Is it worth buying an Oodie? We take a look a close look at the popular wearable blanket
We always find it interesting when a product explodes in popularity, and that's exactly what we've seen happen with the Oodie. In what feels like no time at all, this wearable blanket has become a must-have item for anyone who wants to feel comfortable and snug while they're in the house.
But one thing which often raises an eyebrow is the price tag attached to an Oodie - usually in the region of £100 (unless you browse the sale section). For some people, this can seem like a lot of money, especially when there are similar wearable blanket products out there for a fraction of the price.
So having bought and tried an Oodie as well as some alternatives, we felt qualified to answer the question - is an Oodie actually worth buying? Let's take a look:
What can you compare the Oodie to?
Primark makes a product called a Snuddie (pictured), which is obviously supposed to be a cheaper version of the Oodie. We've bought and tried both a Snuddie and an Oodie, and we think comparing these 2 products will give us a good idea of how worth it we think it is to buy an Oodie versus a cheaper wearable blanket.
What makes the Oodie different from a normal wearable blanket?
We ordered the Oodie online and we bought the Snuddie from our local Primark, but we have to admit that the experience we had in terms of receiving either product was totally different.
The Snuddie was taken off the rack and stuffed into a Primark bag, but the Oodie arrived vacuum-packed in its own branded satchel (which we'll keep and reuse for something), plus it was wrapped in a bow which made it feel like a real present.
The Oodie is vacuum-packed so that it can be delivered faster and more efficiently as the sticker in the picture shows, which we really appreciated.
We noticed a number of differences when comparing the design quality of an Oodie to the Snuddie from Primark and other wearable blankets.
The main difference we noticed is that the Oodie is quite a bit thicker. The Oodie is made using a vegan sherpa fleece interior, which is a double-sided fabric, whereas all of the cheaper wearable blankets that we tried used a single-sided fleece fabric.
This makes the Oodie warmer and also more durable, so likely to last longer. We also like that the fleece lining is throughout the whole Oodie, whereas the Snuddie is only fleece-lined on the hood.
Something we find interesting about the Oodie versus other wearable blankets is that there is only one size of Oodie that you can buy for adults.
The Snuddie from Primark was available in 2 sizes - Extra Small/Small, and Medium/Large.
The standard size of an adult Oodie is 6XL, and a kids Oodie is about 30% smaller than that. If you're a small adult then you could go for a Kids Oodie, but we do have to admit that the Oodie sizing structure seems to be a bit more complicated compared to other wearable blankets on the market.
You might have noticed that our Oodie has a Looney Tunes design - this is one of the huge advantages of the Oodie over other wearable blankets. Currently, there are more than 200 different designs to choose from on the Oodie website. Compare this to something like the Snuddie, where you've only got a few dozen designs to choose from online and a few more in-store, and you can see why the Oodie is the go-to wearable blanket for people who want a cool design.
Having said that, we do have to admit that despite not having lots of choices, the Snuddie from Primark features a number of interesting designs, and given the price of the Snuddie the design options to choose from are really impressive. For example, we own a Disney-themed Snuddie which features characters like Mickey Mouse and which is lots of fun.
And now to the Elephant in the room - the price difference.
There is no denying that at almost £100, a full-price Oodie is expensive. We paid less than £100 for our Oodie as we got it during a sale, but it was still quite a lot at around £60. You can find all of the sale Oodies here. Compare that to the Snuddie at £20, and you're looking at a 3x difference in price.
We do have to say though, we definitely like our Oodie 3x more than our Snuddie, and we definitely feel like our Oodie will last for 3x as longer. If you look for similar products to the Oodie on Amazon, you won't find many in the same price bracket as the Oodie.
However, we do have to say that the Oodie is absolutely the best quality wearable hoodie that we've tried, so we do feel that you get what you pay for.
Hopefully, this guide has helped you to decide if an Oodie is worth buying or not. Let us know if you've bought an Oodie and what you think of it!
So - is it worth buying an Oodie?
You'll have to spend around £50 more on an Oodie than on any other wearable blanket on the market, but we think you'll definitely notice the difference in terms of quality and product experience.
We also think that the Oodie will last longer than most wearable blankets on the market, so although the initial investment is larger, you'll save money in the long run.
Finn H
Finn is the editor of You Well and has been writing about travel, health, and more for over 10 years.