2011 Fall/Winter Trends Day One- The Chunky Sweater

Today kicks off my September Series featuring all the must have pieces of the season! Today's winner? The Chunky Sweater.

Heavy cable cardigans with a shawl collar, thick Nordic Fair Isle sweaters, any chunky knit will do! I prefer versatile solid neutrals that can layer nicely with a tee, button down or maybe a vest, and a cool scarf.

What makes it work? I have two suggestions. The first is proportion. This piece is bulky, and you don't want to look sloppy, like you are lounging around the house on a Saturday in your jammies and we happened to catch you while running out for beer. So keep the bottom trim. You don't want voluminous proportions on both the top and bottom simultaneously. So a trim pair of jeans or cords will work nicely. Take a look at Brad Pitt here:

INF/www.people.com

While I totally applaud the highly fashionable sweater, he still looks a little frumpy. Its the pants. He can pull those off with a nice trim tee or turtleneck on top, but the sweater requires a slimmer fit on bottom.

Here's a picture off the website for Allsaints Spitafields. If you aren't familiar with this company (both men and women) you HAVE to take a second and check them out. Their quality is fantastic, they are constantly cutting edge, and are notorious for unique detailing in their construction. But back to the sweater:

See? Trim pant and the proportions look right. Granted, these are full on skinny jeans, but slim straight cut jean or cotton pant will work just as nicely. The fantastic online Men's store, Mr Porter has a feature article this week on their site about chunky shawl collar sweaters, four of the five examples of which pair them with a trim jean or trouser.

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett

My other suggestion is, contrary to what might seem intuitive for this trend, avoid vintage. Unless you have a really high end vintage shop that is very discerning about what they resell, vintage sweaters often have bad piling--which only makes them look to be exactly what they are. Old. This is a piece you can wear for years to come, so invest in a nice chunky sweater, be warm, comfortable and right on trend.

Do you already have this trend in your closet?