Right, say I.

Firstly, let's assume you are wanting to look a little fancy on your wedding day.  And if you don't care, I can assure you that your future wife will!  And if you wear a suit and tie to work everyday, I am positive (speaking from experience) that you will not want to simply pop on a work suit to head to your big day.

And if you are wanting to look sharp, you will be buying a new shirt.  Please, lads, don't go for the simple button cuffed shirt on your wedding day - it's an informal, dressed down look that stinks of a 'going to work' look.

You HAVE to wear a french cuffed shirt for your wedding.  Don't fear, they are not expensive and stores like David Jones and Myer have many varieties at very reasonable prices.

Of course you will now need to find some wedding cufflinks.  I am inclined to go with classical designs without multiple colours.  And as much as some might find this tacky - you should try to match your cufflinks with your bridal party.  I can guarantee they will be well received as a groomsmans gift and will be a talking point at some time during the night.

So lads, make sure you go with the French Cuffed shirt and matching wedding cufflinks - classical silver, black or one colour are the way to go.

You don't want to start a fight on your wedding day when you turn up with novelty 'hot and cold water taps' now do you?

For the discerning man, it is all about three things when considering the look to impress the fillies.  Clean shoes, a great tie and a set of trendy bold cufflinks.  Big and bright are in this year - and certainly the colour of your cufflinks should match your tie rather than your shirt.  Steer away from the themed cufflinks - novelty is OUT OUT OUT.  And just as important is to ensure you don't wear cufflinks on a non - french cuffed shirt.

Frech cuffed shirts have come down in price considerably over the past few years.  $60 AUD should get you a good quality shirt from one of the big retailers.  And if price is an issue, just update your shirt and tie combo with a new pair of cufflinks, polish your shoes and have your best suit dry cleaned will be enough to show you've gone to an effort.

And then all you have to do is make sure you drink loads of european beer so everyone can see your hot cufflinks!!!

We've been officially live now since April 2009 and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of developing a new site, sourcing great quality cufflinks from around the world and hearing how satisfied our customers have become.

I am pleased to say that we have achieved 100% Customer Satisfaction with each and every transaction and have been able to branch out into the wholesale market as well - with Cufflinks now stocked in Williamstown, Ivanhoe and Ascot Vale with more to come I am sure.

Breaking news - new cufflinks have just been ordered directly from the manufacturer in Turkey and are due to hit the shelves by the first week of September.  They are just perfect for the Spring Carnival.

Love Cufflinks.  We do.

Thanks for your messages of support.  I am pleased to announce that www.CuffLinked.com.au cufflinks are now stocked in a gift store in Ivanhoe, Melbourne - called So Swish (you can see their store details / address etc at www.soswish.com.au)... we've now got 28 pairs on display whcih is terrific.  Head down to So Swish - they have just the best range of gifts for all occasions and their product quality is spot on!

So with loads of effort, www.Cufflinked.com.au cufflinks are now located in stores in Williamstown, Moonee Ponds and Ivanhoe!

Onwards and upwards

www.CuffLinked.com.au

Stuart Atkins

The French cuff has brought a touch of class to men’s business shirts and with this stylish design comes a glittering pair of cufflinks pinned to the male wrist for added oomph.

Men are saying goodbye to the rigidity of wearing a basic collar and tie and jazzing up their image with cufflinks - showing they, too, like to pay attention to styling detail.

Australian men are following their English counterparts to make the cuffed shirt and cufflinks as common as putting on a pair of socks. It’s a snappier way to dress up a suit, proving you don’t have to wear a novelty tie (God forbid) or novelty socks to make your suit stand out.

Henry Bucks has been making French cuffed shirts for 113 years. According to the company’s Sales & Marketing Manager Ben Apted, the French cuff shirt has a grander presence than an ordinary white shirt when worn properly.

"The cufflinks definitely add a bit of personality to a man’s outfit," Apted says. "The cuffs tend to make more of a business statement. I think it’s really being embraced by today’s metrosexual male and men are more conscious of wanting to look better dressed."

Whether your cuffed shirt is plain white, has banker stripes with a white collar and cuffs, or is checked, the French cuff exudes class and dominates a man’s outfit like the ordinary shirt never has. It’s long been associated with the look of high flyers such as stockbrokers and lawyers, but, today, guys seem to be embracing the look like never before regardless of what field they work in.

Bruce Leishman is a 25-year-old lawyer who works for Minter Ellison in Melbourne. He wears cuffed shirts and cufflinks with his business suit, a look being adopted by many young businessmen in his field.

"My preference is for very plain cufflinks," says Leishman. "You don’t necessarily want people to be staring at your cuffs and an overbearing set of cufflinks is likely to do this. The pairs I tend to wear the most are plain silver. They can go with all shirts and compliment a good shirt, tie and suit. Cufflinks should compliment what you are wearing, not dominate it," he says.

According to the founder of Declic, Gilles Du Puy, French cuffs are making a statement about men themselves. "Cufflinks are quirky and playful. The only way a guy has been able to express himself is through his tie, but cufflinks are like a personal piece of jewellery for men and it’s a far classier look than a novelty tie. This isn’t a fad, it’s a stylish step forward," says Du Puy.

Apart from labels such as Henry Bucks and Declic, there’s an abundance of men’s fashion labels making a business out of the French cuff. There’s everyone from Trent Nathan, Jacques Britt to Geoffrey Beene to name a few. Shirts can range in price from $100 to $200 with cufflinks ranging from $50 to $200 a set.

1. We've sold over 50 pairs of cufflinks in 10 working days!

2. Our cufflinks are now stocked in a number of suburbs in Melbourne

3. Our website is enjoying ever increasing traffic numbers and we now have sites directly linking in with www.cufflinked.com.au

4. Feedback from you, our customers has been terrific. 

The hottest pairs of cufflinks have been the white cufflinks with silver stitching, the silver and black block cufflinks and the purple raindrops cufflinks.

We've already had our cufflinks used in 2 weddings and as a number of birthday and anniversary presents!  So all in all it's been a great start.  Thanks again for your support and we hope to continue to exceed your expectations!

www.cufflinked.com.au

So where did Cufflinks originate?  I've done some research and hope you find this information on cufflinks interesting.

A cufflink (also cuff link or cuff-link) is a decorative fastener worn by men or women to fasten the two sides of the cuff on a dress shirt or blouse.

Cufflinks are designed only for use with link cuffs (also known as French Cuffs or double cuffs), which have buttonholes on both sides but no buttons. These may be either single or double-length ("French") cuffs, and may be worn either "kissing," with the ends pinched together, or "barrel-style," with one end overlapping the other. Kissing cuffs are usually preferred.

Cufflink designs vary widely. The simplest design consists of a short post or chain connecting two disc-shaped parts. The part positioned on the most visible side is usually larger; a variety of designs can connect the smaller piece: It may be small enough to fit through the button hole like a button would; it may be separated and attached from the other side; or it may have a portion that swivels on the central post, aligning with the post while the link is threaded through the button-hole and swiveling into a position at right angles to the post when worn.

The visible part of a cufflink is often monogrammed or decorated in some way. There are numerous styles including novelty cufflinks, traditional cufflinks, contemporary cufflinks, utility cufflinks, and humorous cufflinks.

An alternative fastener to a cufflink is the cheaper silk knot, which are also known as monkey's fists (more properly known as a turk's head) . The ParisCharvet is credited with their introduction in the beginning of the 20th century: "Charvet [link] buttons of twisted braid are quite the style" noted the New York Times in 1908.^[1]French cuff shirts are often accompanied with a set of color-coordinated silk knots instead of double-button cufflinks. They are now rarely made from silk; often they are made from elastic. shirtmaker

The History of cufflinks goes back to the Middle Ages where its precursor, the ‘cuff string’, adorned the wrists of fashionable gentlemen of the day. One of the earliest references to what we now recognize as cufflinks was made in the London Gazette of 1684, which referred to a pair of cuff buttons set with diamonds; the same journal in 1686 also described a pair of goldSuffolk, England, where a decorated gold single chain cufflink was discovered. enameled cuff buttons. More evidence of the existence of cufflinks in the 17th century was found in

Despite its early appearance, the continual taste for adorning sleeve ends with elaborate wrist ruffles meant it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that the cufflink really came into its own as dandy-ish ruffles gave way to functionally minimal sleeves and in particular the arrival of the French Cuff Double Cuff), or as the French themselves called it poignet mousquetaire – the musketeer's cuff, paving the way for the emergence proper of cufflinks. (also called the

Initially confined to the upper echelons of society, by the 1860’s cufflink grew into the mainstream as jewelers like Child & Child in London and Krementz & Co in New York brought out cufflinks that were within the price range of the wider public.

• Cufflinks are difficult to thread through those little holes in french cuffed shirts. Ok, fair enough.
• Cufflinks are no good unless you have a french cuffed shirt. Again, fair. But ask any lady you know whether they would prefer a french cuffed shirt over a standard button cuff. (OK, I won't argue with any other points).
• Cufflinks are expensive
• Cufflinks are hard to find

Pros:

• Cufflinks add some colour to otherwise drab suit and tie dress codes
• Cufflinks invoke comments and can show a little more about your personality
• Cufflinks make a great gift
• Cufflinks look snazzy at weddings!
• Cufflinks can be functional (check out my roulette cufflinks at www.cufflinked.com.au)
• Cufflinks hold together the cuff PERFECTLY!

In a box or draw with their old cigarette lighters, coins from Asia, 20 year old cufflinks and their old healthcare cards?  Yep, all rattling around together.

Well that's a sure way of ruining your cufflinks.  There are two main ways to store cufflinks to avoid damaging them.

1. Simply keep them in the box they arrived in.  I've never seen cufflinks arrive in anything other than a cufflink box and they are perfect to keep your cufflinks in perfect condition.

2. A step up from this is to purchase a cufflink storage box however these are very expensive.  They can make a great gift and are especially useful for men and women who have a number of watches as well.

The moral of the story is not to throw out your cufflink boxes.  Oh, and if you need some more, email me at stuart.atkins@cufflinked.com.au - I've got loads!