because of what I was wearing.

I'm tempted to buy more Pashmina shawls , there are so many gorgeous ones different colours and made of different materials. I don't really need more than 3 but I can still buy as many as I want as gifts for my friends and family on birthdays and at Christmas. If Jack likes them so much on me perhaps he would like one too, I have seen male pop stars wearing them.