Still Irked about the Comforter Demise article - Farm Animal?

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111797/down-with-comforters
the author compares a comforter to the bedding equivalent of a ski parka, freshly washed stank of farm animal, and formless feathers corralled at one end and an empty carcass at the other end.

I would hazard to guess that I am vastly more experianced with farm animals.  Although I am probably lacking in actual ski parka knowledge.  Maybe this is actually a communication gap brought on by the differences in our shopping styles?  The author is probably a shopper at the higher end of the marketplace than myself.  The Chain-Mart that I frequent can only get real Goose Down comforters with the new Site-to-store ordering.  So, I should admit that I have never owned a real Goose Down anything until this last summer when my DH came home with a comforter from a yard sale.  It's gone through the washer and dryer several times, and I can't say that it''s ever had a barnyard smell.  (Thanks to the DH for getting me that extra capacity washer)  It is getting a little limp though.  The down seems to work it's way through the microfiber cover pretty easily.  It's been a fine coverup for the couch in the living room.

While I was researching, The Chain-Mart website did list Dry Clean Only as the way to go with the couple of real down filled items that they list.  Maybe that's the problem for that author?  Maybe the really expensive Down can't take normal washing?  Maybe the Down wasn't processed and cleaned properly?  Maybe the pet of the house makes itself at home with the downy thing while owner is away?

The only way I can figure for "formless feathers" to end up at one end of a Duvet is for there to be no "quilting" or "stitching" to keep them in place.  The only thing I can say for that is "What did you expect?"  This would be just one of the many reasons that our foremothers came up with quilting.  All the Comforters I've experienced have pretty generous, and sometimes curvaceous, lines of stitching that make pockets to hold the stuffing in place.  Be it Down, Down-alternative (poly-fiber-fill) or old fashioned Cotton fluff.  I would have to lay the fault for that one on the folly of placing fashionable design over functional construction.  Invariably, when the look is more important than the servicability, flaws will make themselves known.

Next up:  Suzani - what is it really?  http://www.estherfitzgerald.com/site_built_sept05/page_sets/04_islamic/index_04islamic.htm

Down Duvet vs. Traditional Quilt : define Too Hot for me

So, yesterday, a New Yorker wrote about the demise of the comforter or Duvet.  To be Fashionable, we should all be redecorating with more Tailored bed coverings.
One of the reasons given that the Down comforter or Duvet is TOO warm.  Comparable to a wood-burning oven, a sweat factory, a ski parka, gateway to overheating, and simply "hot".  Well, looking around where I am right this moment, a wood-fired stove and a parka would seem to be good choices.  I admit, it doesn't get this cold nationwide very often, and not even here every year.  But, over the course of a lifetime, there seem to always be colder cold nights and hotter hot days. 

Whilst first reading the article, I began to assume that the writer must have never been through a truely cold winter.  But, checking the author's information line, it says New York.  So, that's not a good excuse.  The Weather report one day last week pointed out that there was "some" snow in 49 of the 50 states.  Even Hawaii had snow on a mountaintop.  Only Florida had no measurable snow.  (Let's see if that Weather link stays linked to the 1/13/11 snow map or if it updates?)  If these reports are correct, almost anywhere you are in the US is colder than usual today.  Very few buildings are designed to actually keep comfortable temperatures throughout the entire building during record breaking temperatures.  Columbia University which happens to be in New York posts Space Temperature Guidelines for their buildings.  It mentions people being appropriately dressed for the season; I swear I saw a student slogging through the snow in Converse, kakhi cargo shorts, and a tshirt this morning!  No socks, no coat, no hat!

All of this invariably brings up the subject of Global Warming and one of the best actions to help combat GW should be adjusting the thermostat.  Which leads to a cooler bedroom this time of year, right?  And so, a Comforter would be welcome, would it not?

So, one of my many conclusions is:  The Anti-Comforter movement is therefore Not Green.  If they were Green, they would have a cold bedroom and they would need a warm Comforter.

Comforter/Duvet loosing out to Blanket/Quilt or Suzani?

While I'm all for the revival of the blanket or any Quilt, I think my reasoning is probably vastly different from the author's.
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111797/down-with-comforters
The Wall Street Journal and Yahoo! Finance have been running an article on the demise of the Comforter, or Duvet, and the revival of the blanket or quilt.  The design world is ready to change the bed !  Really?
The Comforter is cited as the "gateway to overheating and unseemly bulkiness".
"David Mann, designer of legendary interiors including John Lennon and Yoko Ono's New York apartment in the Dakota, said, "I never use down comforters mostly because they are too common…and hot.""
"Down's detractors curse the lumpy, untidy covering as not only a sweat factory, but a style error."
And the author goes on to compare a comforter as "the bedding equivalent of a ski parka."
The author also compares the Duvet to a wood-burning oven, folded standing as high as the Great Wall of China, freshly washed stank of farm animal, dressing a cranky newborn in a three-piece suit, and formless feathers corralled at one end and an empty carcass at the other end.

Meanwhile, the Suzani is offered up as the perfect replacement:
http://www.estherfitzgerald.com/site_built_sept05/page_sets/04_islamic/index_04islamic.htm

More later.............