Hoodies

Introduction

Spelled either 'hoodie' or 'hoody', it's a type of sweat shirt which in recent years has become quite a controversial piece of clothing in the UK. Due to the introduction of CCTV (close circuit television) cameras in most towns and city centres, the hoodie has become linked to criminal elements who wish to hide their facial features from being recorded. The covering of a face with a combination of a hooded sweater and a baseball cap can make it difficult to convict in a court of law. This is due to a lack of a definite identification.

Articles

• Bluewater shopping centre bans hooded sweatshirts
• Alan Sugar speaks about the hoodie hysteria

Introduction cont...

As the above pictures show the 'hoodie' is simply a typical sweat shirt with a hood attached. Alongside the hood, a 'hoody' should include draw strings to tighten the opening of the hood, and two large pockets on the front. The classic 'hoodie' does not include a vertical zipper on the front, this has been a later addition, and is classified as a 'hoody jacket'. Or a 'half zip' or 'full zip' hoodie.

A hooded jacket is not a contemporary design however, dating back through the centuries Catholic monks have worn robes with a hood. The modern introduction of a hooded sweater is not recent either. During the 1930's the American brand 'Champion' released the first modern take on a hooded sweater, as pictured below,

It's still produced by the company, and is amongst their best selling apparels. Only by the 70's - 90's did the 'hoodie' start to become a more menacing symbol. It was first worn by Hip Hop stars, and African American street thugs / muggers in New York City during the 1970's. By the 1990's the suburban kids got in on the act, with skateboarders and surfers lending some street cred to the hoody.

Only until recently did the hoodie become popular in the UK. The widespread rise of popularity in hip hop and rap no doubt contributed to it. When combined with a baseball cap, the hoodie has become the symbol of antisocial, asbo, "chav" culture within the UK. Quite a few privately owned shopping centres have banned the wearing of hoodies.

Whilst the hoody has only seemed to appeal to a specific social demographic in the UK, in the US things are not so clear-cut. Hoodies have always been a part and parcel of sportswear in the US, with the majority of regional and national US sports teams wearing hoodies at some point in their history. Likewise many manual workers and builders wear them in cold conditions.

Most universities in the US also sell hoodies with their logo emblazoned upon them. Therefore in most campus's you will see hundreds of bright eyed, positive and socially outgoing youths wearing their hoody with pride. It would therefore appear that in the UK the hoody has had a much worse rep than in the US. This is probably because few positive role models seem to wear them.

Many would regard the negative reaction to the garment as nearing 'hysteria'. There has been numerous stories in the press of thoroughly respectable middle age personages being forced to remove their hood before entering supermarkets. The political response has been mixed. With ministers from Labour slamming the garment, describing hooded teenage gangs as threatening. The Conservative leader failed miserably with his "hug a hoodie" speech.

In conclusion as long as the hoody is seen as an 'offensive' piece of clothing to middle Britain, rebelling teenagers and street gangs will no doubt continue to wear it.