I used to wear them to work (waiting), and I quite liked them. I had a few different antique links from my Grandpa and I just loved the style, the shine, and the heft of having that Art Deco period bling at your wrists. I also bought a nice modern pair of cufflinks that were sort of barbell like, and they were really sturdy, but seemed to weigh down my cuffs into the dreck as I cleared dishes.
Ah, I see, I guess I have never wore french cuffs then, I didn’t realize they fold over on themselves… but the "single linked’ cuffs I wore all the time… standard tuxedo shirt or dress shirt.
I honestly didn’t know these existed. I though cuff links were just things you put over the buttons.
I dunno about these cuffs I’ve apparently never heard of, but I do think that, if you can get your hand through barrel cuff when it’s button, that means the cuff is too big. The whole point is to keep my had from sliding back up the sleeve.
I kinda expected this to be even more enforced in these more formal things, where I’d expect you’d get things measured to fit you exactly.
I had to look them up, but put down “actively dislike”. I like my clothes to be as simple and basic as possible; anything beyond that is an irritation. I don’t even like wearing long sleeves unless it’s cold.
IANAGuy, but FinanceBro bought one without realizing it had French cuffs, Mom gave him some steel links Dad was able to get on and off by himself, FinanceBro now has three shirts with French cuffs (one white, two dark) and two sets of links he can get on and off without problems. The second set of links are leather: one leather button, with a strip of leather threaded through the button “hole” that’s in the button’s back and then knotted. If he wants to make them look fancy, for example for a wedding, he upgrades the links.
I wear them with my tux, and don’t like them at all. Hard to get the cuff links in, especially when the shirt is starched. My primary reason for wearing a tux has always been playing music, and the cuffs interfere with guitar-playing and moving gear. I guess if I could afford tailor-made shirts they might get in the way less.
Especially when they’re white and the rest of the shirt is not white.
Anyone wearing a blue shirt with white collar and cuffs is instantly and irrevocably branded by me as an arrogant asshole. More often than not, this is proven to be true as soon as they open their mouth.
I went through a phase of wearing French-cuffed shirts when I first moved to London, but that ended quite some time ago. I wasn’t really enthused about amassing a collection of cuff links and so preferred silk knots.
I don’t mind French cuffs. I hate conspicuous cufflinks. I wear no jewelry, no rings, no wristwatch, no tie pins, etc. I’ll wear French cuffs only if I have those nearly invisible little white cufflinks that blend into the shirt.
If so, you were reading the words of someone who is essentially clueless. French cuffs have never been exclusive to the nighttime, or even particularly associated with it (though they are basically standard on tuxedo shirts).
I think this is really interesting. None of these attitudes seem to prevail in England, where both men and women routinely wear single or double cuffed shirts with cufflinks. My favourite pair of cufflinks have one of the Mr Men on them. Can’t remember which one - maybe Mr Perfect ;). Though for work, I usually wear silk knots (for those of you who only don’t wear them because of the alleged noise of the link on the desk - try the fabric links). The nicest cufflinks in the house belong to my partner, though, and are beautiful Art Deco silver and mother-of-pearl, very subtle and classy.
The thing about people in two-tone shirts being twats, though - that goes double here. I wouldn’t wear one, even if given it as a gift, because I don’t want people to think I’m a jumped-up incompetent wideboy.
French cuffs would be ideal for me - my arms are much too long for conventional shirt sizing. Wear a shirt with a, say, 36" length and fold the cuff down and it would be about right.
I have a shirt that I received a gift that’s rather nice, and I needed something to wear to the hospital, but I discovered the problem with French cuffs while I was there. There’s no good way to roll up the sleeves, and as somebody else mentioned, if they fit well, you can’t really just pull them up very far. So I guess no more French cuffs for me, although I did like the look of them.
Question: are you just not supposed to wear a watch with French cuffs? Or do you have to wear a rather slim one and kind of peak at the side of it through the cuff?