2023 Blank Hoodie Buying Guide
Defining GSM and its Role in Fabric
In the apparel business, the term GSM is a universal tool to describe a fabric's thickness and indirectly its weight. GSM stands for ‘grams per square meter, g/m. Due to the variety of different types of fabric cuts, it is important to understand the difference between GSM and fabric weight - which is measured by mass per surface area. The best way to use this measurement is to find the difference between heavier and lighter fabrics made from the same material profile - the thickness of the fabric is directly proportional to the GSM measurement. GSM can be a great indicator for quality if similar raw materials are used. Even though this measurement is a good representation of quality, some people in the garment industry can misrepresent this number as the tools used to measure GSM are not widely available to the public. This leads to inflated GSM numbers because it is hard for the public to check their claims. To find out more about the importance of GSM, here is our page on the subject.
Choosing quality fabric at the beginning of garment construction is the key component of the final quality of a product. Our 400gsm fleece fabric was designed to be heavyweight and durable to make a long-lasting garment.
Hoodies vs Crewnecks Fleece
There are many different considerations that go into choosing the right garment for an apparel assortment for you. While most styles are familiar, one criterion for choosing which style to use can be how a designer sees their customers wearing the garments. The growing popularity of fleece in the luxury streetwear industry and their unmatched comfort make hoodies or crewnecks an apparel line’s foundation. For fleece top options, the most common styles are hooded sweatshirt, crewneck sweatshirt, and zip up sweatshirt. Within that, choosing which style to use becomes more of a design choice. One can go for the more streetwear-influenced look with a hoodie, or a more vintage, polished look with a crewneck. These decisions within fleece styles tend to be based on the designer’s preference.
Quality Heavyweight Hoodie Blanks
Heavyweight hoodies are valued for their long-lasting quality and comfort. Since heavyweight hoodies are always in high demand, many companies are trying to produce heavyweight sweatshirts. When looking to purchase luxury blank hoodies, the GSM of the fabric and the raw materials used directly affects quality. With the weight of a quality fleece, flexibility should not be compromised. We avoid bulkiness and increase durability by carefully designing our hoodies with reverse flatlock stitching that allows them to be the perfect comfortable weight without compromising the flexibility and fit of the garment. In addition to that, we include a 4" wide, double-folded, flat knit side ribbing in the construction of the garment for ultimate flexibility.
3-End Fleece
When it comes to a luxury, blank fleece product, there is no question that 3-end fleece is the premium standard. 3-end fleece, or 3-thread fleece, uses 3 threads instead of 2 to knit a more lofted fabric. 3-end fleece is the product of choice for screen-printing and decorating because the third yarn creates a barrier between the face and back yarns. The face of our fleece is made with 100% GOTS® certified organic cotton yarn and is ideal for printing because the face yarns have the same characteristics.
The third yarn is an organic cotton and polyester blended yarn and is only visible on the back of the fabric. This blended yarn creates the brushed, plush interior that most people are familiar with in a sweatshirt. This yarn builds approximately 20% of the fabric used in our fleece. Most high-end brands use 3-end fleece blends because of the softer interior. The 3-end fleece method requires more yarn and is more technical, however, the finished product quality is unmatched.
Materials and Stitching
To differentiate seemingly similar garments, looking at every detail down to the stitching is imperative. Consider that the materials and the stitching are the only main components in the construction of the garment. A natural option that yields the best handfeel is usually organic cotton. Weft knitting is a trusted construction method. Original Favorites fleece is constructed with both organic cotton and weft knitting, while also incorporating a brushed interior for our fleece. A brushed interior adds the soft, cozy, and comfortable feel that is synonymous with a sweatshirt. Many manufacturers choose to take production shortcuts by using subpar materials or cheaper, less strong stitching techniques. Original Favorites is based on providing our customers with provable quality options for fleece so our client's customers can appreciate our product.
Tear-Away Labels
An often overlooked detail when looking at blanks is the neck label. Many times, blank providers use non-tear-away labels for their products, which makes sense for the provider, but is not usually in the best interest of the client. Tear-away labels make complete garment customization easy and accessible. Original Favorites uses tear-away labels for this very reason, to provide the ultimate customization to our customers.
Original Favorites was built to provide our customers with the best support and resources for their brands. We provide premium quality garments down to the tear-away label to keep our customers’ customization and success in mind. We pride ourselves on supporting our customers in any way we can, which includes unmatched customer support and being a trusted industry resource.
