Winter Wear for Men in India: What to Buy for Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru

Winter wear for men in India depends on your city more than the calendar. In Delhi and the north you need real warmth for December and January: a heavy fleece hoodie or a full fleece set, with a jacket on top for the coldest nights. In Bengaluru one hoodie you can take off by noon is enough, and in Mumbai you mostly need a layer for air-conditioned offices and late evenings.

Here is the short version, city by city.

What winter wear do men actually need in India?

Less than the shops suggest. Most Indian winters are cold at the edges of the day and mild in the middle, so the useful pieces are layers you can add and remove, not one heavy coat you wear from 8 to 8. For most men that comes down to three things: a warm mid-layer you will wear every day, something comfortable for home and travel, and one outer layer for the few nights that really bite.

The mid-layer does most of the work, so spend your thought there. What makes it warm is fabric weight, measured in GSM (grams per square metre), and a brushed inside that traps air close to your skin. Every one of our 58 men's hoodies is 360 GSM Fleece with a brushed interior, which is why we treat a hoodie as the base of a winter wardrobe rather than an extra.

What should men wear in Delhi in winter?

Delhi has the winter the rest of the country jokes about. India Meteorological Department normals for 1991 to 2020 put the average January night below 10°C at two Delhi stations, and the fog makes mornings feel colder than the number. This is the city where a light sweatshirt over a tee is not enough.

• Daily layer: a 360 GSM fleece hoodie over a tee. Hood up for the walk to the metro, down once you are inside.
• Home and travel: a matching hoodie and jogger in the same fleece, so your legs are as warm as your top on a cold evening or an overnight train.
• Night rides and late evenings: a windproof jacket over the hoodie. Fleece keeps you warm when the air is still; on the back of a bike at night, the wind goes straight through any knit, so you need a shell on top.

The same advice holds for Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur and most of the north, and for hill stations add a second warm layer under the jacket.

What should men wear in Bengaluru in winter?

Bengaluru's winter is mostly about the mornings and the evenings. You leave home in the cold, the afternoon turns pleasant, and it cools again after sunset. A full set is more than you need on most days. What works is one hoodie over a tee: wear it on the way in, take it off at lunch, put it back on for the ride home.

Pick a colour that goes with your jeans and chinos, since it will be on and off you all day. Our navy blue solid hoodie is in stock in all nine sizes, S to 6XL, and works with almost anything.

What should men wear in Mumbai in winter?

Honestly, very little. Mumbai gets a few cooler weeks, not a winter. A 360 GSM fleece is too warm for a Mumbai afternoon, and we would not tell you otherwise. Where a hoodie earns its place is indoors: offices and cinemas with the AC on full, late nights by the sea, and the trip home to the north for the holidays. Buy one good hoodie, keep it in your bag or at your desk, and skip the rest.

Is a hoodie enough for winter in India?

For Mumbai and Bengaluru, yes. For Delhi and the north, a hoodie is enough on its own for most days, and it is the layer under your jacket on the coldest nights. Two things decide whether a hoodie keeps you warm:

1. Fabric weight. A thin hoodie looks warm and isn't. Check the GSM on the product page; ours are 360 GSM Fleece, and listings note GSM can vary by about 5% either way.
2. The hood and the cuffs. Most of the cold gets in at the neck and the wrists. A hood closes the neck, and ribbed cuffs keep the wind out of your sleeves.

Hoodie or a full fleece set: which should you buy?

If you can buy only one thing, buy the hoodie; it goes with everything you already own. If you live in the north, travel a lot in winter or spend cold evenings at home, a Fleece Co-ord Set is worth it: a hoodie and bottoms in the same 360 GSM Fleece, so you are warm from top to bottom in one go.

A few exceptions on the hoodie side: one printed hoodie and one solid are priced flat across sizes. And of the 15 sets, 14 are in stock in every size from S to 6XL today. Joggers gather at the ankle and keep the cold out; straight-fit tracks look neater if you step out in them.

Should you size up for winter layering?

Usually not. If you wear a hoodie over a tee, your normal size already leaves room. Our hoodie chest measurements run from 40 inches at S to 56 inches at 6XL, in 2-inch steps, and a good rule is to pick the size whose garment chest is about 2 inches more than your body chest. Size up only if you plan to wear a thick sweater underneath. The full table is on our men's hoodie size chart.

If the size is wrong, you have 7 days from delivery to return or exchange, one exchange per order, with a Rs 100 reverse pickup fee deducted from the refund. Everything in this guide sits in our winterwear best-sellers.