The joke I’ve heard around the Seattle area is that when a Seattleite goes out to a fancy dinner, they put on their dress fleece. Looking through my closet you can find a couple fleeces that could be considered ‘dress fleeces’. These are the fleeces I use on a daily basis when not hiking. They’re not technical in nature, don’t pack down, or are heavier than a normal fleece.

The first of these fleeces I picked up was the Arc’Teryx Covert Cardigan. Priced at $198, it isn’t cheap. Thankfully I found it on steep and cheap for 60% off and it’s worked pretty well for me in the past year. The fleece looks like a wool sweater on the outside, but is insulated like a normal fleece. This is pretty useless for hiking, but I’ve found that I use it more than any other fleece in my day to day life.

Recently I picked up another ‘dress fleece’ made by Outdoor Research. The Exit Jacket is a standard fleece jacket with a wool exterior. The wool isn’t merino, so it is a bit scratchy. The overall appearance is a fairly casual jacket that works in a wide range of situations. It certainly isn’t windproof, but it is a bit more resistant to the wind than the Covert Cardigan. Retail price is $98, but it seems to be on sale for $50-60 these days.

I’ve seen these types of fleeces cited as the downfall of some of the better outdoor brands. I’d say it’s just the opposite. Certainly, some people will buy a fleece just for the name, but the ‘dress fleece’ is fairly useful in daily life (or at least my own). However, this does not diminish the other products in their lineup. A Mountain Hardwear or Marmot t-shirt does not diminish the ability of the other products made by these companies. To this point, Patagonia is incredibly popular in the Bay Area and still makes some of my favorite base layers.