Formal shirts for white tie have single cuffs closed with a link instead of the turnbacked French versions we usually associate with links. They are an interesting change of pace on a white shirt for day wear, in my opinion, as seen in the photo of the late Bobby Kennedy.
Think of linked cuffs the next time a white shirt purchase is on your horizon.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Linked Cuffs
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8 comments:
I've actually seen a lot of shirts from that period that have both button holes on the cuffs and a sewn on button so you could either button the cuff or wear a link through the single cuff. Of course, the shirts like these off the rack ones I've seen in thrift stores may not have been Bobby's brand :D
Will,
I do not care for a lot of bulk around my wrists which is why I do not wear wristwatches or French cuffs. However, I would make an exception for this type of shirt because, of course, it is less bulky. Thanks for the idea.
Curiously, I do not care for a lot of bulk around my ankles either, which is why I wear my trousers just touching the top of my shoe.
Hope you're having a good trip.
Probably the best sartorial photo I've seen of Bobby Kennedy in a while. He was a great looking guy...probably the most athletic of the Kennedys but never seemed as neat and put together sarorially as brother Jack. His style kind of reminded me of that "sloppy New England prep" the William F. Buckley unfailingly manifested.
The linked cuff look served him well.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain wears single linked cuffs shirts very often.
In this previous blog entry about him you can see his shirt, with single cuffs closed with a link:
http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/2007/12/fit-for-king.html
I was glad to discover that this type of cuff was once rather common...
Most of my shirts come with spare collars and cuffs (regular barrel type), but since I tend to go through collars faster than the cuffs I started going for the white collar on blue shirt. This, however, requires cuffed shirts with links. I was glad to learn that others converted their spare cuffs to links as well.
It's just tough to find a seamstress that can make a decent link-hole.
I have noticed this type of shirt in Asia but it often came with strange collar flair (black ticking along the edges). So I found that this style tended to put me off on the single linked cuff. Will have to take another look.
At heart I’m still a Brooks Brothers button down shirt guy; however I have learned to use cuffed shirts every now and then. I’ve learned that cuff shirts are a great way to provide contrast when being casual as in a sports coat with no tie, or uber-casual as with jeans and Gucci moccasins. The main disadvantage to cuffed shirts is a) you have to wear a thin watch which limits your watch choices, and b) in warm weather you can’t roll up your sleeves.
The most common cuff links available have a post that is just way too long; even for French cuffs sometimes.
I was given a box of accoutrements upon my grandfather's death which included four pairs of cuff links. All of them have shorter posts (about 1cm or 0.3 inch), two with a fixed T-bar that you feed through the buttonholes. These work much better on single cuffs.
I've looked around for clasp links, but never found any, these seem to me to be ideal.
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