Fleece Sweatshirt

The Case For No Hood

A hood is a folded double layer of fabric across the back of the neck. Under a jacket it has to go somewhere, and it pushes the collar of the outer garment forward and up. On a coat with any structure at the neck, that is the difference between a layer that works and one that does not.

A crew neck has nothing there at all. It disappears under outerwear, under a shirt collar, under a scarf, and it is the reason a sweatshirt remains the more useful of the two in a wardrobe that includes coats. The hood wins when the sweatshirt is the outermost thing you are wearing, and loses whenever it is not.

The V At The Front Of The Collar

Traditional sweatshirts have a small triangular panel set into the front of the neckline. It is not decorative. A crew neck has to be pulled over the head, and every pull stretches the collar; the insert takes that strain and lets the ribbing recover instead of gradually going wavy.

Not every modern sweatshirt has one, and its absence is not a fault, but it is a genuine durability feature and worth recognizing when you see it. A collar is the first part of a crew neck to look old, and anything that slows that down is doing real work.

Where It Sits Between A Tee And A Hoodie

• Warmer than a tee, by a lot. The brushed inner face does the same job it does on a hoodie, which the fleece hoodie pages explain in full, since the fabric is the same and only the shape differs.
• Lighter to wear than a hoodie. No hood means less fabric at the shoulder and less weight at the back, so it is the better choice for a warm room on a cold day.
• Easier to keep clean at the neck. A hood collects everything that comes off hair and collars. A crew neck does not.

What Wears Out And When

The body fabric of a sweatshirt outlasts everything else on it. What goes first is the collar, then the cuffs, and in both cases it is loss of recovery rather than anything wearing through. A sweatshirt with a slack collar has effectively ended even though the cloth is intact.

Sizing It

Take your usual size. A sweatshirt is drafted with enough ease to go over a t-shirt and no more, which is less than a hoodie needs and more than a tee has. If it is going over a shirt with a collar, a size up is the sensible move, and it is the one case where it is. A printed design is unaffected by either choice, since the print area scales with the garment.