10 ways to style a hoodie – a complete guide

The hoodie has evolved to become as ever-present as jeans and t-shirts. What used to be a purely athletic garment went through street culture to become a regular layer that pretty much anyone can wear at any time. This is partly down to their versatility. For starters, there's a host of styles - zip-up, pullover, or half-zip, with or without pockets. Pullover hoodies, in particular, are perfect for printing, so they can be worn for band, team, business or purely creative ends. And the range of colours available is limitless.

In this article, we'll focus on ten of the best looks you can achieve with the hooded top. To be fair, most style tips for hoodies write themselves, as it's such an easy garment to pair. But hopefully, we'll be able to give you a few ideas you might not have thought about before.

1. The layered look: hoodie under a jacket

Let's start with one of the easiest looks to pull off - simply wearing your hoodie under a jacket. You can get away with almost any type of jacket here. Denim has a natural affinity with the cotton of the hoodie, so that will always be a good match. A leather jacket gets a really cool boost when a hood is hanging over the collar. And a canvas jacket will also have a relaxed but chic look. But you don't have to stop there! Even something like a blazer in tweed or navy blue can work well with a hoodie. It just takes the formal edge off it and brings a little street style to proceedings.

Pay attention to coordinating colours. Use secondary colours from the jacket or hoodie to influence the main colour of the other item. Avoid clashes like red and green unless they're muted. For a casual office, shopping trip, or night out, this look works well.

2. Athleisure: a hoodie with leggings or joggers

Here's another simple one - just wear a hoodie with your favourite leggings or jogging pants for a look that's ready for anything. You can wear this for the gym, or for a day out trekking the hills, but it's perfectly acceptable for hitting the shops or hanging out with friends.

It's not a hard and fast rule, but this look works best with a pullover or half-zip hoodie rather than a zip-up. It's just a case of preserving the lines and the sleek silhouette, which an unzipped hoodie can break up. It's a great opportunity to wear a hoodie with a slogan, logo or design too, so it can be worn casually or professionally.

This look comes straight outta US Street culture - think hip-hop, skateboarding, basketball and all that entails. The oversized hoodie is part of the uniform, making it easy to achieve the look with a simple garment choice. The look invites big and bold colours, but a pure white hoodie is just as effective too.

It lends itself to an overall relaxed style, so loose jeans or tracksuit bottoms will work, with big trainers to maintain balance. Stick on a baseball cap or beanie, and you're ready to hit the streets in style!

If you're looking to bridge the gap between casual and formal, you can do it with a pair of smart but relaxed trousers like chinos. Opt for a hoodie at the smarter end of the spectrum, one that's tailored and fitted to hug the body neatly, with minimalist drawstrings.

Despite your smarter leanings, hoodies tend not to work well with formal, polished shoes. If you don't want to wear trainers, a pair of boots will probably work best. Go for a pair with moderately chunky soles to avoid any accidental formality. Classic beige chinos can be worn with a dark-coloured hoodie or a white one, but avoid pale colours that can clash with the light brown.

The athleisure look mentioned previously is one thing, but there's no reason not to emphasise the "ath" part and simply go full tracksuit. You can get a cotton tracksuit whose top is a hoodie, so you're head to toe in a single colour but nothing looks out of place because that's how it was meant to be.

With this look, the designers have done all the creative work for you. You just need to slip it on, choose your best pair of sporty trainers, and you're hot to trot - literally! Tracksuits change quickly with the seasons, so it's a look you might want to keep an eye on if being fashionable is your top priority.

Hoodies work surprisingly well with skirts. Consider something you'd wear for a festival or barbecue, especially if they're at the casual end of the spectrum. This means chunky, hard-wearing fabrics like denim or canvas rather than a loose, flowing skirt. We'd advise a shorter skirt, too, to keep things proportional and balanced.

You can extend the idea to a full dress, too - simply slip your hoodie over the top, and nobody needs to know it's a dress. But even if you go unzipped, nothing looks out of place. Again, go for a shorter length; something like a tennis dress will work as a treat.

Going full monochrome can look overwhelming, except when it's intentional, as we explained with the tracksuit look above. That said, you can still play with fabrics and patterns to break up your top and bottom halves. For example, a loose weave on your hoodie can provide enough contrast with your trousers or leggings if they're smooth and refined.

Alternatively, you can subtly change the lightness of the top and bottom, so they're technically still the same colour, just a slightly different intensity. It works best with dark and light colours, though. In the mid-range, it can just look a little untidy. When done well, it can look smart and controlled and will guarantee you make an entrance.

In the middle of spring or autumn, it's hard to tell what the weather and temperature will be doing from one hour to the next, never mind from day to day. Hoodies can help you bridge that gap in a purely practical sense - an off-layer that can be worn over a t-shirt as the need arises.

You might want to opt for a lightweight hoodie for this purpose - remember, you could be carrying it around for much of the day. Besides, a small benefit is probably all you need when the temperature drops by just a degree or two.

Oversized is one thing, but why not go the whole hog and wear just a hoodie? Ladies can go for a long hoodie and wear it just as they would a dress. That means you can wear leggings, tights or simply go bare-legged, depending on your preferences.

Choose a hoodie that's as long or short as you're comfortable with, and it makes for a great piece of casual wear, especially in the summer when you can wear it over beach wear when you're in town or at the bar. It'll work well with trainers, but why not go for a pair of ankle boots or knee boots to finish off a slightly less casual style?

While hoodies are often inexpensive staples with many uses, you've probably also noticed that plenty of high fashion houses will also have their range of hoodies. That naturally means interesting interpretations of the basic hoodie style and the potential for some flashy logos and branding. That's all fine, of course - there's nothing to say even the most basic of garments can't be catwalk-ready. Designer jeans have been a thing for decades.

Opting for this look might mean splashing out not only on a hoodie but also on the complete set of designer clothes, shoes and accessories. People who know know, after all, and if you're dressing to impress, you can't do things by halves.

As we've shown, there's no single way to wear a hoodie. It can be a functional layer, a perfect accessory, or even worn on its own. And if you want to dial up the branding, hoodies that set you back a week's wages are always an option. Whatever look you're going for, you'll find a complete collection of hoodies in our store. Although, we mainly cater to the wholesale and business market, there's no minimum order, so if you see a hoodie that you think you could pull off with the style you're going for, put it in your basket and wear it with pride.

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