The truffle hunters of Piedmont, the trifolau, traditionally went out at night. Darkness kept their grounds hidden from neighbours, and the dogs, free of daytime distractions, worked the scent more closely. Visitors now join them by daylight, usually in the early morning, but the woods are the same: oak, poplar, willow and hazel along the damp valley floors of the Langhe and the Roero, where the white truffle grows unseen among the roots.

The season for the white truffle of Alba runs through the autumn and into winter, and the International Alba White Truffle Fair is held on weekends from October. Those are cold months to be out at dawn. A Langhe morning in October often begins in fog, the nebbia that is said to have given the Nebbiolo grape its name, at a temperature nearer winter than summer; by the time lunch is served, the hills can be clear and mild.

The hunt itself is a walk of an hour or two behind the dog, off the paths, over wet leaves and through bramble, with pauses while the hunter kneels to dig with a narrow spade. The finding is done by dogs; Italian law has not allowed pigs to hunt truffles since 1985, because they damaged the ground. Trousers will be muddy at the hem, and shoes should be boots with grip. For men, PP Casual Linen Trousers in Black hide the forest floor well, or sturdier trousers of his own for heavy bramble, and a Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Dark Blue under a wool knit and a waxed cotton or wool jacket is the right combination: the linen stays comfortable against the skin as the walk warms up, and the outer layers come off as the fog lifts. The men's pieces are in the men's linen collection.

For women the logic is the same. The PP linen blouse in Sky Blue or Pink sits under a cashmere or merino knit, with sturdy trousers and boots; a scarf is useful for the first hour. The Amelia linen dress shirt is not a garment for the woods and is better kept for a warm afternoon in town. The blouse and its colourways are in the women's linen collection.

Colour deserves a thought before setting out. A hunt involves kneeling, brushing past wet branches and, with luck, handling soil-covered truffles; pale shirts show all of it. Muted, darker colours such as Dark Blue and Grey are kinder, and a small cloth bag for any truffle bought from the hunter saves a jacket pocket.

A hunt usually ends at the table, in a farmhouse kitchen or a trattoria in one of the hill towns: La Morra, Barolo, Monforte d'Alba, Neive. The classic dishes are simple vehicles for the truffle shaved over them: tajarin, the fine egg pasta of the Langhe, a fried egg, a fonduta of melted cheese. The wine is Barolo or Barbaresco, and lunch is long. In many farmhouses the boots come off at the door and the jacket goes over the chair, and what remains, a linen shirt under a knit, is right for the room. For a restaurant in Alba, a man may prefer to change into a Monte-Carlo Male in Oatmeal under a jacket; the customs of the long country lunch are touched on in what to wear to a vineyard lunch.

Through November the mornings grow colder and the fog lies longer in the valleys; December hunts are winter outings, and wool becomes the main layer with linen beneath it. Early in the season, in a warm October, the afternoons can still allow shirtsleeves on a terrace. Our note on linen in autumn follows that transition across the whole wardrobe.

Piedmont is not the only truffle country. In Tuscany the hills around San Miniato hold a white truffle market each November, Umbria is known for the black truffle of Norcia, and across the Adriatic the oak woods of Istria are hunted in the same months. The hunts are much alike everywhere, a dog, a hunter, a spade and a wood after rain, and so is the dress. For a stay that adds the market at San Miniato to the rest of the region, see what to wear in Tuscany.

In Alba itself, the truffle market of the fair is held in the old town on the weekends of the season, and a walk through it after lunch is a fitting end to the day.

Read more: What to Wear in Umbria  ·  What to Wear to a Wine Tasting