Sweatshirts & Hoodies

Fleece Weight and What It Actually Warms

Fleece traps air, and weight is a proxy for how much air it can hold. A light fleece is a layering piece that works under a coat and does little alone in cold. A heavy one is outerwear in its own right and becomes uncomfortable indoors. If a hoodie is going under a jacket, lighter is better, because a heavy fleece compresses under outerwear and stops trapping the air that made it warm. Cotton content changes the calculation: cotton absorbs moisture and holds it, so a cotton heavy fleece is warmer standing still and colder once damp.

Why the Inside Matters More than the Outside

The interior surface is finished in one of two ways and they wear very differently. A brushed interior is raised into a soft nap, which feels better immediately and flattens over time. A loopback interior leaves the loops intact, which feels less plush on day one and holds its texture far longer. A brushed fleece is softest when new and a loopback is softest a year later, which is the trade nobody explains at the point of sale. The cuff and hem ribbing is the other tell: ribbing that recovers after stretching is what stops a hoodie hanging shapeless.

Slowing Down Pilling

Pills are short fibers working loose and tangling, and they form where the garment rubs: under the arms, at the sides, and wherever a bag strap sits. Washing inside out with similar fabrics is what slows pilling, because most of it comes from rubbing against denim and towels rather than from the fleece itself. Once pills appear, shaving them off with a fabric shaver is better than pulling, which takes intact fiber with it. Heat in a dryer accelerates the whole process, so a low setting buys a season.

For lighter layers underneath, the cotton and printed range is in T-Shirts, and the outerwear these are sized to sit under is in Jackets & Coats.