Women's Zip-Up Hoodie (Sweatshirts & Hoodies)

A zip-up hoodie splits the front of a hooded sweatshirt from hem to collar and sets a zipper into the gap. The garment stops behaving like a top and starts behaving like a light jacket you can open at your desk or a bus stop. A pouch pocket cannot survive that cut, so it splits into two separate hand pockets, one on either side of the zip.

Setting a zip into fleece is harder than it looks, since fleece stretches and zip tape does not. Without a strip of stabilizer tape sewn behind the front edge, the fabric grows along the zip line and leaves ripples no iron flattens. A reversed coil zip, meaning the teeth face inward and a smooth tape faces out, lies flatter against your chest and snags a shirt underneath less often. A chin guard, the small flap of fabric behind the top of the zip, keeps the metal slider off your throat when it is closed all the way.

The Pullover Hoodie gives up its vent for this style's easier way out, one that does not drag a t-shirt up your back, at the cost of a seam that leaks a little heat. The Quarter-Zip Pullover opens only 6 to 9 inches, so it still has to come off over your head, while this style opens all the way. The Crewneck Sweatshirt skips the hood and the zip both, trading either for a flat line that fits under a coat.

Gyms, school pickups, and any day whose temperature swings 15 or 20 degrees suit this style best. A zip is the easier choice for anyone who minds their hair or wears earrings that catch on knit collars. Cold, still air is where it disappoints, since the zip line is a seam and every seam leaks a little warmth. Under a jacket it doubles the hardware at your chest, so a crewneck layers flatter there.

Run the zip up and down a few times and watch the fabric beside the tape, rejecting anything that ripples while still new. Pinch the bottom stop, the small block where the two zip halves join, and confirm it feels solid rather than thin and hollow. Zip it closed before it goes into the wash, both to spare the knits tumbling beside it and to keep the teeth aligned.