The gilet earns its place in a wardrobe by solving a specific problem that a jacket cannot. You need your arms free, you need to move, but you still need a core layer that does some actual work against the cold. A slim gilet can look considered but it restricts. A boxy one looks like you grabbed whatever was hanging by the door. Regular fit is the version that gets it right, sitting properly across the chest and shoulders without clamping down on you when you reach or twist or load something into the back of a car.

We have been looking specifically at gilets with enough structure to wear over a shirt or midlayer without collapsing, and enough restraint in the design to work with what most men already own. No aggressive branding. No quilting that looks better on a catalogue page than in real life. These are the ones that feel like a considered part of the outfit rather than an afterthought pulled over the top of one.