French Cuffs: How To Wear Them

Since we launched the Kickstarter for Hucklebury, I’ve been asked about the lack of french cuff options. I have discussed occasions to wear cufflinks as well as different styles of cuffs (with an infographic) in earlier articles. This post came about due to an interesting discussion that arose from queries – how do you wear your french cuffs? It came to my attention that there are ways besides what I consider the norm to wearing french cuffs, so I spent some time learning about them and felt I should write about it. So here are the 3 different ways of wearing french cuffs:

Kissing French Cuffs

This is the style I always utilize when it comes to french cuffs, and is the way that they should be worn without exception as french cuffs are considered formal wear. How this is worn is best expressed through the image below (Image courtesy: The How To WASP). The ends of the cuff should be kissing each other, with the holes lined up for you to pass your cufflink through.

Undone French Cuffs

It came to my attention that some people tend to NOT wear cufflinks, i.e. they stop at the middle image above where they fold back the cuff but do not utilize a cuff link. This was surprising to me, as it would look ungainly to say the least. However, this style is used only when wearing something over the shirt – like a sweater – so that it keeps the cuffs in place. I personally don’t agree with the concept of wearing french cuffs in a casual environment. The undone cuffs would look something like the image to the right but without the cufflink (Image courtesy: An Affordable Wardrobe).

Barrel French Cuffs

The use of this style surprised me the most. Apparently, instead of making the cuff ends kiss, people pass one end below the other, align the holes and pass a cufflink through them – in effect creating a BARREL cuff. A variation of this is to slide one end of the cuff into the other and then pass through a cufflink – as shown in the image on the left (Image courtesy: Effortless Gent). What is confusing is that if you want to wear french cuffs like barrel cuffs, why not just wear a shirt with a barrel cuff in the first place? The reasoning behind this particular style is that the cuff does not get in the way when working at a computer.

 

At the end of the day, it is best to develop your own personal style unique to yourself and if you feel that you can rock either of the unconventional looks, go for it. Personally, I wear french cuffs only as formal wear and stick to the Kissing style. If I know I’ll be working at a computer, I would wear a barrel cuff shirt. Do let me know if there is something I’ve missed and your thoughts on the matter in the comments below!

 

Apologies for the two week hiatus between articles. Hucklebury’s Kickstarter has been keeping me busy. If you enjoy reading Art of Style, do take some time to support us – every small pledge means the world to us.