The Greatest Hoodie Ever

I'm not really a hoodie person, what with being over 30 and all, but I do love a good sweatshirt. When the sweatshirt made a comeback last year, I was ecstatic because I had already transitioned from the cashmere sweaters I used to wear to work to the more durable and stain/laundry/mom-to-young-children resistance of the sweatshirt. And to be clear, Comfort Colors is the best. I purchased several Comfort Colors sweatshirts emblazened with logos (e.g., Seaside, Alabama Crimson Tide, etc.), and then realized I could find them on Amazon or possibly picked up on a buyer's direct type of site, devoid of logo and without the extra trademark surcharge.

An important aside and PSA: know the difference between pigment dyed and garment dyed, friends. Pigment dyed is a chemical-free process and usually has a deeper, richer color. Pigment dyed sweatshirts are gorgeous. However, a deal-breaking downside is the dye rubbing off... on one's skin, on one's tan leather car seat, etc. Garment dyed is a slightly less impressive in terms of color (it's a little washed out when compared with the richness of pigment dye), but does not turn one's upper torso forest green, as an example. Not that that happened to me... on vacation... on Marco Island... leaving my arms looking a little fungal green or anything.

The newest sweatshirt item of interest is the "greatest hoodie ever made" from American Giant that I have been hearing about for months.  Slate declared it the "greatest sweatshirt known to man" back in 2012, a mere ten months after the company's formation. After the Slate article, the company's four US-based plants were inundated with orders, causing an up to four months long backlog, as described in this 2013 Business Insider article. CEO Winthrop's desire to create a sweatshirt reminiscent of his father's Navy sweatshirt from the 50's has a storybook feel. Not surprisingly, a former Apple engineer (he worked on the first iPhone) is the American Giant creative director who helped design the hoodie, as explained by Wired's 2014 article discussing the two year old company. Omar Shahine included the company's video demonstrating how the product is made in his 2014 post. Finally, Men's Fitness nabbed an interview with the CEO.

Certainly, we know what Fran Liebowitz would think of this pajama-wear, and I doubt Anna Wintour will be featuring it in the sacred pages of Vogue any time soon. But I am intrigued.

Photo credit: American Giant