The design of the R1 hoody has pretty conspicuously changed as Patagonia’s customer base has shifted away from climbers and hikers and towards the fashion conscious with disposable income.

Regarding the fit, though, their sizing more generally might also have deliberately changed. I’d expect a “large” to be bigger in some places, for example, than it was twenty or thirty years ago, for the obvious reason.

I doubt that recycled materials play a role.

A tailor will replace the zipper for you at a reasonable cost. I do this on my motorcycling gear as the zipper is the first to go on leather armor.

omg i just noticed the exact same thing regarding Patagonia : their same models R1 and similar in current fabrics are plainly annoying, compared even to 10 years ago.

Sadly i gave some away that were of the good vintage when i moved to a hot climate. i wish i'd kept them. (and i'm sick of the hot climate...miss snow)

I have one and I can't compare it to your 20 year old model, but I wear it skiing everday in winter, maybe 140 days of the year, I have fo 3 years and so far it's fine.

Ski-related followup: What do you wear over it?

Generic clothing follow up: Is there some sort of guide to materials and fabrics within a weather context? Like a diagram of a guy and you click "-20C + biking" and it dresses him up and you can see all the layers and recommendations. There has to be something out there.

Currently gortex bibs and a gortex patagonia ski jacket. If it's very cold, I wear a down vest over the fleece.

Underneath I usually wear a wool singley and wool long sleeve shirt.

This keeps me very warm and comfortable all day.

doesnt patagonia have some repair/lifetime warranty? might be possible to save the old one

It might be better to find a tailor/repair shop. I lost a favorite pair of ski pants when I sent them in for azipper replacement. Not sure if something got mixed up in the paperwork but I requested they be returned, not replaced if the repair was too expensive/difficult. The pants I got lasted many more years but the others would have too. Unfortunately zippers are just hard to replace if the teeth get damaged. They tend to be sewn in early in the assembly process.