Remember in school you heard, “No question is a dumb question.” What may seem totally obvious to some is a major confusion to others. Here are some examples…because like your teacher used to say, “Someone probably has that same question.”

Cutting the stitching on suits:

Last weekend a client called me the morning of his wedding. We had J.Hilburn make him a gorgeous suit for his Big Day—black, single-breasted, two-button, hacking pockets, side vents, blue lining—to set him apart from the double breasted suits of his groomsmen. Let me preface by saying that this guy knows his stuff; he’s heard of the legendary Kiton suits, reads up on the latest & greatest and knows what he likes. This makes it all the more adorable when he frantically asks if he can cut the stitching off his left chest pocket—to accommodate a pocket square.

I know how it is, you may be wearing something so nice, or expensive, or custom and you really care about how you look. So the thought of messing that up makes you forget the things that you already know—basic things like: You need to cut the stitching inside your pocket to wear a pocket square and you MUST cut the stitching on the vents of your sport coat (regardless of if you have a side or center vent.)

Photo: Mr.Porter.com

Too tight freight:

I’ve seen both ends of this spectrum: the guy that (intentionally or unintentionally) wears his clothes really really close to his body (tight)…and conversely, the one who is drowning in his trousers, fearful of looking ‘too European.’ Change your shirt IF, you can see ALL of your pecs or ALL of your biceps. Change your pants, IF you can see the outline of your pockets (front or back). Or actually, if you can see anything…Change your shirt IF you can grab a handful of fabric on each side. Change your pants IF we have no idea where is your leg.

Match your belt & shoes, socks don’t matter:

Match your belt to your shoes. So that means owning a tan, black & brown belt (and shoes). Socks can be your little secret, or a conversation starter with that good looking girl sitting across from you at the airport.

brown belt & shoes Photo: JHilburn.com

tan belt & shoes-AG Jeans Photo: JHilburn.com

black belt & shoes Photo: JHilburn.com

P.S. J.Hilburn made the Forbes list of most promising companies!

I did an interview with The Menswear Journal. It was published over the weekend.

Check it out!

Stylist Tips—Lena Piskorowski Talks Detroit Style & Building a Wardrobe

They were interested to hear about Detroit style and how guys in the ‘D’ compare to those living in the East & West coasts.

I’m learning that anything you say is really fair game to show up in print! I mean, I don’t become real angry when guys where ‘gym shoes’ as ‘real shoes’ but it does bother me…a lot.

P.S. Have you looked inside the September issue of Men’s Journal? I’m pretty proud of our (very handsome) J.Hilburn spread. You too can wear everything you see on him! (sport coat, shirt, sweater, jeans & socks!) See color options here: www.JHilburn.com

There’s a lot going on now fashion-wise, due to New York Fashion Week—(whether you’re in NYC or just following along cyberly—made up word,obviously). It’s easy to feel like it’s all just too much to digest & keep up with. That’s why, I find it particularly refreshing to see fashion not take itself so seriously sometimes. Enter these two videos.

One, is for the Lanvin Fall 2011 campaign, brought to my attention by Nick of The Menswear Journal. The gangly awkwardness of these models is hilarious. I’m sure (I hope) they intended to do so. Although, you can totally tell that one is trying way harder than the other. 5-6-7-8!

The second is a music video of my friend Vito Polizzi’s newest release, Dry Clean Only. Listen to the words people; he’s a clever one!

As most of you know, the September issues of fashion magazines—male or female, are the thickest of the year. This excites me.

Trends change (more so for women), but the format of the magazines remain the same. For men, it’s always some time of ‘guide’ or ‘rules’ of style.

One of the first magazines I tackled was Men’s Health. (It just happen to be on the top of the pile.) These are their ‘rules’ that I want to highlight:

1. “It’s more important to look good every day than to look different every day.”
2. “Wear a tie when you’re asking for money.”
3. “A man wears a watch. (Match the watch to your look.)”
4. “Bosses wear white shirts. Drones wear blue shirts. That’s why they’re called ‘white collar’ and ‘blue collar.’”
5. Keep a set of clean clothes in your car or office. You never know when you’ll spill mustard on yourself…or your boss. (I added that last part.)

Of the 58 rules, the one that caught my eye was #23 ‘Dare to be noticed.’ This advice was given by Neil Strauss, author of The Game, his 2005 bestseller about a secret subculture of pickup artists. Have you ever seen the show, The Pickup Artist? Complete comedy! I remember my roommate & I watching…as ‘terms’ where given for how to get a girl to talk to you by offending her (a neg), keeping her interested (push-pull), and techniques for closing (kiss close).

As a ‘two-set,’ we both agreed that if a guy wearing a fuzzy costume hat or cape approached us at the bar, we probably wouldn’t give him enough time to show us his ‘magic tricks’ with or without his sidekick, Matador!

The technique of wearing something amusing to use as your ‘opener’ is called peacocking. By wearing, aviation goggles (?) you are letting someone ‘open’ you…

If you push away all this nonsense and really get to the point, much of it does make sense…to a certain degree.

As you read peoples’ rules of style and ways to get her to go home with you, or just text you back, remember that the best piece of advice is to wear your confidence. When you put something on and you feel ready to see and be seen, those are the right clothes. (Even if someone else thinks it’s ridiculous!)

(Yes, I do feel like I just gave a pep talk to a recently broken-hearted friend. Ha. But I meant everything I said.)

Yes, that’s right. I’m getting hitched! My (now) fiancé proposed on August 4 in front of a lighthouse in Portland, Maine. It’s a pretty cool story…

I had known this was coming, for several reasons actually. One of them being because I recently picked out my ring. Scratch that—I put it on HOLD. I know that sounds terribly, ballsy? of me. And honestly, years ago when my girlfriends and I would sit around and wonder who we would be with (and who would be the first to get married), we also questioned how the whole ring buying would go down.

For the guys reading this, yes, it does sound a bit nauseating. This is what young single women discuss over multiple bottles of wine. To the female readers, you know what I’m talking about.

We used to chat about things like, how would we get him to know what kind of ring we liked? Do we pick it out together? Is that anti-climatic? Do I show my craziness and drop hints all over the damn places hoping he gets ‘it’? Do I make sure my best friend, sister or nearest female knows of the style I like as to avoid any unwanted surprises? And of course, there’s always the girl that says she wouldn’t care what it looked like. (Most everyone else in the group was annoyed by this.)

Do Americans place a high importance on every part of the engagement process? Yes. Is some of it waaay out of hand? Absolutely. Is some of it actually kind of fun? I hope so.

When I was younger, I did not picture me putting a ring on hold like some kind of ‘this is what you are getting me’ take charge woman. But you know what? I’m glad I did it that way. What started as a mere, ‘I have no clue what shape I like, I guess I should take my friend’s advice and go to the antique shop down the street so I can try them on and give my boyfriend some feedback.’ turned into me getting the first ring I ever tried.

The point that I want to make here is that ladies should know what they want and not be afraid to let the person in your life know it. I think of the male clients I work with and I can’t imagine someone telling any of them that they will have to wear something for the rest of their lives; they have no say in it; they will get it as a surprise, and will have to like it. (Oh and everyone they know and even people they don’t know, will want to see it.) Why should women have to like being surprised? If it’s a birthday present, fine. But for an engagement ring? It just makes no sense.

The story of the day I tired on rings is quite entertaining or maybe just how my little sister tells it. One thing I learned is that you really have to try on different shapes as you may like a particular shape, but not how it looks on your hand. Also, if you walk into a jewelry shop…with your sister…wearing a sports bra (hey, we were on a bike ride), people will think you have a fictitious boyfriend and that you just want to play ‘dress up’ with rings. Awesome feeling…no.

My ring is vintage (from the 1920s). I love it. I’m obsessed with it. Thank God Mike did go back and get it (because I would stare at the picture I took of it on my phone. See, there’s a little bit of crazy in us all.)

If you are looking for jewelry now, or plan to be in the future, I would highly recommend going to see Pamela at her shop, Antiques by Pamela in Rochester, MI. Inside, you’ll find an eclectic mix of new and old. Because it’s only stocked with ‘one-of’’ pieces, they sell quickly. (Hence, the need for the hold, ha.)

Pamela is a certified Gemologist, so I listen to the woman! When you have nice things, you want them to stay nice. The first few days of having this ring, I was so afraid I would ruin it. I.E. When washing my hands, I would take off the ring and hold it in my mouth until I had dried my hands. Ridiculous, I know.

I’m learning bridal sites/magazines can be filled with nonsense. Upon reading that vodka and a toothbrush can clean your diamond, I consulted with Pamela on this. Her response, ‘No vodka! Just in my martini!’

Another phrase I’ve heard a few times from her, ‘It’s the first thing you take off  in the house and the last thing you put on before you walk out the door.’ That may be a little too cautious for some, but she stresses not to wear your ring in the shower (shampoo/conditioner cause soap scum build up) or while you sleep (not sure why on this one?). She is also giving me a bottle of some type of cleaner. If it works well, I will post the name of it. So all of you can have sparkly gems!