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Taking original style into the 21st century

Of the cuff

4/8/2016

3 Comments

 
​I keep banging on about these iTailor but it’s been a while since I’ve properly done a post on them. Just to clarify, they are incredible.

Yesterday my new shirt arrived from iTailor. It fits perfectly, the pattern is exquisite and, to my contentment, they have done something good with the cuffs. 

I was in a constant quandary with cuffs. I wanted to have French cuffs so I can wear links and so they look brill with a suit jacket, as per the pic of Pete Townshend below. I like the straight front edge; a sharp line for maximum impact on the eye.
Picture
Pete Townshend repping the French cuff
​​However, it’s a pain in the arse to have to wear cufflinks all the time. When you’re (relatively) casual, you don’t want to be worrying about carrying extra valuable bits of metal around. Plus, if you wear jackets with any kind of elasticated cuffs (e.g. Parkas, Harringtons, MA-1s, MA-2s, anything really) then cufflinks feel even more awkward, to the extent that it might actually damage the shirt up in the sleeve.

So recently I’ve been opting for the twin-button “barrel” cuffs. I quite like these. They’re elegant, but practical, going smoothly into the sleeves of a Harrington without complaint. For a bit of variation, you can select diagonal edges, which are a bit unusual and they still look quite good with suit jackets. But they don’t accommodate cufflinks at all.
Picture
Barrel cuff
Picture
One-button cuff
So French cuffs look the best but aren’t practical for daily use. Barrel cuffs are fine for the everyday, but when you want to don some cufflinks to look your best, they’re totally useless. 

It’s a conundrum. A riddle of sorts. Before now, I was convinced it was certainly the most significant thing that all Mods should be concerned about in the world today.

But on my new shirt: behold the single-button cuff with horizontal incision (yes, the orange thread was my idea).

This shouldn’t really need such a big reveal because it’s the most obvious thing ever, but I thought iTailor didn’t do this!

A single button to tie up the cuff for practical usage, with a second button for tight or loose fitting. 

And, between those two buttons, a small horizontal hole cut in the fabric. For cufflinks of course. 

I first saw this in use on an M&S shirt back in the day, it just seems so unusual now to see this convenient detail that I was over the moon and it’s got to be the best bit about this new shirt. 

From now on, I all shirtmakers should do this by default. Fuck everything else, this is the answer.
Picture
3 Comments
Rod link
5/8/2016 12:55:13 am

Well it's all about opinions innit? And my opinion is that is NOT the answer.
The answer is to wear formal shirts with French (double) cuffs and cuff links with suits, in more sober patterns and textures, and have less formal shirts with barrel (button) cuffs in louder patterns and rougher textures for casual outfits.
Trying to create some 'one size fits all' for all occasions means you do neither thing well. Would you have one pair of trainers for running, basketball and five-a-side?
Some interesting posts on your site but this one didn't work for me. Rock on matey!

Reply
Editor
5/8/2016 04:04:06 pm

Haha yeah, that's definitely fair enough!

You're right, the single-button cuff situation is more of a neat stop-gap that gives you wardrobe options. I didn't mean to imply it was some kind of answer, as, let's be honest - this isn't really a conundrum!

I think I was getting a little over-excited about a new shirt. Cheers for the comment tho mate, I like a good discussion.

Reply
Rod link
5/8/2016 04:11:21 pm

Yeah I don't mean to labour the point but I think your cuffs are gonna look awfully cluttered if you wedge a cuff link between those two buttons. And if the shirt was tailored - why do you need two buttons anyway? Get one placed in a good position and you don't need the other.
Anyway I like to get into a good discussion too - keep it up! I heard some good things about itailor - haven't used them myself but recently ordered an MTM shirt from 'proper cloth' which will arrive soon so we'll see how that turns out. I'll probably post pics and impressions some time at rodsmodblog.wordpress.com. Cheers, Rod.




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