Apparently, sometime between the 1960s and the present day, someone decided that cufflinks and French cuff shirts were to be considered “formal wear” only to be worn for formal occasions. This is a grievous stereotype. God gave women earrings, and He gave men cufflinks. Cufflinks are the smile on your outfit’s face. They can give an outfit personality and charm. Today, jewelry designers and fashion retailers still make wonderful and very creative cufflinks. They range from gold engravings of initials to creative wonders such as coins, and I even found a pair of sailboat cufflinks at Banana Republic. However, no pair of cufflinks are cooler than the ones that can be obtained from your father, grandfather, or possibly even your great-grandfather. I had the good fortune to be given a pair of gold cufflinks which belonged to my great-grandfather with his initials on them which he wore in the 30s. If you don’t have a French cuff shirt or a pair of cufflinks, I urge you to go your closest retailer and pick them up. Every high end fashion retailer will have them, but if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative, you can find them in Macy’s or I prefer to get mine from Perry Ellis. Wear them with a suit, wear them with a blazer, or find your own way to rock ‘em. I think it’s high time that men’s fashion enthusiasts recaptured the glamor of Frank Sinatra or Sean Connery as James Bond, or copped Don Draper’s look and started wearing cufflinks again.
If you don’t want to take my word for it, maybe you’ll listen to the words of Glenn O’Brien. GQ’s “Style Guy”. http://www.gq.com/video/gq-rules/2008/glenn-obrien-cufflink-recommendations
