Women love jewelry, they have many items for differing occasions that need to match their outfit. A man’s jewelry usually consists of a wedding ring, a few exclusive time pieces, perhaps a quality pen and a few pairs of cufflinks. Those with an eye for detail will carefully coordinate a pair of cufflinks with their watch, wedding ring, tie, shirt, suspenders, socks and suit.
Cufflinks should only be worn with shirts with double cuffs, also known as French cuffs, which the French themselves call Musketeers cuffs. A shirt should either be double cuff with button holes but no buttons, or single cuff with buttons. Certain shirts have both which looks silly, and are against the shirt etiquette and should therefore be avoided at all times. There are many different types of cufflinks, from very formal and subtle ones that go well with the black tie dress code, to those with a photo of your pet in them which you can wear to Disneyworld. A man tunes his cufflinks to the occasion or mood he is in. There are different metals and plating, stones or other materials from which cufflinks are made. Cufflinks that will always look and feel great on pretty much any shirt are sterling silver with mother of pearl. If you look for something more creative or exclusive check out these brands; Paul Smith, Longmire, Turnbull & Asser, Montblanc, Tiffany & Co , Kenneth Cole, Cartier, and Bulgari. Most of these brands’ cufflinks have been imitated and are sold for a nickel and a dime at certain holiday destinations in especially Asia. Avoid wearing those, they look bad and having your cufflinks break in the middle of a board meeting will not impress any of the stakeholders.
The shirt and cufflink etiquette means to believe that a double cuff shirt with cufflinks is only to be worn in combination with a suit. Not on jeans, even not combined with a Corneliani jacket. However, many students, playboys in the nightclubs and young professionals wear double cuff shirts on jeans. Fashion is not about following etiquette, but rather about creating one’s own rules. There are men who believe you shouldn’t wear cufflinks if you are younger the 30 years of age. It doesn’t matter, as long as you enjoy wearing them.
Why would someone wear cufflinks? It is mostly a matter of culture and interest. More than three centuries ago, the elite in supposedly the United Kingdom started wearing them as a form of luxurious decoration. Up until today some cufflinks are handcrafted from materials such as gold and gems such as turquoise that cost you a fortune. In general, the wealthier man or those with senior positions in companies wear cufflinks. Someone with a job in construction would find double cuffed shirts to be very unhandy during work times since the tip of the cuff moves away from the wrist and the cufflink might get stuck in some automotive part. A double cuff shirt is perceived as more elegant, it’s not a worker’s shirt. Shirts to wear with a smoking are double cuff, bankers in London and Hong Kong’s financial district prefer to wear double cuff shirts. Double cuff shirts with fancy, yet subtle cufflinks somewhat claim authority and are perceived as sexy by many women.
Italy and the United Kingdom are still regarded as the most influential countries in the men’s formal wear fashion industry. Strangely however, only the English have kept their cufflinks through the centuries. Italians are rarely spotted with cufflinks. London is definitely the Mecca for all cufflinks aficionados. Although in certain social circuits in Milan, Rome, Florence and Naples, many men do buy cufflinks from their boutique store around the corner. In the United States of America you will find an occasional American CEO wearing cufflinks and some well-dressed playboys in nightclubs.
When you shop for cufflinks in India, you need to take care of the following points. Cufflinks come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. Starting from Crystal cufflinks and Gold Cufflinks which help you create a rich formal look to Stone cufflinks and Enamel Cufflinks which can be worn at semi-formal, semi-casual events as they are flexible and will go according to your style. And then there are Fun cufflinks which are meant to be worn at casual events to tune up your style quotient.
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