Reading the title of this article may elicit the odd scoff and thoughts of hyperbole, but how many times have you been at a dinner party, or in a meeting, filled with people (not so much, lately, I know) all wearing very fine suits and yet your eyes are directed towards those exposed cuffs of one particular attendee and their spectacular cufflinks?
I’m guessing, more than just the once. To get a great pair of cufflinks and especially one that sets off your particular suit / shirt combination requires a degree of taste and refinement. But more than that, the cufflink gives you the chance to imbue your attire with a small but concentrated morsel of your very personality and character. That is why a pair of cufflinks will be very much more than the cherry on top of the cake. It will be the very foundation of your look and a reflection of what makes you, well, you.
With this in mind, it is wise not to take this as carte blanche to go for a quirky cufflink that screams a particular element of your personality (a favourite show, football team or band for instance) as this well come across as somewhat cartoonish and infantile. It is far better to choose a classic cufflink that somehow represents your own unique idea of style. This will be the finishing touch to complete all manner of suits from men’s wedding suits to men’s business suits and everything in between and beyond. There are so many beautiful examples of cufflinks on the market today that it should be easy to find something that is classic, contemporary and yet imbued with that intangible element that somehow best represents your style.
A couple of tips on choosing the right cufflinks – or at least elements of the right cufflinks – for your particular suit and other attire, include:
Matching the metal
If your cufflinks are made of a particular metal (silver or gold for example) then you should make sure that it best matches the other metals in your outfit. This could be a belt buckle, or shoe buckle, or any other jewellery. This is not set in stone, as there are examples where a contrast can work, but it is a solid suggestion.
Colour coding
You might have fallen for some cufflinks with coloured enamelling and who could blame you? If you have opted for coloured cufflinks then you should make sure you coordinate them with your outfit. This is fairly easy. Choose a shirt that offsets or matches one of the colours in the cufflinks or even a pocket square that does the same.
Display those cuffs
In order to best show off the cufflinks and extract the full impact they can have, more and more men are wearing shirt with the cuff on display, extended from the bottom of the suit jacket sleeves. This is a powerful look, as long as the shirt is of high quality and the cufflinks are well chosen.