Sweaters & Hoodies Sale

Sweaters & Hoodies Sale at Behind The Pines Amsterdam

A sweater is the layer you actually live in for most of the Dutch year. From October to April there is a long stretch where a jacket alone is too little and a jacket over a t-shirt is too little as well, and what fills that gap is whatever knit or fleece you reach for on the way out the door. It is also a category where quality is easy to feel and hard to fake, which makes buying reduced genuinely worthwhile: the difference between a good sweater and a cheap one shows up in year three, not week one.

What is here is the reduced side of our knit and fleece range — merino and lambswool crews, heavy loopback cotton hoodies, technical fleece and a few overshirt-weight knits, mostly Patagonia with La Paz, Universal Works, Arc'teryx and Snow Peak alongside. Previous-season colours, current construction, same warranty and returns.

Wool, heavy cotton or fleece — three garments doing three different jobs

People treat these as interchangeable and then get annoyed at the wrong garment. Wool, and merino in particular, is the one that copes with real life: it keeps insulating when it is slightly damp, it resists smell so you can wear it three or four days between washes, and it packs down small enough to live in a bag. That is why it is the sensible choice for travel, for a cold office, and for anything where you might get caught out. Merino's weakness is abrasion — a backpack strap will wear a fine-gauge knit faster than you would like.

A heavy loopback cotton hoodie is the most comfortable thing you will own and the worst possible garment to be caught in rain in. Cotton absorbs water, holds it, weighs twice as much wet and takes most of a day to dry. That is not an argument against it — it is an argument for knowing what it is for. It is a wear-at-home, wear-under-a-jacket, wear-on-a-dry-day piece. Technical fleece is the third job entirely: it exists to sit under a shell, breathe while you move, and dry fast. It is the one to take on a hike or a snowboard trip and the one that looks least at home in a restaurant.

Pilling, washing, and why a good one outlives four cheap ones

Pilling is not a defect. It is short fibres working loose from the yarn surface, and every wool garment does it — the difference is that a longer-staple, tighter-spun yarn produces fewer pills and stops after the first few wears, while a cheap yarn keeps shedding until the fabric thins. A comb or a fabric shaver twice a season deals with it in five minutes. Beyond that, the rules are simple: wash cold, wash rarely, air it out between wears instead, and dry flat. Wool does not need washing nearly as often as people assume, and every wash is where the wear happens.

Fit, and buying a size up on purpose

Sweater sizing is where layering either works or does not. A merino crew you plan to wear against the skin should be your normal size, close enough that it actually traps air. A cotton hoodie or a chunky knit you intend to wear over a shirt is worth taking one size up, particularly in brands cut on the slim side. Check the body length as well as the chest — a knit that rides above the waistband of your trousers every time you reach for something is a knit you will stop wearing.

How it fits with the rest of the kit

These sit in the middle of most outfits, so think about what goes over and under. The full-price range is split across sweaters and hoodies, with the rest of the upper body in tops. Most of what is reduced here is Patagonia and Universal Works, and if you are building a wardrobe rather than filling a gap, the wider streetwear range is the place to start.

What to expect in the sale

• Previous-season colours: same yarns, same construction, same warranty, older palette.
• Mixed weights: fine merino, mid-weight fleece and heavy loopback cotton all appear here.
• Broken size runs: M and L go first, and once a colour is out it is out.
• Mostly Patagonia: with La Paz, Universal Works, Arc'teryx and Snow Peak alongside.

Why buy sweaters and hoodies at Behind The Pines

We are a shop in Amsterdam and we wear this stuff daily, on bikes, in the rain, and on trips where a bag has to hold a week. That is where the advice comes from: we know which knits pill, which hoodies shrink, and which fleece is worth taking on a hike. If a garment is not going to survive the way you plan to use it, we will say so.

Everything ships from our Amsterdam stock, so orders leave quickly and Dutch and Belgian deliveries usually arrive the next working day. You are welcome to come in and handle the knits — weight and hand-feel are the two things a photograph genuinely cannot tell you — and returns are straightforward if the fit is off.

Frequently asked questions

Is sale stock last season's gear?

Mostly, yes — previous-season colourways. Knitwear and fleece are the slowest-moving category there is: yarns, gauges and cuts are carried over for years at a time, and usually only the colour palette changes. Warranty and returns are identical to full-price stock.

Will merino be too warm indoors?

A fine-gauge merino crew is surprisingly good indoors because wool regulates rather than simply insulating — it moves moisture and does not trap heat the way a thick cotton sweatshirt does. If you overheat easily, look at 190 to 250 gram weights rather than a chunky knit.

How do I stop a wool sweater pilling?

You cannot stop it entirely, but you can slow it down. Wash cold on a wool cycle, do not tumble dry, and let the sweater rest a day between wears so the fibres recover. When pills appear, shave or comb them off rather than pulling, which drags the yarn.

Should I size up in a hoodie?

If you plan to wear it over a shirt or as a layer under a jacket, yes, one size. If it is going on over a t-shirt, take your normal size — heavy loopback cotton relaxes slightly with wear and a hoodie that starts out oversized ends up shapeless.

Which one should I take snowboarding or hiking?

The fleece, every time. Cotton is the one genuinely bad choice for anything active in the cold: once it is wet with sweat it stays wet and pulls heat out of you. Fleece keeps working damp and dries in an evening on a radiator.

Shop the sweaters and hoodies sale at Behind The Pines Amsterdam

Have a look through the reduced sweaters and hoodies here. If you already know a fit that works for you, a sale is the sensible moment to buy the second one — and the rest of the range sits under tops.