Cult of the Well-Worn Hoodie

Nigo (née Tomoaki Nagao) loves himself some classic superheroes, and this fall he’s expressing that love in hoodie form.

Collaborating with DC comics, Bape is bringing out this Batman hoodie; patterned after the old-school Adam West style threads and with a pointy-eared cowl hood that zips up enough to keep your face just barely exposed on any midnight crime-fighting runs. The collection also includes Superman and the Flash non-hooded sweatshirts, and each of the three comes paired with a little plastic sidekick toy molded to represent the appropriate superhero.

Being a Marvel guy myself, I’m partial to the Anticon Hoodie. Perhaps because it reminds me of Peter Parker’s first wrestling costume.

The French-designed Anticon hoodie went on sale to the public in October 2005, and is available in four colors (and all the expected sizes) from their online store for 85.00 €, or around $115. The Bape hoodie and sweatshirts are expected to retail for $439 and $351 respectively when they hit store shelves in Autumn.

Clear skies signaled the end of summer here in New York - the perfect accompaniment to parades, barbecues and long drives back from the shore. But the interminably sunny skies would hardly deter me from throwing an Imaginary Foundation Cloud Hoodie over my shoulders once the evening chill starts to come on.

The Imaginary Foundation, whose tagline is “Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known,” are a Swiss collective whose leader is the progeny of a Dadaist movement founder. In addition to hoodies, their output includes t-shirts and art prints, with visuals often resembling a mash-up of Magritte and Monty Python.

The Cloud Hoodie is an 80/20 heavyweight fleece, and available for purchase from their online store for $100.

Wow, two threads referencing the Beastie Boys in one week!

Ever held the perfect hoodie design in your minds’ eye, spending weeks scoping out storefronts and hitting up Google, trying to find it but coming up empty-handed? Maybe it’s time to get stichin’!

Designing your own hoodie is probably easier than you think, courtesy of some great tutorials online.

First up, ThreadBanger, the network for DIY fashion, has a video tutorial on how to turn an old band t-shirt into a custom vintage hoodie. Curbly as the text run-down, in case you’re having trouble watching the video or want to print out some instructions for post-viewing sewing.

If you prefer hook and yarn to thread and needle, Knitty has a hooded cardigan pattern that is perfect for the cooler weather. The design is by Jodi Green.

If you have any success with these patterns, or know of any more worth sharing, post them in the comments.