My New Favorite Travel Dress: Wool& Clara Shirt Dress {Sponsored Review}

It's a first here at Pints, Pounds, & Pate!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received the Clara dress in this review for free, from Wool&. Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you purchase a linked item, I will make a commission, at no extra charge to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Considering the Clara Shirt Dress?

I had the absolute pleasure of receiving a merino wool Clara Shirt Dress from Wool&. I could *not* be happier with it - and am looking forward to traveling the world in it!

Before we get started on discussing the dress itself, just a quick note on sponsored posts. As most of you know, this is my *first* sponsored post (meaning that I received the product for free), and I'm really thrilled with how it all went. Particularly as a lawyer, it was an interesting experience: negotiating my own contract, and reviewing a product. The *extremely good* news is that I genuinely love this product (and no, I'm not just saying that.).

I'm a pretty big clothing snob, and the Clara Shirt Dress passed all of my tests. I hope you'll explore this lovely (and eco-friendly) company and check out all the dresses they have to offer.

Now let's discuss the Clara!

Wool& Clara Shirt Dress Review:
​Eco-friendly packaging

Let's start at the very beginning! If the packaging had been "normal," (aka plastic everywhere, in giant piles after opening) I wouldn't have written anything about it, but I'm thrilled to say it was anything but!

My new dress arrived from Wool& in seriously the most eco-friendly packaging I've honestly ever come across (and is causing me to do some serious self-reflection about where I order from). I'm literally the person who drives "clean and dry" recyclable plastics back to the store for drop off, so I can't tell you how happy this made me. Hopefully this type of packaging is becoming a trend?

My ​Clara Shirt Dress showed up on my doorstep in a simple, yet sturdy, recyclable envelope, seen here:

Open it up, and out comes the dress! No extraneous packaging, no plastic wrap, no little plastic jabby things that don't seem to serve a purpose, no cheap hanger that I would just get rid of, and no need for dangerous maneuvers with the kitchen sheers to liberate my treasure.

Just the dress, folded and held together in a simple, paper loop (which I recycled, obviously). The best part of this packaging, in addition to saving the whales? No weird, factory smell stuck in the dress from being trapped in a plastic bag for a year, and the dress was ready to wear!!

​How much do we love the tagline:
​"live simply. consume carefully. do good"??

Wool& Clara Shirt Dress Review: Sizing

I've extolled the virtues of the eco-friendly packaging, now let's discuss the sizing of my Clara Shirt Dress. The hardest part of ordering anything online, especially from a company you've not dealt with before, is sizing. Thankfully, Wool& had a helpful sizing guide, right on the Clara dress's page, so I checked it out.

Consistent with the size chart, I ordered a Small. (I'm 5'4" and weigh around 130-135 pounds, depending on the day). I normally fall directly between Small and Medium, no matter the store. A Small from Wool& was absolutely the right call - it fits perfectly in all the right places. A Medium *definitely* would have been too big, even though I generally wear a 6 in dresses. So, keep that in mind- if you're between sizes, I'd size down!

Wool& Clara Shirt Dress Review: The Dress

We've finally gotten down to the discussion of the dress itself!

Wool& Clara Shirt Dress in action

Clara Shirt Dress: Wool

Part of Wool&'s approach is to use sustainably-created fabrics that can be used sustainably by us - aka that don't have to be washed a million times and that don't have to be (but can be) dry cleaned.

Their wool is surprisingly soft (and not itchy). This is my first of their dresses, but I'm told that it is "least soft" of the options. Even the "least soft" is pretty darn soft. The wool is finely woven and it doesn't feel chunky, thick, or bulky. I've had a few people doubt my assertion that it's wool! It feels more like a sport coat wool, than a sweater. The wool also holds its shape well, giving the dress a nice structure, which it has maintained. And, probably the best part about Wool&'s wool is that it doesn't have that almost immediately "stale" smell that wool so often gets after one run-in with deodorant.

Clara Shirt Dress: Washing

As I mentioned, the dress is machine washable. It can be dry cleaned, should you wish to spend extra cash ;) Machine washability is particularly incredible not only because it's wool, but also because it's fairly structured. But hey, I'll take it!

Clara Shirt Dress: Wrinkle assessment

For me, this is the key fact: the Clara really doesn't get super wrinkly. You know I'm always in the market for fabrics for those long plane rides (we've got one coming up! Woooo!). Finding a dress that can be packed in a suitcase and worn on a plane is a *huge* win for this travel blogger. It arrived in that little package, not wrinkled, and since wearing, the only little creases are from sitting, but they sort of brush out. Not bad!

Clara Shirt Dress: Pockets

What more do you need to know? I probably should have discussed this first. THE CLARA SHIRT DRESS HAS POCKETS.

​Real pockets - not vanity pockets (which should be made illegal). The awesome pockets are always the first comment I get on it - ladies love pockets and Wool& has heard our pleas!!

Clara Shirt Dress: Color

One of the benefits of wool is that the color can be so rich. I ordered the cabernet (I mean, obviously), and the color really is eye-catching. It's a deep, vibrant, dark burgundy, which I love!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I hope you'll consider stopping by Wool& to see what they have to offer. I so appreciate everyone taking the time to read my first sponsored post. I couldn't be happier with my ​Clara Shirt Dress and look forward to adding more Wool& products to my travel wardrobe! Please also check out my review of Wool&'s Rowena Swing Dress!

​Don't forget to sign-up for the blog newsletter and get your free, downloadable carry-on packing guide for Europe!