Why Do People Wear Hoodies?
Me after a yoga workout in a light, t-shirt fabric hoodie, taking a moment to breathe. Lausanne, Switzerland. February 25, 2021.
People who love hoodies—like me—can think of countless reasons why people wear them.
However, I’ve had several people find my hoodie posts through searches on exactly this question and with keywords like “what it means when someone wears a hoodie” and “what does wearing a hoodie say about you?”
I find these queries in the abstract kind of interesting, especially in that they occur so often. But I digress.
Alrightey then. If you found my hoodie articles because you have these questions, I have a few answers:
Religion: Figures from all religious faiths wear hooded cloaks and garments as part of their religious vestments. When they put their hoods over their heads, they show humility and devotion, certainly, yet they also turn inward more easily for prayer, meditation, and reflection.
Warmth: A hoodie guards heat across the neck, torso, and core, which help to protect all wearers from cold and wind. This heat-guarding feature helps keep muscles primed after a warm-up workout, too—hence athletes’ love of hoodies as part of their performance gear. A hoodie helps ease muscular cool-down after an athletic performance, too.
Disguise: Hoodies with the hoods up can hide the wearer’s face and identity. People and characters could want to go undercover either to do good (in the case of superheros, for example) or for evil (mainly the objective of criminals and, well, some other superheros). Read my article on the use of hoodies by fictional characters and in pop culture for more nuance here.
Frighten: Perhaps Ku Klux Klan members wear their hooded uniform partly for disguise, yet the Klan hood mainly serves to scare people—which fits with psychological and sociological research (as covered in this article about hoodie symbolism) around humans’ need to read people’s expressions to feel comfortable and confident in interpersonal situations. After all, many members were and are openly part of the group.
Soothing: Beyond just warmth, hoodies can provide physical and psychological comfort. The soothing factor goes beyond simple warmth; even lightweight hooded t-shirts can help protect you from prying eyes, sensory overload, and general overwhelm.
Protection: In addition to protecting you from the weather and its elements (including rain, sleet, cold, wind, and all the rest), a hoodie can protect you from germs and dirt. I love me a hoodie with the hood up for resting my head and falling asleep on planes, trains, and other public transportation—and anywhere else general grubbiness resides.
Style: Hoodies have streetwear street cred. The style of hoodies, whether edgy or elegant, can make an outfit in all sorts of styles, creating or perfecting a specific or unique look for someone’s personal brand. For more on hoodies’ style factor, review the six hoodie archetypes in this article, from the fanciest to the most casual.
Hoodie curious? (So am I!) The reason people find this site via hoodie questions is that I’ve written several articles about them—and I’ll likely keep it up.
For a repository of all the research and writing I’ve done so far on all things hoodie, click here.