REASONS TO BUY
Very cozy
Warm
Oversized fit is relaxing to wear
Comfy kangaroo pocket
Hood drawstring
Unique side ventilation
REASONS TO AVOID
Not a great performance piece
Bulky and difficult to layer over
No secure pockets
Kari Traa Rothe Fleece Hoodie - Women's Review
An oversized fit adds relaxation vibes we can sleep in, with fluffiness inside and out and wide sweatshirt cuffs
Credit: Kari Traa
Our Verdict
The Kari Traa Rothe is an oversized fleece hoody with a deliciously relaxed fit that wraps itself around you like a cozy cocoon. The big, floppy hood is easily pulled over a beanie, the fuzzy passthrough pocket keeps your mitts warm, and the wide cuffs add a feeling of comfort and security our testers loved. Although the Rothe lacks secured zippered pockets, side zippers add a splash of color and a unique option for increased ventilation. For all of its coziness, this bulky fleece is challenging to layer over. Even though it's far from a technical piece, we love wearing this baggy pullover on lazy days around the house and for afternoon naps.
Editor's Note: We updated this review on December 9, 2023, to reflect changes to our testing metrics and add new recommendations for comparable fleeces.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Kari Traa Rothe Hoodie is a midweight polyester pullover with a quarter zip and a hood. It features a single passthrough kangaroo pocket, elastic sweatshirt cuffs, two ventilating side zips, a hood drawstring, and a chin guard.
Performance Comparison
The Rothe is very comfortable and warm, if not a great technical performance piece.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Warmth
The Rothe is a thickly warm pullover with fuzz both inside and out, creating that feeling of instant warmth and helping to add sustained warmth. The quarter zip has a fleece wind guard behind it — though the side ventilation zips do not. Drawstrings allow you to cinch the loose-fitting hood against the cold, and wide sweatshirt-style elastic cuffs warm our wrists very effectively.
Drawstrings let you pull this hood tight against the cold or leave it open and comfortable indoors.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
But the Rothe isn't a particularly element-resistant hoody. Like most fleeces we tested, water easily soaks into the fabric and eventually transfers to your clothing underneath. The relatively thick-cut fabric does a reasonable job of blocking light breezes, but the loose-fitting waist hem is a weak point.
A cozy passthrough pocket and side ventilation zips help make the Rothe unique.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Comfort
The Rothe 's soft fabric and loose fit are major parts of what makes this fleece comfortable to wear. The signature elastic cuffs are snug but not tight and lay very pleasantly on our wrists. Even with its oversized build, the Rothe is quite stretchy, allowing it to be more accommodating of varying body shapes than most others. A single passthrough pocket is made of the same material as the jacket. It's several inches deep, and we had no issues with it holding our phone through a lazy weekend at home, but there are no zipper- or snap-secured pockets on this fleece.
The Rothe is very fuzzy and warm inside and out.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Breathability
Two prominent zippers on the sides of the torso allow for extensive ventilation of about the bottom 7 inches. The hood is well-balanced, easily allowing us to fully unzip the chest for additional airflow. The loose-fitting hem again comes in handy for breathability, but the wide elastic cuffs keep the sleeves from being very breathable. Their snug fit also makes them challenging (though comfortable) to wear pulled very far up our forearms. And the thick, warm fabric itself just isn't all that breathable. It does a solid job mitigating its warmth but still isn't a model we want to wear on a hike, let alone a long run.
The wide sweatshirt-like cuffs can be pushed up comfortably and are one of our favorite cozy features of the Rothe.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Layering Ability
While this oversized pullover easily fits over just about every base layer, it's difficult to layer anything over the top of it. Unless your parka is also oversized, this bulky, loose-fitting fleece isn't an ideal midlayer.
The oversized, bulky Rothe is challenging to wear a jacket over.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Weight
The size Small we tested weighs 14.1 ounces — one of the heaviest models in our lineup. It's also one of the bulkiest. We prefer to wear the Rothe around the house than to try to travel with it.
Hanging out with friends in the Rothe is an exercise in warm fuzzy feelings.
Credit: Maggie Nichols
Should You Buy the Kari Traa Rothe?
If you're in the market for a very casual fleece to snuggle up in at home, the relatively low price tag (for this lineup) of the Kari Traa Rothe makes it a solid choice. It's one of the only fleece jackets we enjoyed sleeping in and a go-to layer for a case of cold weather sniffles. If you're hoping to go hiking in your new fleece or integrate it into your layering system, the Rothe is not the right choice.
What Other Fleece Jacket Should You Consider?
When we wanted a fleece to wear while lounging around and not doing much, the Rothe was our top choice. The Patagonia Synchilla is a similarly relaxed, cozy model without a hood that we love hanging out in. But when we wanted a jacket built for outdoor adventuring and relaxing at home, we reached for the Ar'cteryx Kyanite.
—Maggie Nichols
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