Known by the name of French cuff, the shirts made especially for cufflinks are more versatile than the barrel cuff ones with a button closure system, being a sophisticated choice for the daytime business meetings but as well for the formal events, when you can easily match them with the self tie bow.
The cufflinks history is tightly connected to the evolution of the shirts, initially designed as clothing pieces that protects the skin against the exterior clothing. Starting with the middle ages, the shirts had decorative elements such as flounces or sophisticated embroidery. The flounces were places around the wrists and they slowly transformed into the cuffs tight around with ropes, leather straps or lacing.
Slowly as the men adopted the sophisticated cufflinks for the closure system of the winter coats and shirts, it was a very natural step to use them for the cuffs of the shirts too, under the name of cufflinks, or “bouton de manchette” in French, gradually evolving with the disappearance of the flounces around the wrists, at the end of XVIII century.
Around 1850, a modern cuff appeared, similar to the one we see nowadays; a 3 inch fabric stripe attached at the very edge of the cuff closed with one or more buttons, being called barrel cuff. The double French cuff appeared in the same period being starched and very rigid. Looking for a closing system for the rigid cuffs, they ended up with the chain connected cufflinks or the cufflinks connected with a metal rod, another popular alternative were the cufflinks manufactured out of two fixed elements, one of them replacing the buttonhole. The cufflinks were reflecting the design and style of the jewels in the Georgian era, the paintings representing portraits, gemstones and crystals being transformed into cufflinks.
The industrial revolution made the mass production of the cufflinks easier, the cufflinks being worn by nearly anyone, it did not matter the sex or statute; the cufflinks today can be in many different styles, being manufactured out of a variety of materials, different shapes and different types of closure.
Any men should own at least two pair ofcufflinks in his wardrobe, to match the elegant and business attires. For the smart casual outfitsthe nonconformist materials are recommended; such as leather or raisin, and the cufflinks can be worn in two different ways: at the cuffs of your shirt, or at the buttonhole of your jacket, as a lapel pin.
In the first place, an important detail is the length of the sleeve’s shirt. A shirt with French cuffs should always touch the base of your thumb and the cuff should be tight enough to take the shape of a horseshoe around your wrist. This way the cuff will not go over the wrist line even if the length of the shit’s sleeve has a longer length. The buttonhole of the cuff should be positioned in the centre and close to the edge, so the extra fabric will not go outside the shape or the cuff being too tight.
The cufflinks should be manufactured out of strong materials such as stainless steel, carbon fibre, rhodium, titanium, precious metals (Gold, Silver), precious stones or gemstones (onyx, lapis lazuli, mother of pearl hematite, Scythian Swarovski, etc.) glass, textile materials, leather. Regarding the shape the cufflinks they can be rectangular, round, cylindrical, square.
7 essential recommendations from our fashion advisers
1. When wearing a shirt with cuffs for cufflinks, , the correct order is the following: Watch/Bracelet, shirt, pullover, jacket, coat.
2. You should never open the jacket’s buttons to highlight your cufflinks, that’s why we recommend you a made to measure suit, that will easily avoid a situation where the jacket’s sleeve goes over the wrist and it goes down to your fingers.
3. The cufflinks have to be chosen according to the event you are attending. At a business meeting, you can opt for classic cufflinks, with simple lines, always matching your suit.
4. If you have a job that allows you to wear a more relaxed outfit, you have the option of choosing out of a wide variety of joyful cufflinks, different themes, according your hobbies.
5. The cufflinks have to chromatically match your outfit, in the most cases, you need to match them to your suit. The general rule is that the cufflinks should match the darkest colour in your outfit (This usually being the suits colour).
6. Depending on the pattern cut of the suit, even if you picked a classic suit or a smoking, you will match the cufflinks accordingly. For example for a classic suit, with straight lines, you can wear a pair of cufflinks with straight lines, neutral colours, made out of stainless materials, gemstones or glass. For a ceremony suit, like smoking or redingote, the best match are the sophisticated cufflinks, chromatically corresponding, made out of precious metals or stones with extravagant and curved shapes.
7. Lastly, you need to match your cufflinks to your other accessories or jewellery that you wear, opting for silver or golden cufflinks according to your other accessories.
Find out more from our style advisors Tudor Personal Tailor, visiting our showroom in Bucuresti, Cluj si Timisoara.