Hoodie? HoodME!
January 30, 2013 11:26 AM   Subscribe

This snowflake is woefully under-hoodied: I cannot locate a hoodie which meets my specific nitpicky criteria. Can YOU?

I'm female, 5'8", long-ish torso, large-ish bust. I'm both muscular and slightly chubby (just like a good steak!) I typically buy XL or 1X shirts. I need a new hoodie. I've scoured tons of retail stores. I've checked REI, EMS, Campmor, Sierra Trading Post, Carharrt, Duluth Trading Post, Land's End, Eddie Bauer, Athleta, Lululemon... you name it. No dice, and no hoodie for me. Sob! My ideal hoodie would possess all of the following qualities:

- It needs a full-length front zipper (or some other way to take it off WITHOUT pulling it over my head).
- It needs at least the standard two side pockets, and they must zip/button/fasten in some way.
- It needs to have thumbholes.
- It needs to have a hood.
- It should ideally be made of merino or some other form of wool, but other fabrics with similar properties (breathes well, dries quickly, wears like iron, NEVER stinks) might be okay.
- It cannot be cotton.
- It cannot be fleece/microfleece,Polarfleece/ubermenschenfleece.
- It should have at least a little bit of shaping (e.g. not be a shapeless potato sack).
- It should be pretty durable, because I'm one of those people who inadvertently destroys everything they touch.

Thanks, Hive!
posted by julthumbscrew to Shopping (15 answers total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
This one from Smartwool seems to tick all your boxes.
posted by ephemerista at 11:37 AM on January 30, 2013


Best answer: Here's a first go:
Ibex Women's Shak Spire Wool Jacket

+zipper
+two zipped front pockets
+thumbholes
+hood
+merino
+shaping

-hood is scuba-style i.e. small
-XL might not suffice depending on how skewed toward litheness the brand is (I don't know it, I'm in the UK)
-PRICE

?durability
posted by lokta at 11:38 AM on January 30, 2013


These by Chrome are close: 1, 2.
posted by mlle valentine at 11:40 AM on January 30, 2013 [1 favorite]


Here's the page from Icebreaker with women's hoodies. I have an older one from them that fits all of your criteria, I think. You may need to go through these one by one to see which have thumb holes, pocket placement, etc.
posted by cushie at 11:42 AM on January 30, 2013


What's your budget? Icebreaker's hoodies--like Ibex and Smartwool mentioned above--also tick your boxes, although they tend to the 'slim" cuts. Nau got rid of the thumbloops in their zip fronthoodie (and the old nonfleece version was far superior) but the jackets are one place their quality has not declined over the last two years.
posted by crush-onastick at 11:42 AM on January 30, 2013


I mean, the nau hoodie is merino, it's just a merino fleece, so I'm not sure if it works for you. The one without a zipper is merino nonfleece.
posted by crush-onastick at 11:44 AM on January 30, 2013




Response by poster: Budget isn't really an issue (unless it's, like, a $500 Chanel hoodie, which is SO not my cuppa tea) - I've been trying to buy fewer, higher-quality items. The "slim" cut may be an issue in some hoodies, alas - while I love athletic-styled garments, all of their models look like they just finished a 72-hour yoga class and are headed to get a celery smoothie. And fleece might be okay as long as it's still merino. It's just that synthetic fleece feels AWFUL on my skin.
posted by julthumbscrew at 11:46 AM on January 30, 2013


You might check out the Executive Hoodies at Betabrand. Can't vouch for it personally (I saw the link to the store in another thread here on MetaFilter and think their stuff looks really cool), but it definitely meets most of your criteria (not sure about a zip pocket or thumbholes, for example). If the sizing on the women's options doesn't work for you, maybe check out the nearly identical hoodies in the mens category?
posted by msbubbaclees at 11:53 AM on January 30, 2013


Re: lokta's comment above, I have two of the Carrie hoodies from Ibex (which they didn't make this year, sadly). It's like the Shak only with a bit more shaping and no thumbholes. I bring this up only to point out that I'm also somewhat chunky and busty and Ibex's sizing seems big to me -- usually I wear a XL in anything outdoors-y, and I had to get a L in both of the hoodies I have from them. So the Shak might totally work for you.
posted by heurtebise at 12:02 PM on January 30, 2013


Best answer: As mentioned by kdern, TADgear does have great pieces that tick all your boxes, but their sizing definitely runs small. Chrome did a merino wool hoodie for women, though you might find the men's version more favorable in size, and Twin Six and Outlier do have some pieces that might also work.
posted by evoque at 12:05 PM on January 30, 2013


Best answer: I have a jacket from 66°NORTH (an Icelandic brand) that ticks a lot of your boxes, except it doesn't actually have a hood. It has a two way zipper, zipped pockets, thumbholes, has a ton of shaping, and wears like iron. It's made out of this breathable, warm fabric that's basically magic. It costs a bajillion dollars though. I have it because I stupidly went to Iceland without a jacket in the summertime.

They have another one (which I haven't tried) that has the hood, but lacks the pockets. And it's cheaper.

You can also look at Cintamani, another Icelandic brand. Their fleece jackets are amazing, and it looks like they have wool hoodies that meet a lot of your criteria (except for thumbholes, unfortunately).
posted by topoisomerase at 12:48 PM on January 30, 2013


Response by poster: These are all AWESOME options - thanks, guys! As it happens, I am visiting Iceland this spring, so maybe there is an Icelandish hoodie in my future!
posted by julthumbscrew at 1:24 PM on January 30, 2013 [1 favorite]


Do you know anybody who knits?
posted by Addlepated at 4:47 PM on February 2, 2013


Response by poster: Hi, Hive-lings - just wanted to let you know know that I followed topoisomerase's advice and bought a Cintamani Sjofn hoodie. It arrived today and I may never remove it - it's WONDERFUL. I never, ever would've found this brand were it not for AskMe... they're pretty damned Iceland-centric. I love my new hoodie and I love the Hive!
posted by julthumbscrew at 7:10 PM on February 6, 2013 [1 favorite]


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