What to wear with cashmere with our co-founder Alexander

This article is written from my personal view and how I like to wear my cashmere and knitwear pieces. I think it is important to highlight the fact that personal style and taste also plays an important part when it comes to styling, so please read it for inspirational purposes as I’m not trying to point fingers or correct anyone on how they must wear things. If you find it boring – great, but add some color to or tweak the design, and you might love it.

Some of my greatest sources of inspiration have a complete different style and wear colors I would never do. But in many cases I find small things I can add to my own wardrobe and try out in terms of styling. You can see all of our knitwear here.

Why don’t we start with the most obvious, right? I probably wear denims and cashmere 2-3 times a week at least (during fall/winter), and the reason is simple. For work, I don’t have that many meetings that require a more formal dress code and I’m also a parent, so add a weekend in the park with my kid and you understand where I’m going. Denim is super versatile, and a common misconception is that you can only wear it for leisure or weekends (although it is perfect for it). It is a great match with cashmere and other knitwear qualities, because of the rigid surface that a pair selvedge denims has. I love to wear a 2-ply cashmere rollneck or polo to work, pair it with a mid blue selvedge denim and just add a tailored jacket with a brushed surface on top. If I was to single out my two favourite pair of denims, it would be

• Mid blue washed selvedge denim
• 14 oz raw selvedge denim

They have a different character and feel to them but are equally versatile all through fall and winter (and even spring/summer for the mid blue one).

When September starts, the dress flannel trouser is my first choice when contemplating my choice of trouser in the morning. I usually prefer lighter shades and colors for my trousers in general (even for fall). It might not the most practical choice, but certainly the best looking one if you ask me. And the naturally stain resistant, brushed wool surface of the flannel also makes it quite resistant if you take care of it, while it is easy to clean. When I wear flannel with cashmere or other knitwear pieces, I like to keep the color scheme tone on tone or at least in the same category, which often times end up ‘earthy’. Amongst my favourite flannel pieces, there’s;

• Off white flannel trousers
• Light beige flannel trousers
• Mid grey flannel trousers

I usually pair my flannels with an off white cashmere polo or a beige crewneck. One of my absolute favourite looks this fall however, is a pair of beige flannel trousers, together with a super soft lyocell olive stripe shirt and a pure cashmere vest. I’ll usually wear it with a pair of high quality sneakers (like a nice runner), and a suede utility jacket or field jacket on top. This creates a nice balance between formal and casual in my opinion. That exact balance is one I often turn to both for my own wardrobe and when I style our Blugiallo collections.

Wearing a tailored jacket with cashmere knitwear is an easy way to elevate an otherwise very casual look (if only paired with a dress trouser or jeans). Here’s my tips and what I usually look for in a tailored jacket that should work well (style wide) together with my knitwear:

• Find a fabric that has a brushed or structured surface.
• Choose a color that is tone on tone with your knitwear (or one that is clearly in the same tonal spectra – I’ll explain)
• Opt for a slightly more casual design on your jacket or even go for a soft jacket or a tailored shirt jacket

So why is a structured or brushed surface so important? Well, the easy answer is ‘because it correlates with the structure and therefore formality of the knitwear’. Simply put, garments with the same structure and weave just looks really good together. This is probably my number ONE rule of styling. Always find a similar structure and weave in the garments you want to pair. In this case, a brushed (rather than a very lustrous surface is preferable. In my opinion, few knitwear pieces go really well with more formal suit fabrics. I’ll give you one that does though, that also proves my thesis. The blend of cashmere and silk in a thin knitted quality will give you a super luxurious and lustrous look and feel – it’s so nice I’ve even worn it with my black tuxedo (tone on tone, naturally).

For the color option tone on tone means exactly that. However, if the colors break just a bit too much, my strong advise is to find a different color in the same spectra instead. What I mean with the same ‘tonal spectra’ is for example if you have a knitwear piece with a ‘warm’ or ‘cold’ tone – make sure your jacket follows the same pattern. For example, you can pair a cold beige cashmere sweater with a cold brown tailored jacket and it will look amazing.

I would also think about the different jacket alternatives as I find all three below works very well with knitwear, although they provide a slightly different look in terms of formality. I would recommend the following options for jacket design:

• A shirt jacket, providing a more casual, contemporary look.
• The classic tailored jacket, giving you a more sophisticated look suitable most semi dressed occasions.
• A Utility jacket, where you can use it preferably as a outerwear piece or second layer.

A well-crafted, tailored overcoat is truly a wardrobe staple. If treated well, it will serve you for years. It is also one of my favorite garments to pair with my cashmere knitwear. Usually, during mid week (and on colder days) if I’m wearing a cashmere sweater and a jacket, I will wear the overcoat on top. But my favourite pairing is probably a pair of jeans, a heavy knitted cashmere roll neck and a wool overcoat on top. To me, that is the perfect weekend look. Casual, comfortable yet smashed with understated luxury vibes. It’s hard not to recommend a midnight blue overcoat, but since you know me by now (and if you got it covered), I would recommend checking out an earthy color, like taupe or cold beige.