After having received the Ornot Women’s Power Air Hooded Pullover, I have spent several workouts with this piece including a cycling class (Ornot is actually Ornot Bike, and its clothing is designed with cyclists in mind). While the pullover is a good item to wear when working up a sweat, it’s not one that I would pull from my closet to lounge around in on a lazy Sunday. Head below to learn more about the Ornot Women’s Power Air Hooded Pullover.
First impression
When my pullover first arrived from Ornot, it came in a compostable upcycled bag – possibly made from ocean plastic – which, on the packaging, suggested I add it to my food and garden waste (bold assumption to think that I compost or even know how to!). The language on the packaging is not the most California-coded thing about this piece of clothing, but I do genuinely appreciate any company’s efforts to be as environmentally- and eco-friendly as possible (even if the upcycled compostable bag recreated from ocean plastic ends up in my recycling bin, of which 90% of those contents end up in a landfill).
The pullover itself fit well enough – at 5’9 and 150 pounds I ordered a small – and I was delighted to discover all of the pockets it had to offer. There’s a big kangaroo pocket in the front with zippers on either side, as well as another zippered pocket that lines your obliques.
As for the feel of the pullover, two things were immediately clear to me: one, I wouldn’t describe the inside of the pullover as particularly comfortable against my skin, but two, I also knew it would do wonders in the way of breathability (and hopefully moisture-wicking). I spent three different types of workouts with the Power Aid Hooded Pullover including a cycling class, a HIIT workout, and walking my dog.
While cycling/biking isn’t my thing, I have a friend who had a guest pass to a local cycle bar, and because Ornot is designed with cyclists in mind, it seemed fitting that I should see how the pullover held up in the ways of breathability and moisture-wicking. After about 10 minutes of cycling, I took it off because I was getting too warm, which would have been the case no matter what hoodie or pullover I was wearing. With my HIIT workout, I was able to make it through about 25 minutes of hard exercise before needing to shed a layer of clothing, which is longer than most other pullovers I might wear to the gym – the breathability with the Ornot here was excellent. The fabric didn’t stick to me, and I had plenty of room to move around as I exercised. While walking my dog, I couldn’t stop focusing on how much air was getting through the pullover (which was underneath my winter coat) and because of the loose-fitting nature of the piece, I found myself colder than I would have liked.
As for the overall fit, it is not a tight pullover except for around the hood, whereas the rest of the fit was loose. My Power Air Hooded Pullover is black and has a partial blue interior which I like, and if it fit me a bit better, I could see myself easily wearing it out while running errands.
Power Air Hooded Pullover features
This piece, as well as many of Ornot’s others, was made in the United States (specifically, the Women’s Power Air Hooded Pullover was made in California as one of its tag highlights). Additionally, it’s made of deadstock dual-knit fabric and is designed to ensure insulation and all-day comfort. The website description said it was sewn in California, and one of the interior tags reminds us that it was “saved from landfills”:
As you can see, the stitching and sewing here is a bit messy (little pieces of thread would be easily unraveled if pulled), and I look forward to Ornot making continued improvements as their company expands.
It’s worth noting here that I love the little touch on the tag: “Business as usual ORNOT,” which of course makes perfect sense in that sentence, but I do find the branding a bit unclear in general. At first glance, my thought was: Are they encouraging me to work out, or not? On their “About Us” homepage:
Ornot’s goal was to change the landscape by offering well designed cycling clothing, with minimal branding, made right here in California, that doesn’t break your wallet. You could be a rolling billboard, Ornot.
I love this – I love the mission, the minimal branding, the locally-sourced pieces, and so on. But “You could be a rolling billboard, Ornot“? Now I’m confused. Is it a good thing or a bad thing to be a rolling billboard? Is that sentence meant to say that by wearing one of our pieces while biking, you could be considered a “rolling billboard,” or not, because the logo on the clothing is so minimal? Something to consider!
Wrap-up
There isn’t a single day during the week when I am not wearing either athleisure around the house or activewear at the gym – I own a lot of clothing designed with these two categories in mind, and while this Ornot pullover doesn’t hit the athleisure category comfortably, I can see people enjoying it while exercising.
Ornot is a small, independent company comprised of seven people, and what they are doing with their activewear is nothing short of impressive. That said, I’m not sure that $145 is a fair ask for a pullover that has loose interior stitching and lets a lot of air in (especially considering that it’s meant to trap air, providing you with insulation). I am sure the high cost of this pullover is attributed to the fact that it’s built in the States versus overseas, and for that, Ornot deserves credit where credit is due.
Ornot has created a well-structured piece of clothing completely sourced in the United States – often from re- and upcycled materials – that would make a good accompanying piece of clothing while exercising, it just wouldn’t be my first choice.
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