Who doesn’t love a fleece jacket? Fleeces are a staple of winter wardrobes the world-over, but a good fleece is perfect all year round. From kicking back at home to running errands in town. From layering up for a day on the slopes to heading out for a few drinks at the resort. Fleeces are everywhere, and having a few reliable ones in your wardrobes is a must for any self-respecting human being with an eye for fashion and a lust for comfort.
When it comes to fleeces, we just can’t get enough! Which is why we’ve rounded up our top picks for men and women below, and categorised them for you. Whatever you need a fleece for, you can find our top choices in terms of best fleece jackets below. Ready to add something new to your wardrobe? Who are we kidding! When are you ever not …
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Men’s Outdoor Fleeces
Women’s Outdoor Fleeces
Top fleece jackets for men
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Dope Oi
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Oakley TC Flight Time Hoodie
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The North Face Tka Glacier
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Montec Echo Fleece
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Dope Cozy II
Best fleece jackets for women
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Montec Lima
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Dope Loyd
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Montec Delta
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Dope Floyd
Best fleece jacket buying advice
Okay, now comes our favourite part. The technical stuff! You may be thinking ‘how could you possibly give advice on fleeces’? Well, you don’t know just how nerdy we are. Like all things, knowledge comes with understanding. And understanding why fleece is so good compared to jersey fabric needs a little bit of science know-how.
Fleece works by way of trapping air within the fabric. Polyester fleece is designed to mimic natural fur, which insulates against the cold by forming a barrier of air bubbles between your skin and the outside. This concept is used in everything from polystyrene to thermal flasks, from anti-fog ski goggles to home insulation.
This is why fleece is such a good insulator, and had both wind-resistant and insulative properties, even when it’s a lightweight fabric! Fleece is just warmer than other fabrics. End of story!
Casual vs performance fleece
Of course, not all fleece is the same. Micro-fleece and shearling are totally different. Coarse or wider weaves like shearling (which mimics sheep’s wool) and pile, are plush, thick, soft and cosy, and look great, too. These are often used in fleeces that are more focused on look and comfort than performance. Their larger make-up is less efficient than a micro-fleece, but has a distinctive look that’s super cool.
Performance fleeces tend to have a tighter weave in order to trap more air within a specific weight. They’re warm for their thickness, and are designed to insulate more efficiently. Some fleeces are also bonded, layered, or even DWR coated for better wet-weather performance. As such, a lower weight (or thinner) performance fleece might be as warm or warmer than a really thick or heavyweight pile or shearling!
Full zip vs pullover fleece
Zip-through versus pullover is an age-old debate. The issue of heat-loss is negligible, so it’s down to preference! You’ll often see heavier fleeces with a zip and lighter fleeces as pullovers, but that’s by no means a hard and fast rule! Go with what you think will suit your needs best.
Weight vs warmth
We touched on this a little above, so let’s dig into it more here. Weight is represented by ‘gsm’ or just ‘grams’ sometimes. This is the weight of the fleece per metre squared. GSM = Grams per Metre Squared. The weight represents the thickness of the fleece. So a heavyweight 300gsm fleece will be thicker than a 175gsm fleece. However, you get quirks and differences in the way the fleece is made which affects the warmth.
A thicker fleece won’t always be warmer! There are versions like micro-fleece (which has a super tight weave) and Polartec fleece which aim to keep heat in and repel cold air, while also letting moisture out. These more technical fleeces will be much warmer than their ‘style-focused’ siblings. So don’t go by weight alone! Check out what kind of fleece you’re buying and do your homework before making a decision!
Comfort & fit
Fleece is regarded as one of the most comfortable fabrics around. Polyester (which we’ll go into in detail below) is a super smooth and comfortable fabric that’s comfortable on the skin. It can be stretchy or rigid, and is easy to work with, making it the ideal choice for garment use. Everything from underwear to snow jackets is made from it!
Fleece jackets material
Polyester is a synthetic fibre that often contains polyethylene terephthalate. Polyester can be made from natural or man-made materials, can be recycled, can be biodegradable, and is able to be worked with in a lot of different ways. Its smoothness and hydrophobicity (it doesn’t absorb water) makes it ideal for use in clothing. Cottons and other natural fibres soak up moisture and get wet or feel clammy against the skin.
Polyester doesn’t, however, which makes it the perfect material to use in performance and activewear when you’re sweating a lot. The ability to combine it with other materials like elastane or spandex for flexibility, cotton for durability and texture, polyamide and nylon for hardiness and strength, also makes it a versatile material and the top choice for a wide variety of uses.
Fleece jackets & weather resistance
Polyester as a fibre doesn’t absorb moisture, so tightly woven polyester fabric will offer good water resistance. Similarly, a tightly knitted weave will also provide solid wind-resistance. Because polyester is not an elasticated fibre by nature (unlike cotton, for example, which has a slight stretch), the weave cannot be expanded, and as such, there’s no spaces for wind and moisture to get in. This is why polyester is such a popular garment for active and outerwear, as it doesn’t lose shape or become easily deformed, meaning reliable performance in the long term.
Fleece breathability
Breathability speaks to how much water vapour can be let through a fabric in a specific duration. Polyester, as we’ve already mentioned, doesn’t absorb moisture. So any sweat or water that is exuded from your skin will pass through the fabric without soaking in. This makes polyester inherently breathable — or at least reliably so! When cotton fibres absorb water, they expand, closing the spaces between, and reducing breathability. This isn’t the case with polyester, which is a good thing when you’re hiking or skiing!
Fleece jackets features
Because fleece jackets are as much outer layers as they are midlayers, their features vary widely. For midlayer style fleeces, you’ll often find a pullover construction combined with a ½ or ¼ zip style and a chimney or turtle-neck collar, which allows you to pair them with hooded coats or jackets. Midlayer fleeces are sometimes thinner and fit more snuggly, too, for better insulation.
Outer layer fleece jackets can often be thicker, and may come with zippered pockets or pouches, water resistant panelling, or other design quirks that help them function in inclement weathers. Depending on your needs, different features will be helpful in different situations!
Layering ability
The ability to layer up with a fleece is a strong point of the fabric! As good an insulator as fleece is alone, it’s even better when sandwiched between a base and an outer layer. The texture of fleece will trap air both behind and in front of the fabric — so you’ll have air-fleece-air, which works well. However with a base and an outer layer, you create two further barriers, and two further layers of air (the space between the layers). So a three-layer setup with a midlayer fleece would be baselayer-air-air-fleece-air-air-outer layer. That’s a lot of layers for heat to get through!
This is why it’s favoured over jersey fabrics for inclement weather activities and cold-weather expeditions! Fleece is a remarkable material that takes inspiration from animal fur and wool, and who better to take after than the queen of intelligent design herself, Mother Nature? Evolution perfected animal fur millions of years ago. All we did was decide to make it out of polyester.
Best fleece jacket by condition
Best overall fleece jacket men: Dope Oi
Best pullover fleece jacket men: Oakley TC Flight Time Hoodie
Best budget fleece jacket men: Montec Echo
Best comfort fleece jacket men: Dope Cozy II
Best performance fleece jacket men: Peak Performance Marco Jacket
Best overall fleece jacket women: Montec Lima
Best budget fleece jacket women: Dope Loyd
Best comfort fleece jacket women: Montec Delta
Best performance fleece jacket women: Dope Floyd
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