Our Clients know that their J.Hilburn Stylists are always ready to help them update their style game. The perfect Client-Stylist relationship goes well beyond the transactional, evolving as your Stylist helps you select new items and suggests ways to put them together into a continuous carousel of looks and outfits. When you need styling advice and recommendations when a special occasion comes along, or when you have a big meeting you want to look your best for, your Stylist is your secret wardrobe weapon.
Ask your Stylist to send you style boards or texts with product combinations based on items you already own—especially when you have a specific wardrobe need. Outfitting is a core skill of styling, and your Stylist is adept at recommending things that make sense for your lifestyle and your preferences.
Putting two pieces together, like knits or shirts with pants, is only the first part of outfitting. Aside from the hottest days of summer, I consider this the bare minimum of outfitting. In menswear, there are very few styling elements we get to play with: color, the scale of pattern, and layering are the main three. Layering is especially important when working with a fall wardrobe—the temperature varies so greatly as the season progresses from the end of summer heat into the first cool days and the wait for the first frosts, especially in the colder regions of the country. You may not be immediately reaching for that layering knit or outerwear piece in August, but you soon will, and your Stylist can help you to be prepared for that first cool day.
Anything you layer should be thought of as the “third piece,” a key element in men’s styling. A third piece can be a layering knit, a sportcoat, or a piece of outerwear like a vest—a garment that adds warmth and comfort without detracting from a stylish head-to-toe look.
As the new season kicks off, I wanted to showcase our knits category first, as you may not immediately think of knits as layering pieces. Our layering knits this fall include our long sleeve zip necks and full zips, which are designed as sweater replacements to wear over a shirt.
The contrast trim packages let you add some subtle tonal trim that imitates options you might see in sweaters. Your Stylist can even set up a layering profile in your preferred fits, which adds enough space to wear a third piece over a shirt or knit. The contrast trim looks great on our new cotton/poly blend with stretch, which has a lovely mid-weight diagonal structure and comes in walnut and navy colorways. These knits are so easy to combine with our shirting.
Our mock zip and full zip knits are a perfect styling match to add a warm layer that you will be grateful to have on the first cool days. Our Loro Piana knits have a more luxurious touch and build on the high demand left over from last year. These come in five gorgeous shades and are proving to be quite a hit with Clients this season.
The go-to knits at J.Hilburn are always our Reda wools, and this exceptional knit quality by our Italian partners works perfectly as a pure wool sweater alternative with extra fine yarns that is more refined than simple merino. The versatility of this fabric, combined with our unique custom-made options make this quality an amazing choice to layer all the way through next spring. We introduced the tech trim package last year which I think adds some punchy detail. The tech trim makes these knit pieces feel more like outerwear and works great for those warmer zones where guys may not be looking for down coats this fall. At least I hope not, but who can really trust the weather these days?
