Cocoon Yourself in the Comfort and Warmth of a Fleece Jacket This Fall

Okay, I'll admit I never fully got on board with the whole fleece moment when it first started taking the small, insular world of menswear by storm. But I'm not going to lie: shit's low-key grown on me. Take a look for yourself, guy. You seeing these? There's no way in hell I'm trying to wear anything but fleece the whole damn fall, especially given the current situation. You're telling me you wouldn't want to cocoon yourself indefinitely in the warm, comforting embrace of the softest fabric known to man? Who you kidding, dog? Fuck out of here.

Over the last few years, the fleece—perhaps the only piece of clothing that's ever appealed to rightfully maligned finance types and, like, hardcore hiking enthusiasts in equal measure—suddenly went fully nuclear, yanked reluctantly into the world of high fashion and reimagined (sometimes questionably) by designers big and small, on and off the runway. The way I see it, fleece is like fashion industry comfort food. And if comfort food can be elevated to the realm of fine dining without your uppity gourmand friends getting all *superciliously arches eyebrow* "Oh this is so interesting, but I'm not sure it's for me" why shouldn't fleece get the same treatment? Fleece deserves its own moment in the spotlight, too. Nothing wrong with needing a little comfort in your life right now, friend. That's a fact.

See, the thing about the fleece is that it can easily stand-in as a grab-and-go lightweight outerwear option in a pinch while remaining the only layer you need to throw on to look semi-presentable over Zoom. And it's that dichotomy that makes the beloved zip-up style such a perfect one for right now. I swear we're at the point where you could almost (almost!) get away with wearing one as an alternative to a blazer. (Hell, if you find yourself in Silicon Valley anytime soon—sorry, man—you'll probably meet a bunch of people who think of the fleece the same way you would a blazer.)

To those who say we've reached peak fleece, I counter with a reminder of the cold, hard realities of pandemic life and these 25 options. Because trust me, the fleece isn't going anywhere. And we're all better off for it.