Cult of the Well-Worn Hoodie

Sure most modern hoodies rock the hidden iPod picket, but doesn’t your personal media player deserve to be decked out too? Maybe if it were wearing one of these awesome iPod hoodies, you wouldn’t be so quick to tuck it away.

Designed by entrepreneur Ashley Davidson, the iPod hoodies are available for 3rd and 4th generation iPod photo/video (the big one), iPod Nano and iPod mini, and come in two colors - heather grey and bubblegum pink. The hoodies can also be customized with one of four screen-printed designs: the Doodled (featured above), the tattoo-style limited edition “All loved up”, and the Merch, with patterns paying homage to four different music styles.

No word yet on whether the lineup will be refreshed for the new models, but if you’ve got an iPod today that could stand to be a little more cozy, prices range from £9.99 (approx. $20) to £12.99 (approx. $26), and orders are processed through Paypal. Shipping takes 3-5 days inside the UK, though the company will ship worldwide for around £3.00 ($6).

This Halloween, why not dress down your dress-up?

Like those novelty glasses with the eyes painted on, Headhoods are screen-printed with one of several whimsical or custom designs on the sides, allowing you to adopt a new persona with a flip of the hood.

Headhoods are hand-made in a Brooklyn studio, screen printed and sewn onto American Apparel hoodies, and are shipped out via USPS priority mail. The standard designs are $60, and most come in either black or white fabrics with complimentary patterns, and men’s or women’s sizes depending on the design. The Elvis is available in Heather Grey men’s and Red for women. Sizes are small through XL and payment is processed via Paypal.

The current lineup includes a gorilla, Elvis, a skull, Michelangelo’s David, a playing card king and queen, among others. Custom designs are available upon request.

The designer can be contacted via the site, or on his Myspace page.

This weekend’s LA Times has a great pair of articles from staff writer Melissa Magsaysay about the hoodie’s transition from Rocky-style gymwear through urban statement to designer runways, a perfect companion to the close of the most recent fashion week.

In the companion article, Slouchy Hoodie Gets a Makeover, Magsaysay interviews Mike Gonzales of Mike & Chris, who have made a name for themselves in fashion circles for their leather hoodie and other hooded outerwear designs. The video demonstrates Gonzales’ impromptu design skills as he stitches together a stylish hooded tunic using only some elastic, thread and pins, and an off-the-rack $12.99 XXL workout hoodie.

The Mike & Chris Fall ‘07 collection is up on their site now, and has some cool stylish hooded designs that would be fit for both formal and casual occasions.

Have fond memories of MacPaint and wish you could be wearing some of your old-school creations on a hoodie?

Pixel art is supremely hot, with retro nostalgia being stoked by classic gaming revivals on Wii and Xbox 360, and popular web comics like Diesel Sweeties and 8-bit Theater. But if their chunky low-res designs aren’t doing it for you, Primitive State is ready to let you flex your raster graphics muscle.

Measuring 40×64 pixels (totaling 2560 potential pixels to be filled), the Primitive State Pixel Designer 3.0 allows you to design 2-bit pixel masterpieces for your own custom t-shirt and hoodie designs, and when you’re done you can share the artwork with others for fame and fortune (in the form of Primitive Points). If you’re not feeling artistic or need some inspiration, one click will queue up one of the dozens of patterns that have already been posted up by the Primitive State community.

After submitting your artwork, the designer allows you to choose from any one of 9 hoodie colors and 10 pattern colors for your completed fashion. The hoodies are an 80-20 cotton poly blend, and available in sizes Small to XXL. Primitive ships worldwide, with hoodies costing £34.50 (about $70) and £2.95 for Standard delivery shipping (5-10 working days inside the UK, around 14-21 working days elsewhere).

Love your hoodies, but looking for something a little more dressy? As the cold weather approaches, you might want to consider one of the hoodie scarves from Kasil’s Fall collection.

The schoodie comes in five colors: Grey/Blue Plaid, Bold Pink Plaid, Yellow/Black Plaid, Green/Brown Plaid (pictured), and Turquoise Plaid. The hooded scarves are flannel and one-size-fits-all, and come with a button-flap iPod pocket falling right around shoulder level. All 5 are available for purchase from Revolve Clothing for $50.

And if you’re really loving your hooded scarf, you might want to consider the ORLY hat from the Gaia Online store come casual Friday.

Patterned after a popular product in the web gaming community Gaia Online, the ORLY hat is 100% polyester one-size-fits-all, and the scarf ends double as gloves. The ORLY costs $25 and can be purchased online.

Sure you might be stylin’ in some fly new Bape gear, but what about the little one rollin’ in the stroller? As long as you’re not planning on visiting any seaside arcades any time soon, you might want to consider swaddling your toddler in one of these hot stitched  Headphone Hoodies from New Skool.

New Skool was founded by Bay Area Designer and Graffiti Artist Nate1 MPC in San Fransisco in 2003, and cranks out some fantastic urban-themed tees and hoodies for youngsters and adults. The Headphones Hoodie is a perpetual best-seller, available in sizes suited to infants as young as 12 months, through toddler and up to an adult XL.

The infant and toddler size zip-up hoodies are available in navy with gold metallic thread embroidery for $48, and the adult - men and women’s sizes - are black with silver metallic thread design and cost $50. All the hoodies are produced in small runs in the Bay Area, and can be purchased from the New Skool web site.

This is Karen Lewis. This adorable 4-year old Welsh girl loves to wear hoodies, a lot like you and me. However, this particular photo was taken only moments after Karen was declared enough of a threat for owners of the arcade where she was playing games with her granddad to call in the guards. Her offense?

Wearing a hood in a public place.

Despite their being no notices posted anywhere around the arcade, and plenty of folks walking around wearing baseball caps, the employees of the seaside venue still felt comfortable citing “official policy” in demanding that the child take down her hooded cardigan, or leave the arcade.

The arcade’s owner, Les Harken, has said the emporium is a “good family venue” aimed mainly at children.

Harken was quoted by the BBC as saying that the no-hoodie policy will stay in place for fear of the kids (though he didn’t explicitly specify a policy targeting the under-7 set). “If there is an incident to a hoodie or with a hoodie, we’ve got CCTV all over the place.”

Hopefully future adult visitors to the family-friendly destination feel safer today, knowing that the all-seeing eye will protect them from any and all Teletubby-loving toddler hoodlums.

Brooklyn Industries, the urban design shop run by Vahap Avsar and Lexy Funk, consistently produces some of my favorite hoodie designs. The company, founded during an upstate NY artist residency program, hit the ground running in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They now have seven retail stores in some of the trendiest locations in New York, collaborate regularly with partners in Europe and Japan, and operate their design studio and warehouse from 22,000 sq ft of space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

First up in their ‘07 lineup is the cozy-looking Entropy Hoodie:

With snaps down the collar and available in Royal, Olive or Heather Grey, the Entropy retails for $72.

Next is the Prefab Hoodie:

A three-quarter zip hoodie with a kangaroo pocket and chest pocket, the Prefab comes in Charcoal with red accents, Cream with grey, or the pictured Chocolate with green hoodie interior and accents. This hoodie is 80% Cotton / 20% Polyester, and costs $74.

Third is one of my personal picks from this collection, the funky Renewable Hoodie:

The tri-colored Renewable is available in Chocolate, Light Grey (pictured) or the fierce orange Lion for $72.

Finally, the classic Brooklyn Appliqué design - one of Brooklyn Industries’ most popular designs, and available in men’s and women’s cuts.

The hoodies come with “Brooklyn Ind.” across the chest in raised letters, and are 80% cotton, 20% polyester fleece with ribbed trim and cuffs and a drawstring hood. The Appliqué comes in a myriad of colors: Black, Grey, Sage and Clover for men, Navy, Brick, Rose, Fern, Eggplant, Sage, Grey and Black for women. They are currently $49, on sale from their regular price of $64.

All the hoodies featured come in sizes from small to 2XL for men, and XSmall through XLarge for women, and can be purchased from their retail shops or online at Brooklynindustries.com.

An ill-fated decision by Citadel High administrators to ban hoodies was reversed today, after the Halifax, NS school was swamped with calls from confused parents and frustrated students.

Abigail Pate (I hope she’s a reader!) told a CanWest reporter, “I literally have, like, two sweaters that don’t have hoods on them.” Officials claim that the decision was made to improve school safety, addressing the concern that hoods would obscure faces from the school’s security cameras.

As a concession, Tam Fawcett, principal of Citadel High School, says students will be allowed to wear the popular piece of clothing, but only with the hoods turned down.

Presumably school bans on long hair, baseball caps and waving hands above one’s head are still pending approval by the school board.

Unfortunately, Albany students are still out of luck.

In case you’re looking for more protection than your Bape crime-fighting cowl offers (or have concerns about getting holes torn in a $450 piece of fashion), the Bladerunner Slash Resistant Hooded Top might be right for you.

The Bladerunner brand, based out of Romford, Essex, has recently expanded beyond their security community focus to offer protective clothing to parents of students and concerned citizens everywhere. Strong sales and a series of positive news stories (although most of the ones I was able to find read more like press releases) have convinced the label to branch out into the consumer market, offering several style and color alternatives to their dark black hoods, and an urban-themed portal site to buy them from.

Prices run from £ 20.00 (approx. $40) for the unlined hoodies, up to £64.99 (approx $130) for the kevlar-lined hoodies. They come in solid colors or “chemical print” and “razorwire” designs, and in addition to the traditional black Bladerunner has pink and light blue styles designed for female joggers. Sizes run from small to 3XL.

Given the bad rap hoodies traditionally receive in the UK, I don’t know whether something like this is good or bad for the stereotype.