Last month, I traveled to New York City for Indie Beauty Expo and did some shopping in SoHo at Free People. I discovered this beautiful, striped “wanderlust” sweater dress. At first glance, I thought this was wool and immediately thought I couldn’t wear it. Over the past year, I have been very intentional about not purchasing animal products as clothing. After glancing at the tag, I discovered that it was 100% acrylic! Like many synthetic fabrics, acrylic still provides the same warmth and coziness as wool, without the shearing.

I’m not sure if this dress runs large, or if it’s just Free People’s sizing, but I went a size down and purchased a medium. In fact, most tops I purchase from Free People and Anthropologie (owned by the same company) are a size medium. I’m somewhat of a pear shape, smaller up top and larger at the bottom.