The Good Life.

Byline: Ginanne Brownell, Michelle Jana Chan, Reinhard Engel, Michael Hastings, Tara Weingarten

Fashion: Crazy For Cashmere

By Ginanne Brownell

Cashmere... just the sound of it is enough to send shoppers swooning with visions of luxurious warmth, cozy softness and coveted style. This season, the wool--which comes from the underbelly fur of Mongolian, Chinese and Persian goats--is in higher demand than ever. Even mass-market stores like the Gap and Marks & Spencer are offering products made of cashmere. Partly, that's because cashmere has gotten cheaper and more plentiful, thanks to manufacturers' tricks like blending the high-quality short goat hairs with shorter ones. But true cashmere connoisseurs can tell the difference in an instant. "It is like comparing a cheap sparkling wine to champagne," says James Sugden, CEO of Johnstons Cashmere.

This season, more than the usual cashmere sweaters, scarves and gloves are fortifying people against the frightful weather. Bliss Spa is offering bright brown-and-blue-striped cashmere travel pillows ($98), which come with an eye mask ( www.blissworld.com ; $98).

Brora Scottish Cashmeres makes hot-water-bottle covers in white, and blue, both with a feminine Fair Isle pattern ( www.brora.co.uk ; 59 pounds). The American-based Garnet Hill catalog company (garnethill.com ) ships worldwide--great news if you are hanging your cashmere stockings ($68) by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nick will stuff cashmere-lined slippers ($98), or bathrobe ($348), in there. Johnstons does a coat to keep your favorite canine warm (100 pounds). Or if your pooch is really posh (and tiny), carry her around in a cashmere-lined leather backpack from Cucinelli ( www.brunellocucinelli.it ; 1500 euros).

Italy-based American designer Rebecca Moses has created necklaces with felted cashmere baubles for Saks Fifth Avenue (saks.com ; $200). The store also sells stuffed-animal toy goats whose fur is cashmere ($54 to $117). Or Browns of London has white cashmere teddy bears--perfect for a snuggle on a cold winter night (brownsfashion. com ; 95 pounds).