Wednesday, May 7, 2014

take on the $89 hoodie

two weeks ago I saw an article on Slate.com proclaiming they had found the perfect hoodie.    As a guy who tries to stay pretty casual, I was intrigued but the article was pretty convincing, saying that the American Giant hoodie.   Between the reviews, the pictures and the Made in the USA sticker, I swallowed hard, blew the cobwebs off of the old wallet and ordered one.

I got it in the mail a few days ago and I got to say that it is by far the nicest quality sweatshirt in my closet (not saying much, I'm sure).   It is also by far one of the most expensive piece of clothing I've bought (again not saying much) other than a few suits.   I do have a NorthFace zip-up (no hood) which was probably $60 and it's a complete go-to for me which has held up incredibly well but it's a much lighter piece than this, so they could be complimentary..  

here is my official review
I'm 6'2" 185lbs and went with the large which seems to fit comfortably, I am sure I could get away with medium but am afraid the sleeves may not be long enough and I can get up to 195 pounds when i am not working out or stressed, so wanted something that was versatile in that way. It's form fitting without being too tight, so it's comfortable. 
Where this thing really shines is that most other sweatshirts, especially sports team ones, look like you are wearing a giant garbage bag, which is fine when you are tailgating but looking like you are 30 pounds heavier is not exactly what anybody needs.  The fact that this casual jacket doesn't look like you should spill ketchup all over it is another positive..
The construction is grade A, the fit is great, the color (burnt orange) is very nice. What you notice immediately is that it's all cotton, it doesn't have that polyester synthetic feel. 
My only gripe would have -and it's minor- is that the way they have it cut, the pockets are maybe a bit higher than you'd want ideally and they aren't very deep. I don't typically keep my hands in my pockets and keeping a bunch of crap in them will probably take away from the form fitting look, I just don't know where to shove my newspapers..  
I travel a lot for work and can totally see this become the jacket I take with me on planes and through airports. 
Overall, it's a great light jacket, exceptional quality,


now realize that I spent nearly $100 on a zip-up jacket and I am ready to kill myself


2 comments:

Zed said...

Those pockets are really high. Do you look foolish with your hands in there? Odd.

Righetti said...

The high pockets are so designed so you can't accidentally shove a NY Daily News in them