Linen is an expensive product, so it's reasonable to be suspicious of linen tagged at a price that feels too good to be true. The bright side of linen's steep cost is that it is justifiable because of the high quality of the material. A long-lasting fabric, linen doesn't wear down the way other fabrics, like cotton, do. If you notice a linen set that looks worn or tattered, beware—it’s likely a linen blend, because pure linen will not show wear. Another tell is imperfections in the fabric. Unlike machine-made linen blends, pure linen is completely natural and therefore has visible imperfections. It sounds incongruous, but high-quality linens should have flaws.