A comparison of Stio vs. Patagonia fleece jackets
The same week that my Stio fleece jacket arrived I had purchased the exact same styled fleece jacket from Patagonia so I have been able to do a side by side comparison with the traditional high quality manufacturing workmanship found in all Patagonia products. The Stio jacket is able to hold its own and has the same high quality look that my Patagonia jacket has. It also has the same internal softness and warmth as Patagonia and I love its deep royal blue color. The only reason that I gave my Stio jacket a 4 instead of a 5 has to do with the finishing touches with the collar. The Patagonia collar has a band of cloth sewn inside the collar area which helps it hold its shape and remain upright. The Stio knit fleece collar does not have a similar reinforcing cloth addition which means that when the jacket is not zipped up all the way to the top, the collar sort of hangs a bit crooked and can look a bit crumpled. This has nothing to do with durability or longevity but rather looks and can be easily remedied by Stio by having future orders of their jacket slightly modified by adding in a similar reinforcing band of cloth. Otherwise, my fleece is perfect.