Quickly, On Wool

Unlike when I wrote about it a few years ago, this year I have been making much more of an effort to get wool into my wardrobe. I've actually been drafting a detailed post about it for, oh, a few months, and I think it's time to dump a quick summary here, and only go into detail if there are questions.

So: what about wool? There are pros and cons.

Pros:

1. Doesn't smell, even when you get sweaty wearing it
2. Doesn't wrinkle (much)
3. Because of 1 and 2, each item can be worn many times between washings, which:
• saves time/energy on doing laundry (both the energy of the person doing the laundry, and the literal energy resources, i.e., water, electricity)
• means items last longer

Cons:

1. Cost: it ain't cheap
2. Selection
• There aren't as many companies making wool clothing, which limits the available selection.
• For plus-size people, it's even more limited.
• There are fewer colors, and again, even more so for plus sizes.
• I haven't found any options with patterns. Every spill shows on solid colors!
3. Boredom
• When one has a few items of clothing that can be worn more often, one does get bored with them.
4. Buying online means not trying on before you buy, so it's harder to judge size and fit.

Sometimes, you can luck into a decent price on eBay or a similar site (due in part to the fact that wool items are durable enough to outlast a person's interest in wearing them, I imagine). I wanted to get a zippered, hooded wool cardigan for travel, and wow are they pricey. But I found this for under $20 including the shipping. It fits, it's in perfectly fine condition, and I do love a bargain.

If you're thinking the sleeves seem a little long, vanishing out the bottom of the photo, they're actually designed to fold up. The front-facing photo has them unfolded, but here they are folded:

Decently cozy, hood, zip, pockets, all the things I wanted at a fraction of the price. That's a solid win.

Any wool questions?