The item in this review was provided for review purposes by OLIVERS.
The Porter Hoodie is an athletic take on a 100% merino wool hoodie. I’ve been testing this hoodie for almost two years now, and it still looks brand new. With that in mind, let’s take a look at it.
Material
This is a 100% merino hoodie, but the fabric itself is what OLIVERS calls “merino luxe terry”. If you’ve worn terry cloth before, I think that name accurately describes this hoodie. As the outer face is smooth and looks clean, while the inner face has a distinct waffle pattern. Unlike cotton hoodies, there is no soft or plush interior. OLIVERS doesn’t specify a weight for the fabric, but I would peg it somewhere around 220 gsm. It’s light for a hoodie but heavier than some of my other merino garments.
Overall this is not a soft merino, but it feels closer to a merino nylon blend. This gives it the durable feeling that you want in a garment of this type.
Warmth and Comfort
I like to think of this as a mid-layer. It’s perfect for a cool evening, a quick warm up layer, or a hoodie to wear around the house. It’s a layer, not something you likely will throw on to stay warm in the deep of winter.
This makes it much more versatile than the other (heavier) hoodies I have. With a heavier hoodie, I often start to overheat indoors and find it harder to layer when it is very cold out. I think the best application is for this to be an indoor hoodie, or an active layer when the weather is colder outside. Overall, I find it to be a great weight and very comfortable to wear.
Durability
It’s not often that we can comment on the long term durability of the items we review here, but since I’ve been testing this since November of 2016 I can in this case. After almost 2 years of wear and washing, the hoodie looks brand new. I can’t find anything to indicate this amount of wear.
It’s not the most worn garment I own, but it certainly has been used quite a lot and I would have expected more evidence of wear. It is a very durable garment.
Fit
OLIVERS describes the fit of this hoodie as athletic and it is spot on. The sleeves are narrow and the body is wider through the chest with a definite taper leading down to the waist. You can combat this by sizing up, or enjoy a trim hoodie as designed.
One thing to note about the fit, is that the athletic fit means you might find it more difficult to wear over certain looser fitting t-shirts. I have never had an issue where I couldn’t layer it, but I do often have to adjust the sleeves of a t-shirt to not appear lumpy. The fit works well for me, but its not the normal boxy look of a hoodie.
Overall
Other elements of this hoodie, like the lack of a front pocket, the hidden side pocket, and the collar inside the hood itself lead to a really smart look. It’s a bit of an enigma for me, as it fits right in as an athletic/workout hoodie but can be made to look nicerwith the right pairing of pants.
I liked this hoodie when I first got it, and I still like it to this day. It finds itself being worn a lot when the weather cools off and packed as a just in case layer when I head out in the summer months. If you are ok with the fit, then it’s a great merino hoodie with all of the merino wool properties we love.
NOTE: where possible all product links on this site may earn the site money when you buy using those links.