Hoodie explosion!

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When I envisioned aging from a young age, I thought about wrinkles (as if that’s the worst part!). As I got older I realized there were other things that would happen – reduction in income, impossible to diagnose aches and pains and other unpleasant stuff.

The good hoodies on hangers.

I was well into my 60’s before I realized that much more dire things happened. Your arms start to flap in the breeze. What the heck happened to my energy? My interests changed. I get more agitated. (I know! Hard to believe.) People got dumber. I prefer my cats to people. (Oh wait! That’s always been true!) Worst of all, your friends die.

One thing I didn’t bet on was my internal thermostat going wonky. My fix was so “not me.”

When I worked, I had cute professional blazers, cardigans and other beautiful outer wear. If I was cold, I threw on a blazer. If I was hot, I took it off. Blazers go with everything from skirts and dress pants to jeans. If you had black, navy and camel, you were covered for every outfit.

Then I retired.

The casual hoodie pileup

I was introduced to the best invention since sliced bread – the hoodie. They are cheap, washable and don’t wrinkle. You don’t spend a fortune dry cleaning. They can live in a heap and still look OK.

They come in all colors and degrees of thickness. Some are suitable for cold outdoors and some are lighter for indoors. (Did I mention they come in purple and hot pink?)

Since retirement I can’t remember the last time I wore a blazer. I gave most of mine away. I have “nicer” hoodies (on hangers) for dress and more “casual” ones (those are the ones that live in a heap) for just kicking around.

They last a long time before they are relegated to garden work (that never requires a hoodie). I don’t know how I lived without them!

How about you? What’s your “go to” piece of clothing? Or maybe the real question is what was your “aha!” moment recently?

98 thoughts on “Hoodie explosion!”

  1. Go-to for work are layers – sleeveless drapey tops and a nice soft cardigan/jacket + black pants or black pencil skirt = easy peasy. Go-to for home are I’ve-never-done-Yoga-pants, a tee shirt and good shoes (hardwood floors are too hard for bare feet or socks)

    and I love a hoodie but ONLY a zip up one, not the pull over your head one. In Canada, where I grew up, we call those “Bunny Hugs.”

    Cheers!
    MJ

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  2. I have some similar well over age 50 “issues” and I could add to your list, Kate:) My daughters receive the benefits of some of my extra hoodies. For me, it is finding a favourite piece of clothing in the closet when many of my favourites are all black.

    Yet, I have favourite black pieces. Relatable post, Kate:)

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  4. I think my most recent wardrobe-related “aha” was recognizing that I have some nice clothes in my closet that are NEVER worn any more, and perhaps unlikely will ever be worn again! This made me kind of sad. I even have more casual wear than I can really utilize, and I enjoyed dressing nicely for work. I have a lot of hoodies, too, and different styles of lightweight jackets. More than I need, and it kind of bothers me that I really can’t justify shopping at all!

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    • I am the exact same. I’ve been thinking about getting some (maybe two) new everyday sweaters for winter but I really don’t need them. It’s just for something different. I need to donate so I can replace (I know that makes no sense either!).

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  5. The worst thing about aging -other than the things you mentioned – is that I find myself attracted by kitschy things. I used to hate kitsch. Suddenly any object with a butterfly on it has a good chance of landing in my shopping cart.
    As for hoodies – nope. I never use the hood and it bugs me to have a useless thing hanging down from the back of my neck. Then again . . . if there is a butterfly on it, I might reconsider.

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  6. I have a sweatshirt with a hood, but technically I don’t think that’s a hoodie. My go-to is a long-sleeve henley shirt — great for when the air conditioning is too cool for me, and perfect for the non-summer months. Not so good for restaurants, according to my wife, though. – Marty

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  7. My go to item – well I’ve blogged about my Twenty Pairs of Black Pants! Black Yoga pants, dressy ones, track pants with holes in them which I garden in as no one sees me. I wear my hoodies while gardening too, as often there is a cold north wind. I kept all my old blazers in a spare closet, although it seems silly as I never wear them.

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  8. I still have one wool tweed blazer and a butter soft leather one – just in case I need to go somewhere in real clothes. Not a fan of hoodies, but I do like /have multiple polar fleece jackets without the hoods – could not live without them (2 new ones recently added from pre-winter sale 40% off – One “houndstooth” and both a little longer length than the older worn to death versionsOh,I’ll feel warm and elegant in those stylish ones or for just cozy at home. Great for dog walks). In cold weather indoor’s black leggings under corduroy pants keep me warm…but they attract so much dog/cat hair I have to remember if going out to roller off in order not to look like crazy cat lady!

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    • I donated my good Ralph Lauren tweed blazer a few years back (along with a few tears). I have maybe 3 good wool ones left but honestly I don’t wear them. I love fleece! I have more fleece jackets than I can wear but here I like the hoods in case it snows. Nothing wrong with looking like a cat lady. RC would be proud.

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      • I think she believes marking staff tells other free range cats that she is taken….
        (Hmm, if we relocate to cold, hoodies may make sense – I always in a quandary what to do with the tossed back hood when also wearing a coat in this climate – but what you said makes sense….)

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          • I’ll have to go up a couple of hoodie sizes – my coat is a puffy ski jacket….except for the “wool good coat” your mom insisted was mandated to go with dresses/skirts for work…it’s still around here somewhere – gads many kids have a whole wardrobe fo different coats. We were happy with a “dress” coat and a casual short/car coat. “Car coat” That’s an old one!
            Thinks for the info though (No wool head scarf…I think mom handed over one of those for babushka winter.)

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  10. Not a fan of hoodies. I find them uncomfortable, but I do like t-shirts of all styles. And then there are my Birks. I never was much into adult clothes now that I think about it. Not sure I have any in the closet at this point.

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    • Can’t wear Birks. Love tee-shirts. Such a wide choice. Something for everyone for sure. I have a friend who feels her upper arms are heavy so she likes the ones that have a longer sleeve. I’ll wear most anything depending on the weather.

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  12. T shirts. If I could wear no other shirts for the rest of my life, I would be OK with that. I am to the point where I have “nice” ones and then regular ones for everyday and junky ones that are one step from the rag bag for cleaning and gardening and so forth in.
    But sadly, I am a while away from retirement, so I have to wear grown up clothes a lot of the time.

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  13. Like you, the nice clothes are tucked away and admired every so often. I also marvel at clothes from long ago … skirts and pants with waistbands and zippers, as it seems all I wear for outside/inside is shorts or pants with elastic waists and often in Winter my polar fleece PJs while I am working since I am sitting hours on end in one place and not moving much so they keep me warm. Next week will be medium hoodie weather for us! I’ve already broken out the lightweight hoodie when we had a few cooler mornings – yup, wear them with a teeshirt underneath or just on their own sometimes when it’s still mild out. I can remember my first hoodie – isn’t that crazy? It was white with small lemons and limes all over it – that was Canada and we called them “kangaroo shirts” because in those days they had such big cargo-type pockets in them. In later years, my mom lamented over the skin under her arms, pushing and prodding it and vowing never to wear sleeveless tops outside of the house again. I’m not quite there yet – my arms look decent, but my thighs – oh my -and I think all the walking is bulking them up even more than secretarial spread.

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  15. joggers and tees, and………………… a hoodie! I have one in cream and one in black, though the latter is starting to go ‘rusty’ at the cuffs for some reason (probably poor dye quality) but gives it an extra depth! Great for wearing indoors or out. Hubby has a petrol blue one.

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  16. Haha. OMG, people can actually get dumber? Hehe.

    I can’t think of any go-to clothing. I have a lot of cardigan sweaters, but not enough. I want one in every color and don’t have that yet. I swore as a younger person that I’d never wear elastic-waist jeans. Now, I only wear them around the house, but who knows where I’ll be wearing them as I age further. 😜

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  17. Unfortunately, I can relate. I was always hot, and then it all stopped. I’m frequently cold. I had to get real house shoes, pajamas, sweaters, hoodies, and light jackets that I can wear in the house or out. I had zero sweaters until this year. I even had to buy long-sleeved shirts. Ugh.

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  19. Hi, Kate – I can completely relate to this! When I worked, I had a handful of blazers carefully selected to go with most outfits. Although a couple of them are still tucked in the back of my closet — just in case — I never wear them. Now, hoodies are my goto cover-up and extra layer of warmth. Actually, I’m wearing one right now!

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  22. My go-to… visors. I have two zip-up hoodies, had more but… Florida. One is lightweight I ordered from Tinykittens Rescue, the other heavyweight for colder times here. I love that if I get hot in them I can unzip and zip back up if I get chilly. Great for slipping on in a store I know is going to be cold. Can’t live without a zip-up hoodie… or visors!

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  23. Oh my go-tos are definitely hoodies, fleece tops and jeans. I’m cold a lot of the time even in summer so I may have a t-shirt under the fleece top or hoodie in summer in case I get too warm. I’m also turning into a big fan of socks – all colors. Like you, dresses are in the museum section of my closet – gathering dust.

    Hugs, Pam

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    • We wear the same clothes! Something happens to me around 4 p.m. Maybe my blood pressure drops or my sugar level. It’s not unusual to see me in a hoodie in the late afternoon even if the temp is 85. My museum section is getting small but you always need one for funerals and weddings.

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    • I’m fussy about leggings. Although thin, I feel that I am lumpy so they have to be a thicker non-cat hair catching fabric. I have 2 pair that I love. One is from Athleta which they promptly discontinued. Not sure where the other came from. My husband doesn’t wear hoodies at all. He has a “jacket” for cold moments.

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  26. I’m 63 and still wondering if my internal thermostat will ever change! I still tend to run hot. My bestie will have on long sleeves in layers plus a jacket while I might have on 3-quarter sleeves. I can’t stand layers! In the winter, I go right to the sweatpants, but the tops are still tee-shirts. I don’t wear denim in the winter because it stays cold once the material gets cold! I own two sweatshirts, both bought more as souvenirs than for actual wear. I recently was given a hoodie, which I will plan to wear under a winter jacket for when I’m out cleaning snow off my car (then the hood will come in handy!). And when it comes to winter-wear, fashion is the lowest of my priorities!

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  27. I don’t have a hoodie but I do have flappy arms.. My obsession is t-shirts. 3/4 and long sleeve when in public…that flappy arm thing, ya know. For bed I wear extra large short sleeve t’s…nobody to see my arms except the cats and they could care less what I look like. For the bottom I wear knits and jeans…and cat hair. A fashionista I am not!🐈

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  28. It’s funny you should mention hoodies – I just took one off. The morning has warmed up enough to putter around in a t-shirt.

    There was a time I wouldn’t be caught dead in one. Don’t ask me why, it’s just one of those inexplicable quirky things. I thought they were lumpy and unattractive.

    Now I think they are lumpy and the best thing ever for a chilly morning or evening. I too have a multi-coloured wardrobe of light ones and heavy ones.

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    • I can’t imagine life without hoodies. Interesting that you mention fur. I’ve been zeroing in on casual pants that don’t collect fur. I have some wonderful casual pants (they call them activewear now) that are furless. I wear jeans in the winter but mostly the stretchy stuff until it gets really cold.

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