Hoodie Fabric Guide: Fleece, French Terry and GSM Explained

Two hoodies can look identical on a screen and feel nothing alike in your hands. The difference is almost always the knit and the weight of the fabric, not the print on the chest. Learning to read those two numbers is the fastest way to stop guessing.

GSM: what the number means

GSM stands for grams per square metre — the weight of the fabric, not its quality. A higher GSM means more yarn per square metre, so the fabric is denser, warmer, and holds its shape longer. A lower GSM drapes more softly and breathes better.

• 180–250 GSM — lightweight. Layering pieces and warm-weather hoodies. Packs small, dries fast.
• 250–350 GSM — mid-weight. The everyday range: warm enough for most evenings, not stifling indoors.
• 350–450 GSM — heavyweight. Structured, boxy, genuinely warm. This is the weight that gives a hoodie that stands-up-on-its-own feel.
• 450 GSM and above — winter-only. Excellent as outerwear, too much under a jacket.

GSM alone does not tell you how warm something feels. A brushed 300 GSM fleece traps more air than a smooth 350 GSM jersey, so it wears warmer despite weighing less.

Fleece vs French terry

Both start as a knit with loops on the inside face. What happens to those loops is the whole difference.

• French terry leaves the loops intact. The inside looks like tiny towel loops. It breathes well, feels cool against the skin at first, and does not shed. Best for year-round wear and warmer climates.
• Fleece brushes those loops open into a soft pile. That pile traps air, so fleece is noticeably warmer and softer, but it also flattens over time — especially if you use fabric softener or tumble dry it.

What the fibre content changes

• Cotton-rich blends feel better against the skin, breathe well and take dye deeply. They also shrink more and take longer to dry.
• Polyester content adds shape retention, faster drying and resistance to shrinking. Too much of it and the fabric starts to feel plasticky and holds odour.
• A small percentage of elastane in cuffs and hems is what stops them from going slack after a few months.

For most people in Pakistan, a mid-weight cotton-rich blend is the sensible default: warm enough from October through February in most of the country, and still wearable in the evenings outside those months.

Where we have the fabric details for a piece, they are listed on its product page. If a specification you need is not there, email contact@hushhood.store and we will confirm it before you order rather than guess.