The Hoodie vs The Sweater

Hi, this is Jonathan from ETHOS DECORUM, a creative outlet that highlights the best in art, fashion and design.

I feature a lot of fashion on the platform, but my uniform includes a hoodie. I wear a hoodie five days out of the week. Do I dress too casual? Probably.

I find myself wearing a hoodie almost daily and not even thinking about another choice.

On a recent trip to an artist studio which was an hour and a half drive away, I stopped by the outlets and hit the jackpot with endless Polo Ralph Lauren sweaters. I bought a few and thought to myself, "when did I stop wearing sweaters?" It sent me down a rabbit hole of looking up sweaters on different sites like Nordstrom and Macys. It’s like I discovered a new item in my wardrobe.

I must make the case that the sweater is better than the hoodie. The sweater is more versatile than the hoodie. It can be worn with jeans, chinos, corduroys, shorts and slacks. You don’t have to worry about graphics like a hoodie. Different fabrics like wool, cotton or cashmere are all great for sweaters. The fisherman sweater is perfect but so is the cable knit sweater. When it comes to where to wear the sweater you have everything from dinner, church and a café. You can’t do that with a hoodie.

The question is “has menswear totally dissed the sweater”? Do we no longer see the value or is it considered too dressy? Has the hoodie overshadowed the sweater because the hoodie is a part of streetwear brand playbook? The sweater had been forgotten because men’s style has become super casual.

To add a layer to hoodie vs sweater conversation, the cardigan has become super cool because it’s super casual. Brands like Acne Studios are doing fun and colorful oversized cardigans that go well with jeans and sneakers. We see brands like Kenzo with next level embroidery cardigans perfect for a streetwear fit. But the sweater still gets no love. When was the last time you saw the list for best sweaters on the market?

To sum it all up, maybe it’s time to get back to sweaters, switch it up a bit, wear it with jeans if we still want to be more casual.

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Jonathan- ETHOS DECORUM

IG-ETHOSDECORUM