Why is it Called a 'Hoodie'? A Brief History

The Ultimate Morning Layer

You know the feeling. It is six in the morning at the campsite. The fire from last night is completely dead, the coffee is not made yet, and the air has that sharp, damp bite to it. You reach blindly to the end of your sleeping bag for the one piece of clothing that makes crawling out of the tent bearable. Your hooded sweatshirt.

As you pull that thick fleece over your head and bury your hands in the front pocket, you probably are not thinking about the history of the hoodie. You just want to be warm while you argue with your camping partner about whose turn it is to fetch water. But this staple of our camping bins and everyday lives has a surprisingly deep backstory.

It is a piece of clothing that has been worn by monks, athletes, warehouse workers, and skateboarders. It has caused controversies, defined subcultures, and eventually become the most reliable piece of gear you can pack for a weekend in the woods. Let's dig into the history of the hoodie and how it earned its spot by the campfire.

Medieval Monks and the First Hoods

To answer where did hoodies come from, we have to go way back. Long before we were wearing them to sit around a fire pit and eat burnt marshmallows, monks in medieval Europe were rocking the original hooded garments. They wore long, heavy tunics with cowls to stay warm in drafty, stone monasteries during brutal winters.

The hood was incredibly practical. It kept the cold wind off their necks and trapped the heat radiating from their heads. Outdoor workers in the 12th century also wore something called a chaperon, which was essentially a hooded cape designed for working in the rain and snow. The core concept has not changed in hundreds of years.

The hood has always been about utility and survival. It is simple, effective design. You do not need a fancy technical jacket when a heavy layer of fabric over your head does the trick. Those medieval monks knew exactly what they were doing when the temperatures dropped.

Who Invented the Hoodie? The Champion Era

Fast forward to the 1930s in Rochester, New York. The winters in upstate New York are notoriously harsh. A company called the Knickerbocker Knitting Company—which you probably know today as Champion—was trying to solve a very specific problem. Cold-storage warehouse workers and tree surgeons needed something to keep them warm that did not restrict their arm movement.

Champion had already developed a thick, durable sweatshirt material for athletes. To help these freezing workers, they simply took that heavy sweatshirt material and sewed a hood onto the collar. Just like that, the modern hooded sweatshirt was born. The hooded sweatshirt history is rooted purely in blue-collar workwear.

It was not a fashion statement. It was a functional tool for guys working long hours in freezing temperatures. The thick cotton trapped body heat, the hood protected their ears from the wind, and the ribbed cuffs kept the cold air from shooting up their sleeves. It was cheap, tough, and warm—the exact same reasons we love them today.

From the Warehouse to the Sidelines

It did not take long for people outside the warehouses to notice how effective these new garments were. High school and college track athletes started asking their coaches for them. They needed a reliable layer to wear on the sidelines to keep their muscles warm before their events.

By the 1950s and 60s, the hooded sweatshirt was a massive staple in high school and college sports. Schools started printing their logos on the chest, making them a point of pride and identity. It was around this time that regular people started wearing them casually off the field, too.

During World War II, the US military even adopted variations of the hooded sweatshirt for training exercises and cold-weather operations. The garment proved that it could take a beating, get washed a hundred times, and still hold its shape. That durability is exactly what makes it perfect for the woods.

Rocky, Hip-Hop, and Skaters

In the 1970s, the history of the hoodie took a massive cultural turn. It stopped being just athletic wear and became a symbol of grit, rebellion, and subculture. When Sylvester Stallone ran up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a gray hooded sweatshirt in the movie Rocky, it cemented the garment as a symbol of hard work and determination.

Around the same time in New York City, the emerging hip-hop community adopted it. Breakdancers liked the heavy cotton because it kept their bodies warm before hitting the floor and provided padding for headspins. Graffiti artists liked it because the hood provided a bit of anonymity while they worked in the train yards at night.

Out on the West Coast, skateboarders and surfers were wearing them for the exact same reasons we wear them camping. They were inexpensive, incredibly durable, and kept the ocean chill away after a long session in the water. The hoodie became a blank canvas for skate brand logos and punk rock band patches.

Why is it Called a 'Hoodie'?

This is the funny part of the hooded sweatshirt history. For decades, it was just called a hooded sweatshirt. The word "hoodie" did not really enter the popular vocabulary until the 1990s. Before that, it was just a descriptive term for a piece of athletic gear.

The name change was a natural evolution of language. We like to shorten things to make them easier to say. Skaters, surfers, and the hip-hop community started calling them hoodies, and the nickname stuck. By the late 90s, the term was everywhere.

High fashion designers started putting them on runways, and your dad started wearing them to mow the lawn. The word "hoodie" lost its edge and became a universal term for comfort. Today, it is hard to imagine calling it anything else.

The Ultimate Piece of Camp Gear

Today, the hoodie is worn by everyone. But we firmly believe it finds its truest purpose at a campsite. Think about it. When you are packing your gear for a weekend trip, what is the one clothing item you always double-check to make sure you brought?

It is the ultimate multi-tool of clothing. A good camp hoodie serves so many purposes beyond just keeping you warm.

• It is a makeshift pillow when you stuff it into a stuff sack at night.
• It is a mosquito shield for your neck and ears when the bugs get bad around dusk.
• It is a hand-warmer when you forget your gloves on a chilly morning hike.
• It is a personal micro-climate for those early mornings when the campfire refuses to start.

This deep connection to the realities of camping is a big part of our identity. We talk a lot about this in our post on Why We Started Camp Life Shirts: Our Story. We wanted camping gear that actually feels like camp. We camp in state parks, cook questionable meals over a fire, and argue about the best way to stack firewood. These shirts and hoodies are for people like us.

You do not need an expensive, overly technical wardrobe to enjoy the woods. If you want to stretch your dollars for your next trip, check out our guide on Camping on a Budget: How to Save Money on Gear and Trips. A good, thick hoodie will do the job nine times out of ten, and it costs a fraction of the price of specialized outdoor jackets.

Making Your Own History

Every camp hoodie has a lifecycle. It starts out soft, clean, and brightly colored. Then it goes on its first trip and gets an ember burn on the sleeve from a campfire that popped too loud. Next comes a smudge of dirt from hauling a bundle of wet firewood.

Eventually, the cuffs start to fray, the drawstrings get lost in the wash, and the color fades from being left in the sun. But that is exactly when it reaches its peak. That is when it stops being just a piece of clothing and becomes your hoodie. It smells faintly of woodsmoke even after it comes out of the dryer.

The history of the hoodie is interesting, but the history of your specific hoodie is what really matters. It is a physical record of every cold morning, late-night fire, and rainy afternoon you have spent outside. So next time you pull it over your head to brave the morning dew, give a little nod to the monks and warehouse workers who made it possible. Then go get the coffee started.