Hoodie
[1] A study done in 2023 and published in a journal called The English Languages: History, Diaspora, Culture found that Canadian respondents preferred the term "hoodie" by a wide margin.
Hip hop culture developed in New York City around this time and high fashion also took off during this era, as Norma Kamali and other high-profile designers embraced and glamorized the new clothing.
[citation needed] Young men, often skateboarders or surfers, sported the hoodie and spread the trend across the western part of the United States, most significantly in California.
[12] In June 2011, police in Wynnum, Brisbane, Australia launched a "Hoodie Free Zone" initiative, with shopkeepers encouraged to ask hoodie-wearers to leave.
The zone was part of an initiative to educate businesses on how to avoid armed robberies, in which the hoodie type of clothing was reportedly often worn.
[15][16] One strong response was drawn from a local government council member, Dale Evans, who donned a Ku Klux Klan outfit in protest, citing the hoodie as "not an appropriate article of clothing to celebrate.
Angela McRobbie, professor of communications at Goldsmiths College in the UK, says the appeal of the hoodie is its promise of anonymity, mystery and anxiety.
In the past, such appropriation was usually restricted to membership of specific youth cultures—leather jackets, bondage trousers—but nowadays it is the norm among young people to flag up their music and cultural preferences in this way, hence the adoption of the hoodie by boys across the boundaries of age, ethnicity and class.
"[20] In May 2005, Bluewater shopping centre in Kent caused outrage by launching a code of conduct which bans its shoppers from sporting hoodies or baseball caps, although the garments remain on sale.
[21] In 2005, Coombeshead College in the south-west of England allowed the hoodie to become part of the boys' school uniform, but the hood could be put up only when it rained.
"[23] In July 2006, David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, made a speech suggesting that the hoodie was worn more for defensive than offensive purposes.
[35] Throughout the U.S., it is common for teenagers and young adults to wear sweatshirts—with or without hoods—that display their respective school names or mascots across the chest, either as part of a uniform or personal preference.
[8] When the garment was depicted in FBI composite drawings of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, the hoodie became linked to "seedy threatening criminality", thereby further asserting its non-mainstream symbolism.
[8][37] Fox News host Geraldo Rivera encouraged young black people to stop wearing hoodies[38] though he later apologized for his comments.
[41] Dress Codes author, law Professor Richard Thompson Ford, said that "As the hoodie became associated with 'Black hoodlums' in the media, some Black people avoided them and others embraced them: the public image of the hoodie made it into a statement of racial pride and defiance, solidarity with a community, an emblem of belonging, and all of that reinforced the negative associations for those who were inclined to be afraid of assertive Black people.
"[42] Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg often wears a plain grey zip-up hoodie rather than a business suit, drawing comments during his company's 2012 initial public offering.
