It’s Okay to be Different – When Everything is Custom

I have received a few questions about our value and why our products sometimes seem to be more expensive than RTW (ready to wear) products and brands. While it may seem pretty obvious to some, it is a good question, and as we expand our casual assortment, we are opening doors to new categories that are normally only found in RTW or department store retail. It is exciting to be paving the way – offering knits, 5-pockets, shorts, chinos, and outerwear, all with a vast array of options created to your preference. All of which differentiates us from anything you can find when you walk into a department store or retail brand.

Speaking of product, let me begin there and go through some of the main differentiators with other sectors in the menswear market. We offer a range of fabrics in any given style, which comes in multiple color options, which you can choose from, which isn’t always available in retail. Retail business owners and buyers focusing the assortment with a limited range fit into seasonal plans. We usually have multiple fabric options that suit your lifestyle, your use, and your budget, with a wide range of choices available in-season or off-season for you to select. These fabrics come from all corners of the earth, creating a host of beautiful fabrics selected from global mills. The Italian mills we work with, we consider true partners, that we have long-standing collaborations. We also opened up new and exciting mills with innovative technology and quality standards that offer newness to our customers. These new partnerships allowed us to open up entirely new categories and styles.

Next, we offer our library of options and personalization, which lets the client build a style to his own particular specs, whether that be a unique button-hole color that picks up a subtle color in the check of a sportscoat plaid or the accent color of a printed shirt. You can select your buttons, your linings, your choice of pockets, the color of the neckband on the inside of your shirt, and so on through the complete encyclopedia of menswear style options to suit his own taste and his style comfort, being able to tone it up or down to your own preference.

Next or perhaps even first in this menu of differentiators is Custom-made fit. Unless you are completely average in your size and measurements, there is a low possibility that things are going to fit you perfectly in any retail situation. Exasperated in certain categories, such as pants, we have all had the depressing dressing room moment when you feel the mirror is lying to you. Most men (even if you can get them to a mall and in a fitting room) either completely give up or sadly convince themselves to make do with a poor-fitting item that will never make them feel good about their appearance. Our fit can be achieved through T.A.P.E (Tailored Anthropometric Estimate), a tape measure, and soon with our new measuring app to support a client’s measurements. These methods not only mean you can rely on having your pants and sleeves show up the right length, but you can decide the movement you need for sitting at a desk or the lift you want in your shirt-armhole. We made each piece individually for you and built it exactly to your needs. How snuggly the waist of your jacket fits is something, you choose rather than an obligation made by a RTW brand’s measurements. No matter how democratically those measurements are decided, they will, undoubtedly, be wrong for almost everyone. At J.Hilburn, we strive to give you the best fit, the best fabrics, and the best style options. All of this gives the best result of you feeling your absolute best, stepping out in confidence, feeling that you are showing up as the best version of yourself, and this helps you be the better version of yourself.

The above describes what we do, but the most important thing is how we do it. Our community of professional stylists makes the difference guiding you through style comfort zones, pondered option choices, and fit preferences.

Our Stylists strive to make you look and feel the best version of yourself. Many men never imagined this better version of themselves actually existed until they were introduced to J. Hilburn. They may have seen friends and colleagues show up for meetings looking sharp and bubbling with confidence, but never thought it could be something for them, making do with compromised fit and clothes and just feeling “OK” when they get dressed each morning in front of the mirror. We don’t sell clothes the way anyone else does. In fact – I would say we don’t sell clothes at all.