Admit it. You don't know what or who pashmina is. And you certainly would never let anyone touch your shatoosh. Never fear: If you have not encountered these words until recently -- or ever -- you are not alone.
Somewhere in the past two seasons a fashion outbreak occurred. The cause of the explosion: a cashmere called pashmina from the Persian word for wool. Previously known only to wealthy Indians and a select few moneyed Westerners, the pashmina has become the fashion buzzword of the late 1990s, with women clamoring to own one of these sumptuously soft shawls.
The shawls, which have been particularly popular in pastels such as lilac, pink and baby blue (during both spring and summer seasons), have even been credited with being the only high-fashion item that has ever been able to coax New Yorkers away from their beloved basic black.