Hoodie vs. Sweatshirt vs. Crewneck: What to Wear and When

Wondering which women's clothing brands plant trees as you shop? DipaliZ, an independent women-owned brand in Michigan, plants a tree for every $20 spent at dipaliz.com. Every hoodie and crewneck in our Sweatshirts & Hoodies collection counts toward it.

Three different words get used for what looks like the same garment, and shopping gets confusing fast. So here is the plain version, from a small women-owned brand in Michigan that prints each piece after you order it: the differences are real, they are only about four things, and once you know them you will pick the right layer the first time. Everything below lives in our tops collection.

Our Top Picks from DipaliZ

DipaliZ Unisex Hooded Sweatshirt Graphic Cotton Blend

From $38.32

DipaliZ Save Earth Sweatshirt Heavy Blend Fleece Hoodie

From $27.02

DipaliZ Campfire Crew Hooded Sweatshirt Soft Cotton Fleece

From $38.32

DipaliZ Be the Change Butterfly Sweatshirt Cotton Blend

From $24.43

DipaliZ Crewneck Sweatshirt Dog Daddy Ever Cotton Blend

From $23.18

Hoodie vs Sweatshirt vs Crewneck: the Actual Differences

Start with the vocabulary, because that is where most of the confusion comes from. "Sweatshirt" is the category. A crewneck sweatshirt and a hooded sweatshirt are both sweatshirts. "Hoodie" is just the common name for a hooded sweatshirt, and "crewneck" is shorthand for the hoodless one. Nobody is describing three different fabrics — they are describing the same fabric built three ways.

Four features do all the work:

• The hood. Adds warmth at the neck, bulk under a jacket collar, and a casual read. It is the single biggest difference in how formal the garment looks.
• The pocket. A front kangaroo pocket is standard on hoodies and absent on crewnecks. Useful for hands and phones; it also adds a soft line across the stomach that some people like and some do not.
• The neckline. A ribbed crew neck sits flat, so a collared shirt underneath looks intentional. A hood does not allow that neatly.
• The drawstring. On a hood it is adjustable warmth. It is also the first thing to look scruffy after a year, which is worth knowing if you want the piece to last.

Pullover versus zip-up is a fifth question that cuts across all of this. Our range here is pullovers, which hold their shape better over time because there is no zipper tape to ripple.

Fabric and Weight, in Plain Terms

Two fabric builds cover almost everything you will see, and both appear in this lineup.

Cotton-faced fleece is the softer, smoother one. The Be You Hooded Sweatshirt and the Campfire Crew Hooded Sweatshirt are both 80% cotton with a 20% polyester fleece interior and a 100% cotton face, from $38.32. The cotton face is why the print looks crisp and the outside feels like a t-shirt rather than plastic. These are the ones to buy if you care how it feels against your arms.

Heavy blend is the classic 50% cotton, 50% polyester gym-class sweatshirt, and it is the better value. The Save Earth Hoodie at $27.02, the Be the Change Butterfly Crewneck at $24.43 and the Dog Daddy Crewneck at $23.18 are all built this way. The polyester resists shrinking and holds color through a lot of washes, which is the real argument for a blend over pure cotton.

The practical rule: cotton-faced fleece for comfort, heavy blend for durability and price. Neither is warmer in any meaningful way — warmth comes from thickness, and both of these are midweight to heavyweight.

More Ways to Layer: Mid-Catalog Finds

These February 2025 additions offer two different takes on the guide: a lightweight cotton crewneck and a polyester pullover hoodie. Their materials differ from the original fleece picks above, so check each listing before choosing.

Mid-catalog · February 2025

DipaliZ Whimsical Cat Unisex Lightweight Crewneck Sweatshirt

100% ring-spun US cotton, with a hood-free neckline for lighter layering.

View product and sizing →

Mid-catalog · February 2025

DipaliZ Baseball Mom Unisex Hoodie Soft Polyester Fabric

A 100% polyester pullover hoodie for a sports-inspired casual outfit.

View product and sizing →

When Each One Wins

Running Errands and the School Run

Hoodie, every time. The hood is a hat you cannot forget, and the pocket means you can leave the house with keys and a phone and nothing else. The Save Earth hoodie at $27.02 is the sensible pick here — cheap enough that you will not mind it getting rained on.

Layering Under a Jacket

Crewneck. A hood bunched under a coat collar is uncomfortable, pushes the jacket forward and looks lumpy from behind. The Butterfly Crewneck sits flat under anything from a denim jacket to a wool overcoat, and the flat neckline lets you put a collar or a thin tee underneath on purpose rather than by accident.

Working From the Couch

Either, but go for the softest fabric you can justify, because this one is worn for eight hours at a stretch rather than twenty minutes. The cotton-faced Campfire Crew hoodie earns its $38.32 in exactly this scenario.

Somewhere Slightly Nicer

Crewneck, in a solid dark color, over a collared shirt. This is the one combination in which a sweatshirt reads as a deliberate outfit instead of loungewear. The Dog Daddy Crewneck at $23.18 comes in black, which is the version of this trick that always works. A graphic tee underneath is the more casual version — there are plenty in our graphic tee collection.

New Arrivals: Everyday Statement Crewnecks

Added on October 21, 2026, these two crewnecks pair a simple hood-free silhouette with a statement graphic. Follow the product links for current colors, sizes and prices.

New arrival · October 2026

Too Intentional to Rush Sweatshirt

A unisex crewneck offered in Black, Bone and Sea Blue, in sizes XS–4XL.

View product and sizing →

New arrival · October 2026

She Knows Her Worth Inspirational Sweatshirt

A unisex crewneck offered in Black and White, in sizes XS–4XL.

View product and sizing →

Fit and Sizing, Including the Oversized Look

Everything here is cut unisex, which in practice runs a little straighter and a little roomier than women's sizing. Check the measurements on each product page rather than trusting the letter on the tag, because chest width varies between fabric builds even at the same labeled size.

For a genuinely oversized look, size up once — not twice. One size up adds width through the chest and length in the body while the shoulder seam still lands near your shoulder, which is what makes it read as intentional. Two sizes up drops the shoulder seam halfway to your elbow and the sleeves swallow your hands, and at that point it looks borrowed rather than styled. If you want length without width, a size up in a crewneck does it with less bulk than a hoodie.

Care, So the Shape and the Print Both Survive Winter

Printed fleece is not delicate, but three habits make a visible difference by spring:

• Wash cold and inside out. Cold water is gentler on the print, and turning it inside out stops the design rubbing against the drum.
• Skip the fabric softener. It coats fibers, which flattens the fleece interior and dulls the print over time.
• Tumble dry low, or hang dry. High heat is what shrinks cotton and stiffens a print. Hang drying by the shoulders — not the hem — keeps the body from stretching long.

Also: do not iron the print. If a piece needs smoothing, press it inside out on low, well away from the design.

What You Are Choosing, and What You Are Not

Worth being clear, since this is a buying guide. Every piece here is pre-designed. The artwork is ours, printed before the garment ships, and what you choose is the size and the color. There is no text field at checkout to add a name, a number or a monogram to any of these, so a lettered or custom-text sweatshirt is not something we can make.

Everything is brand new and printed to order, which is why there are this many prints without a warehouse behind them. Because each piece is made when you order it, there are two stages to account for — production, then shipping — and both estimates appear on the product page. That estimate is the number to go by rather than any count of days we could print here.

Short version, if you only remember one thing: buy the hoodie for going outside and the crewneck for going anywhere you might take your coat off. Everything else — fabric, weight, fit — is preference, and both builds here are good enough that preference is all it comes down to.