French cuffs - why bother?

A bit tacky - but due to the heat blokes here do it - its not a big issue. But at least wear silk knots or looped buttons.

But didn't I recall you saying you had contrasting collars and cuffs?= Super tacky without a jacket.
 
N O O O O

The no jacket French cuff look in my mind's eye is always the contrast collar and cuffs look
 
The contrast cuff (only white is acceptable really) can be good but must be say a rich shimmery blue or pink stripe body - the white contrast collar and cuff then frames the face nicely like a white shirt whilst the rich coloured stripes only show on the V formed by the jacket front. It is the only way horizontal stripes work on a shirt. . It works best with a satin type body and striped. This is a good look mainly best at night. During the day it can be a bit try hard. It is not a look to wear without a jacket or a tie. It is advanced/masters class "formal" dressing. It is not for beginners or average people.

Pauly - me and headmaster thruth request you go home in the next break and change into something appropriate.
 
Pauly Chase said:
I am not wearig french cuffs today. Was just wondering. No want to be tacky
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Do this instead
llb_2.jpg
 
A rather femme thing I did exactly once was to wear a French cuff shirt under a bulky sweater with jeans and jsut fold the unlinked cuff over the knit cuff.
 
I prefer french cuffs. No real reason in my mind when I'm dressing. I have few cufflinks. Just some subtle pieces and silk knots for a casual flair in my dress down suit days. I saw express making french cuff shirts on their websites now. I pray that I don't have to make a lot of new shirts just to get barrel cuffs.
 
Pauly Chase said:
My first french cuff is on its way. Getting excited.

What do you guys think of contrast collar and French cuffs? RLPL has a few that looks really good in the pictures. Not sure how it looks IRL.
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I've got a few with contrasting collar and cuffs - plain blue, end on end blue, blue Bengal, and silvery grey stripe (slightly wider than Bengal. I like them but there is a risk of looking flashy. Wear them wisely with conservative suits, classic black oxfords, and tasteful ties, this will lessen the chance of looking like an arse.
 
Algernon Crisp said:
I've got a few with contrasting collar and cuffs - plain blue, end on end blue, blue Bengal, and silvery grey stripe (slightly wider than Bengal. I like them but there is a risk of looking flashy. Wear them wisely with conservative suits, classic black oxfords, and tasteful ties, this will lessen the chance of looking like an arse.
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Emphasis placed here. Any strong and powerful piece needs subtlety from the rest of ensemble, or can just be iGent.
 
Pauly Chase said:
Can French Cuffed shirt be worn alone without a jacket? I always assumed it has to be worn with a jacket and a tie.
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fxh said:
A bit tacky - but due to the heat blokes here do it - its not a big issue. But at least wear silk knots or looped buttons.

But didn't I recall you saying you had contrasting collars and cuffs?= Super tacky without a jacket.
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I wear double cuffs all the time with just a shirt. Typical daily wear during the summer would be chinos and a T M Lewin shirt with double cuffs.

As said though, contrast collar / cuffs with no shirt is a kill it with fire crime.

In terms of cuff links, my main ones are a pair of engine-turned gold chain links, rectangular with clipped corners (or whatever the correct term is) made in Birmingham in the 30s. These are about as classic as they come, and you can get beautiful ones very reasonably on ebay.

For day to day wear, I'm a bit of a history nut and I have sets with portraits of various historical figures on them - Wellington, Nelson, Napoleon, Cromwell, that sort of thing. Again, these were off ebay and cost about 10 quid a pair, choice of gold(tone) or silver(tone).

This is one of those big differences between the UK and the US - cuff links really aren't a big deal here. People do notice them from time to time, but they're not considered mystical wrist artefacts in the way they seem to be in America.
 
I bought some silk knots on the Bay for cheap. I rarely wear my french cuffed shirts, so I opted out of spending a ton of money on links.
To me French Cuffs and Spread collar shirts are pretty powerful pieces.
 
Pauly Chase said:
Emphasis placed here. Any strong and powerful piece needs subtlety from the rest of ensemble, or can just be iGent.
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Absolutely. Thinking back, the last time I wore one was as follows:

Blue end on end double cuff shirt contrast collar and cuffs
Very traditional and conservative blue pinstripe 3 piece suit (double breasted waistcoat, with a nice shield-shaped opening). It's made from a seriously traditional, restrained English cloth, not a flashy pinstripe.
Royal blue lace weave tie with small dots from T&A
White batiste cotton handkerchief
Black Oxfords
Ribbed dark blue socks
Simple gold 1930s cuff links as described above

Most of what I was wearing was very classic (or old fashioned, if you like) British gear, so there really isn't much chance of looking like Gordon Gekko or a City wide boy.
 
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Contrast collars are actually very old - they date back to the days when collars were detachable as standard, so long before Wall Street.
 
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