Uncovering Hooded Sweat Shirts

It’s a look Madonna wears; it came from the streets of London, and it works for him as well as for her. It’s the hooded sweat shirt, worn under the dressy or the denim jacket.

The standard athletic supply company sweats aren’t the way to go here because the fabric is too bulky to put under most jackets. The designer boutiques don’t necessarily have the perfect answer either. They do carry the newest, form-fitting hooded sweat shirts, but the prices are much more than $100.

American Rag Compagnie offers one possible solution: a short-sleeve, solid-cotton, hooded T-shirt in white or black for $39.75 (pictured here). Aside from the price, it’s also got the climate control you need to pull off the look in Southern California.

Contents by Theodore in the Beverly Center has a lightweight cotton velour style in white, green, red, black, gray or navy, for $155. Also available, for $135, is a Joan Vass single-gauge, cotton-knit, hooded shirt with a five-inch zipper that unzips to create a V-neck.

At Traffic for men in the Beverly Center, there is a rayon wool gabardine hooded vest in fuchsia by English designer John Richmond. It pulls on over the head but has classic vest details, including those little adjustable belts on the sides; price: $210. Richmond takes the hood ‘n’ jacket so seriously he combined them in a navy blue pinstripe, single breasted, wool gabardine jacket with a cinnamon brown satin, zip-in hooded dickey. The two-in-one jacket, at $648, is also available for women at Traffic Studio.