The hoody, often associated with hoodlums and chavs, but actually a fashion essential for those of us who are more, shall we say, gentlemanly. It is time that we change people's perception of the hoody, because it makes a fantastic fashion accessory/item of clothing. Below, we will discuss the reasons why hoodies are an essential item for the fashionable man's wardrobe.

Versatility

The hoody is a fantastically versatile style of clothing. Usually, when we talk about versatility we are talking about the suitability of the item of clothing to a range of different styles. For example, a hoody is versatile because it suits semi-formal clothing, casual clothing. It suits gothic style, it suits geek chic, and it suits most styles of clothing.

The hoody works in so many different ways:

• You can wear it as the focal point (the section of your outfit that you want people to notice and pay attention to).
• You can use it as a layering item. This is especially good with open hoodies as you can layer them with t-shirts and then jackets and scarfs. This is probably more of a winter look, as layering can be rather hot during the summer months.

However, there is another way in which they are versatile and it relates to the seasons. Hoodies are appropriate to wear in spring, summer, autumn and winter - very few other styles of clothing are so unconcerned with the weather. However, there may be a few changes between seasons. For instance, you may wear a lighter weight hoody during the spring and summer than during autumn and winter, but if you go for the day at the beach (in summer), you might want a winter hoody for when you get out of the water: versatility, you see.

Choice

Hoodies are simply jumpers with hoods and so there is as much variation within styles of hoodies as there are styles of jumper. The following is a non-exhaustive list of the various types of hoody that you will find in the fashion shops today:

• Wool
• Cashmere
• Cotton
• Silk
• Satin
• Polyester
• Nylon
• Zipped
• Closed
• V-neck
• Crew neck
• Front pockets
• No pocket
• Side pocket

As you can appreciate, there is a massive choice. This means that the majority of men will be able to find a style they like, whether they are old or young, love casual clothing or formal clothing, whether they love to follow fashions or whether they just want something that is comfortable. For this reason, they are really a democratic style of clothing: they suit everyone.

As stated above, hoodies are suitable for formal occasions too. However, this is not true of very formal events, the most you can push it is probably for a meeting. We would not recommend wearing a hoody for a job interview, unless you are applying for work with an employer who has a funky, forward looking approach to work. However, for semi-formal events, they can work fantastically well, but you do need to beware of the type of style you choose here. For instance, Superdry hoodies do not suit first dates (if you want to make a good impression), but another style of hoody will. Superdry hoodies and other such sweatshirt hoodies are perfect for informal occasions, though. You see, as we said above, the hoody is democratic, there is one for everyone and every situation.