![\"hoodie\"](\"http:\/\/blog.fitnyc.edu\/volumesandissues\/files\/2014\/02\/hoodie.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/this-hoodie-is-so-insanely-popular-you-have-to-wait-months-to-get-it-2013-12<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Not being a huge fan of the hoodie, this caught my eye.\u00a0 I mean, seriously:\u00a0 Why a hoodie?\u00a0 I like a bit of wool in my outer layers, because it keeps me warmer.\u00a0 A hoodie?\u00a0 I was raised in an era where sweat clothes were too casual to leave the house in (ok, so I took a pass on the whole velour tracksuit thing when I was growing up.) (No, maybe I just wasn’t the right demographic for it.\u00a0 My friends were wearing thrift-store jean jackets and army shirts.)\u00a0 But ok, so, a hoodie.\u00a0 Useful at the beach, or around the drafty house, or for those spring days when you’re running errands.<\/p>\n I know I’m out of sync with the world around me.\u00a0 Because I see younger (as in “under 35”) guys wearing hoodies under jackets, with jeans and they look hot and kinda semi-casual.\u00a0 Can it be that the hoodie is stepping up in the world?\u00a0 Is it the anti-fashion to the jacket-and-tie’s new hyper-fashionability?\u00a0 Or is fashion just moving on and the hoodie is slowly replacing the jacket?\u00a0 Is this an example of the world getting more and more knit-centric?\u00a0 Will wovens retire to the background in this century?<\/p>\n I began reading this article about the profitability of this particular hoodie.\u00a0 Every reviewer stresses first that it is actually made from a heavy weight of pure-cotton fleece.\u00a0 Woo hoo!\u00a0 At last someone is finally complaining about the progressively lighter (i.e. wimpier) fabric weights that we’ve been slipped year after year.\u00a0 The standard T-shirt weights now shipped are see-through compared to what was standard when I worked in the industry just 20 years ago.\u00a0 And if you look at a concert T from the 70’s, the finishing on it is a whole ‘nother category.<\/p>\n And this hoodie is apparently “shockingly well made” (quoted from the American Giant website testimonials).\u00a0 When was the last time you saw a garment that shocked you by how nicely finished the details were?\u00a0 For less than $100?\u00a0 I’m not saying that $89 is inexpensive for a hoodie, but if it were made like old army-issue, hmm, maybe?<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/technology\/technology\/2012\/12\/american_giant_hoodie_this_is_the_greatest_sweatshirt_know<\/strong>n_to_man.html<\/a><\/p>\n So I can understand why the writer at Slate raved a bit.\u00a0 Yeah, I’m in favor of a better quality standard item.\u00a0 I want that item to be jeans or a denim jacket or a good black wool skirt, but ok.\u00a0 Hoodie it is.<\/p>\n Bayard Winthrop, who began the company, says that the reason he’s able to keep the cost of his items down is that his company spends no money on marketing or distribution.<\/p>\n