Where fleeces were once the exclusive remit of easygoing dads and crunchy climber types with pro tips on sleeping in a Subaru’s trunk, the best men’s fleece jacket is now a closet staple for everyone. A lot of that comes down to how the outdoor-inspired gorpcore movement—perhaps prompted by a fear that the world was ending—pushed the fashion world to start dressing like they were midway through a weeklong canoe trip in Maine. Hiking sneakers trekked their way onto red carpets, technical puffers posted up front row at Paris Fashion Week, and soft fleece zip-ups became acceptable attire.
The problem is that we’ve got more shaggy options than ever before. That means it can be easy to get your base layers in a bunch just trying to narrow it down. But that’s where we come in. We rounded up 15 of the best men’s fleece jackets on the market, from the versatile daily drivers to the high-quality backpacking-ready version to freaky designer riffs.
The Best Men’s Fleece Jackets, According to GQ
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Best Fleece Jacket Overall: Patagonia Classic Retro-X Fleece Jacket
Patagonia invented the fleece as we know it. The mountaineering OGs were the first to bring synthetic pile into outdoors wear in the ‘70s, the first to fix its problematic pilling by developing its signature Synchilla fabric in the ’80s, and the first to icon status when it dropped this, the Retro-X fleece, later that decade. The Retro-X is the Air Jordan 3 of fluffy zip-ups: instantly recognizable and eternally in style. The shaggy sherpa exterior, built from 50% recycled materials, is moisture-wicking and quick-drying, with a mesh lining that’s wind-resistant and controls odors. You’ve got hand pockets and a chest pocket for your granola bar. Every fleece on this list owes a debt of gratitude to the Retro-X, and you’ll know why when you pull it on for the first (or the 51st) time.
Best Lightweight Fleece Jacket: Arc’teryx Kyanite AR Jacket
If fleece has one serious drawback, it’s that it can be tough to layer. Not impossible! But it’s fluffy, and has all the snaggy, grabby abilities of the soft side of the Velcro, making it hard to enjoy fleece as a mid-layer. So Arc’teryx did that thing where it innovated…again…on techy outerwear with Kyanite AR jacket, made of a warm, lightweight, stretchy PolarTec Pro fabric that’s light on the static electricity and heavy on keeping you toasty. In other words, a fleece that’s actually designed to layer.
Best Value Fleece Jacket: Taion Reversible Fleece Down Jacket
For the fleece’d up budgetmaxxers, Taion should be on your radar (well, after thrifting). The brand specializes in cold weather gear with designs that are as stylish as they are affordable. Case in point, this two-in-one reversible jacket features fluffy fleece on one side and a swishy nylon material on the other with a toasty down filling in-between. The design is sleek and minimal as if Patagonia had Apple’s design team. For just about $200, that’s a hell of a lot of jacket.
Best Fleece Jacket for Fashion Guys: Kapital Jacquard-Trimmed Printed Fleece Jacket
When the legendary brand Kapital sets out to impose their vision on a classic piece of menswear, you can bet that what comes out on the other side is nothing short of wild. Persimmon-dyed jeans with reptile-like texture, puffer jackets made from weaving strips of insulated nylon, it’s all a part of Kapital’s freaky midas touch. And then there’s the fleece. As if a luscious deep-pile polyester fleece wasn’t enough to catch your attention, the dizzying print and fuzzy Virgin Mary hit on the back will make sure you don’t forget it. Kapital has iterated on the fleece jacket in multiple ways. So while this specific version is just one of many, each piece is a certified grail to add to your list.
Best Fleece Jacket for the Office: Todd Snyder Italian Casentino Driving Jacket
Casentino wool is beloved by sartorial wonks for its inimitable nubby texture that mimics fleece, often without all of the synthetic materials involved. The result is a refined, mature sort of fleece. Or think of it like this: fleece is Gandalf’s beard and casentino is Ricky Martin’s beard. Employed in a deftly tailored driving jacket like this one from Todd Snyder and the handsomeness meter skyrockets. It’s what fleece jackets hope to be when they grow up. Toss it over a button up and some tailored trousers to temper a dressy fit, or layer it over a hoodie and some jeans to class up a casual fit.
Despite our 21st-century technological advancements, the greatest meteorologists can still lead you astray. When the only sure thing about the forecast is that you’ll need a jacket, the best you can do is to put on some outerwear that can handle a multitude of outcomes. Manastash’s throwback full-zip fleece jacket takes after vintage designs with a shaggy windproof pile and nylon trim throughout. But the real trick up its sleeve is the water-resistant DWR-coated inner layer which repels moisture while remaining breathable. We probably wouldn’t use it as a full on rain jacket, though, so you may still want to keep an umbrella in your tote just in case of a real downpour. But you can at least feel confident knowing that forgetting it at home isn’t such a big deal.
More Fleece Jackets We Love
Fear of God Essentials Layered Cotton-Blend Fleece and Shell Half-Zip Sweatshirt
Orslow M-65 Fish Tail Cotton-Blend Fleece, Shell and Canvas Jacket
Patagonia Better Sweater Fleece Jacket
The North Face Denali Jacket
Auralee Boa Wool-Blend Bouclé Half-Zip Sweater
No Maintenance Pulse Balaclava Sherpa Fleece
And Wander Top Fleece Jacket
Yoko Sakamoto Alpine Polo Shirt
Snow Peak Thermal Boa Fleece Jacket
How We Test and Review Products
Style is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed. Whether it’s the best white sneakers, the flyest affordable suits, or the need-to-know menswear drops of the week, GQ Recommends’ perspective is built on years of hands-on experience, an insider awareness of what’s in and what’s next, and a mission to find the best version of everything out there, at every price point.
Our staffers aren’t able to try on every single piece of clothing you read about on GQ.com (fashion moves fast these days), but we have an intimate knowledge of each brand’s strengths and know the hallmarks of quality clothing—from materials and sourcing, to craftsmanship, to sustainability efforts that aren’t just greenwashing. GQ Recommends heavily emphasizes our own editorial experience with those brands, how they make their clothes, and how those clothes have been reviewed by customers. Bottom line: GQ wouldn’t tell you to wear it if we wouldn’t.
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.
We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.
Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best of the category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.
Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there’s bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ’s testing process here.)
Why Buy a Fleece Jacket in the Year of Our Lord 2024?
We’re infinitely grateful to all the Alex Honnold-types who turned us onto the fleece, because bundling up in a fuzzy, furry pullover is one of the kindest things you can do for yourself in the depths of a surprisingly brisk fall. A fleece is impenetrably warm (and a lot more cost-effective than shearling), impossibly comfy, and brings as much texture to a single fit as all the cords in your closet combined. And since the best men’s fleece jackets became hot commodities, designer label and underground menswear brands have joined the O.G. outdoor outfitters in riffing on the men’s fleece jacket.
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