Opinion of hoodies

[angus]

FC, but I don't do pull over type things anymore.  Too old.  And the flannel is the single best clothing item ever invented....but I suppose a zipup style hoodie could give it a run for the money....though a flannel with a hood would be even better...but I don't like the way they look unless they are more coat than shirt.

I have a bright red pullover hooded garment.  I call it a hooded pullover sweatshirt as it is made of the thick cotton material, has no zipper, and has a hood.  I wore it yesterday.  I wear it when I'm cycling and it is below about 65 degrees but not below about 45 degrees.  My son has quite a few of the hooded sweat garments as well, although his are all zippered jackets.  We call them jackets.  He actually wears them to school.  He's young enough to get away with that.

I voted that I like them, although I loathe the term, and I refuse to use it except just this once (to make a point):  If the poll had asked about calling them "hoodie" I'd have to respectfully vote that it's a horrible name, as are most of the other names marketers come up with. 

[angus]

I'm not for banning anything, but flannel is for lesbians and lumberjacks.  

I do like the Indian- and Mexican-style pullover hooded garments as well.  Some people call them ponchos.  I have heard them called "mexican hoodies."  ugh.  Anyway, I have one that I bought at an Indian market in Amsterdam and one that I found in a laundry in Guatemala and one made of alpaca fur that I bought in Peru.  They're very comfortable, and reasonably warm.  I wear them more often when I'm walking.  They're not as good for cycling, though.  The wind blows through the knit.  For that, the cotton sweatshirt-material pullover is best.  It also has the advantage of being red.

I also have lots of hooded windbreakers and hooded jackets.  I regard the actual hood as an occasional accessory.  I rarely pull them up, but if it's raining or snowing I might.

By the way, I had no idea till I read this thread that anyone considered hooded outwear as a political statement, but apparently in the UK, US, Canada, and much of the anglophone world it is so perceived.  I found an imagine of a sign in an English pub that reads, "No hoodies," and a reference to Geraldo advising young black folks not to wear "hoodies."  In New Zealand there's apparently a Hoodie Day and one government minister there issued a press release stating that " the hoodie is not an appropriate article of clothing to celebrate."    In Australia, the police have initiated "hoodie-free zones."  Really??  WTF?!  

Ah, well, people are weird about all sorts of things.  

Sometimes you just need a comfortable item of clothing that keeps you warm, is easy to don and remove, and has optional attached headwear so you don't have to keep up with a hat.  I should stop complaining about the ridiculous orwellian newspeak name "hoodie" as well, because it could be worse: in Saskatchewan, apparently they're called "Bunny Hugs."  Ouch.

[angus]

Stranger things have happened.  In Iran, for example, they actually banned the mullet. 


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/06/iran-bans-the-mullet


?!