What are Hoodies?

Since Rocky Balboa wore a gray hoodie sweatshirt and proudly ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, hoodies have become a popular fashion statement. You see them every where today, from high fashion models, to grocery store clerks.

What is a hoodie? Simply, it’s a sweater or sweatshirt with a hood. The front normally has large pockets and can have a zipper for easy removal, or just an opening to slip over the head. A drawstring allows wearers to adjust the opening of the hood. Many collages and sports teams use the hoodie to advertise their logos.

The hoodies history goes all the way back to ancient times. During the Middle Ages, catholic monks wore long tunics with a cowl, or hood, used to cover the head during worship. Over the centuries, hoods, attached to clothing, metamorphosed into what is now the current day hoodie. The modern style, affixed to a sweatshirt, was produced in the 1930s for workers laboring in the frozen meat warehouses in New York. The sweatshirt was comfortable to wear and warm enough for working in the frozen area with the hood up, but cool enough to not overheat.

Hip hop culture in the 1970s brought the hoodie into the forefront of fashion as teens emulated their favorite artists by wearing the same style clothing. Big, bulky hoodies graced the bodies of stars and fans alike all over the nation.

In America, the hoodie has become a classic piece of fashion. Many designers in the 1990s built clothing collections around the simple hoodie. Whether it is being worn as a highly expensive piece of fashion, or merely an item to cover up with when it’s windy outside, the hoodie is a part of American culture and will be around for a very long time.