Chances are you’ve been walking down the street behind someone and seen their personalised hoody emblazoned with ‘LEAVERS 08’ or words to that effect. Any powers of deduction can calculate that that was over 5 years ago and yet they are still wearing their commemorative garment. At university it’s as hard to escape freshers flu as it is to escape a leavers hoodie. Comedien Jack Whitehall’s tv programme ‘Fresh Meat’ characterises the typical student with many of them wearing Leavers hoodies. Clearly, this is because it’s not just another hooded sweatshirt, it represents more than just clothing, it means something to the wearer. Some universities even give out university hoodies to thank students for accepting them as their first choice.
Fresh Meat’s quintessential student
Hoodies aren’t just for hoodlums, despite the bad media a hoody is the default wardrobe choice for many and is an ideal garment which can go with just about anything and everything. For nearly every milestone educational event there is now a habit to buy a hoodie. From skiing trips, to gap years and leaving school to leaving University. Not to mention sports teams in and out of education. Long before hoodies were as fashionable as they are now personalising clothes and memorialising school days in outfits still happened. In the 1978 film ‘Grease’ the two main cliques in the school customise jackets for their final year at high school.
‘Pink Ladies’ jackets in Grease
Sports clubs such as rugby or cricket tours to other countries will wear hoodies to show who they are with and why they are there. After the tour they then have a keepsake beyond photographs and ticket stubs, they have a wearable memory too big for any scrapbook. These hoodies then tell a story when you wear them they invite questions and lead to story-telling, bringing people together.
One reason the personalised hoody has really taken off amongst student is the comfort factor. It offers warmth and cosiness, and the hood gives the added feature of being able to hide away, and protect you from cold and wind. It is ideal for travelling for this reason, they aren’t tight fitting so you can be comfortable without lugging a blanket around with you. The comfort is physical as well as psychological as the hoody has meaning and memories imbued in it it too.
Need a hoodie? Check out our guide on how to make a hoodie!
cosy hoody
With the end of the academic year rapidly approaching, it’s important to start planning any academic leaving hoodies now. How many people want them, what personalisations would they like and when do you need them by? Similarly with sports tours or events it’s always easier to start planning early to give you time to get everyone’s size and personalisation.
