The Orenburg Down Stole – Preserving Traditions

What is an Orenburg down stole? It is a comfortable, beautiful, soft and warm item that will keep you and your loved ones warm in cold weather. For more than a century, the Orenburg stole of natural down has been loved by fashionable women in Russia and abroad. This knitted shawl won world fame in the 19th century, when it caused a sensation at international exhibitions in Europe and America, and Russian women have worn it since time immemorial.

A woman's pride and a family treasure

A down stole of fine yarn was always a woman's pride: it spoke of its owner's wealth and taste. The more intricate the pattern, the more valuable the shawl was considered. It was a source of pride, it was cherished and passed down as an inheritance, and there was no better gift for a woman of any age or class.

Today knitted items of Orenburg down are no less in demand than before: their popularity has not fallen at all over the years. Many leading designers include down stoles in their autumn-winter collections as an exquisite accessory. That is why both young women and mature women are happy to buy an Orenburg stoleto create original looks with it that are always warm and cosy.

How a down stole is worn

Today knitted shawls are worn as headwear, outerwear, an original cape, a scarf and even an unusual belt. Such a variety of options attracts many fashionable women: they buy warm knitted items without even wondering whether a stole is worth buying.

The choice is huge – stoles come with different patterns and in all sorts of colours: white, grey, beige, pink, blue, black. Every fashionable woman will find and buy the model she likes best.

Secrets of making

A genuine Orenburg stole is knitted from soft goat down, which is highly valued for its quality. Items made from it are very light, fine, almost weightless. At first, knitted goat-down stoles do not look fluffy, because they are knitted from non-spun-on yarn– and these are exactly the shawls you should buy.

A winter stole starts to "fluff up" only after it has been worn several times. Its appearance does not suffer at all: the accessory stays as beautiful as on the day of purchase. But if a down stole is fluffy from the very start, it will not last long – it means it was knitted from spun-on yarn or deliberately combed up before sale.