Illustration of the week #14: Shirt cuff showing

[alden]

We have had a few questions and remarks on the forum recently concerning the amount of shirt cuff to be shown in one’s dress. My own preference has always been for a flashy ribbon of cuff not to exceed 1 cm (3/8”). Well you might wonder how 1 cm of cotton can be flashy when some counsel wearing twice as much. And when has Alden ever suggested being “flashy” in the first place!



Normally speaking we are creatures in movement. And as we move the relationship and perspectives associated with our dress change with the movement. A fine ribbon of cotton cuff will flash, sometimes appearing wider and brighter, and sometimes almost vanishing as we move. The spectrum of these elegant and easy going appearances and disappearances is optimized when a cuff issues forth at 1 cm.



If the cuff is 2 cms (as one misguided American writer advises), the cuff will not flash, it will be constant. At times, with movement, it will appear gigantic and at other times only large. This “high beams” effect lacks subtlety. More importantly, the permanent “big cuff” look is an ally of elegance’s nemesis, Will: the trying, the desire to appear, and the massive effort that springs forth from insecurity. In elegant dress, happy combinations will seem the fruit of chance, whimsy, and the whisper of some unknown but fortuitous breeze.



From a more practical point of view, if you decide to flash your cuffs, you’ll need to know how to get your shirts made such that the proper effect is achieved. Shirts made of cotton shrink and that prized ribbon of 1 cm is likely to vanish forever unless two precautions have been taken. In the first case the cuff of the shirt should be buttoned tightly enough so it does not move much from the position we have chosen. And secondly, we have left enough fullness (extra cloth) in the forearm of the shirt’s sleeve to provide comfort in our movements and extra cloth for when the cotton shrinks.

Cheers

M Alden

[storeynicholas]

Harold John Tennant MP (by Spy), all over the place:





- and the much more debonair Marquis of Bute (by WHO):




NJS

[Gruto]

I'm glad to read that



The cloth is a "tissue paper" 13 oz. Scabal woolen flannel.

[uppercase]

I've got to say that I think that Alden's post is excellent both for the philosophy of the shirt cuff as well as the secrets of the shirt sleeve.

The amount of shirt cuff showing has always been a vexing problem for me.

The issue is always a moving target: either the coat sleeve is too long, the shirt sleeve too short, the cuff too large around hence slipping down, or some other relative proportion is wrong.

Both the coat sleeve and shirt sleeve need to be addressed together as they move in relation to each other.

First the shirt sleeve: indeed, my pet peave is the huge, wide cuffs of french cuffs on RTW shirts. They slip down my wrist and often hang to my thumb joint. Terrible. So I have abandoned RTW french cuffs and only get buttoned cuffs; they tend to button closer and hold at the T-junction of the wrist more snugly.

Now with a bespoke shirt, very few shirtmakers will cut a wider elbow which as Alden alludes to, is critical to allow the arm to bend, without shifting the position of the shirt cuff too far up the wrist bone. This is a valuable bit of information and worth consulting your shirtmaker about.

The second tailoring point to keep the cuff in a fixed position is to have a tight fitting shirt cuff; I usually only achieve this with a button cuff, not a French cuff. But if I want to wear cuff links, I'll get what is called by some a Japanese cuff , i.e., only one layer of cuff cloth: it is less bulkly and can be cuffed tighter. But in general, button cuffs just button tighther and so, I prefer these.

Ofcourse, when having the sleeve length on a coat adjusted to the proper length to allow a smidgen of shirt cuff to show, you'll need to be wearing the proper length sleeve. This reminds me of a story when I commented to a shop keeper on Jermyn St. that his ties were too short because when tied, they did not reach the waist band of my trousers. No sir he replied, your trousers are too low. I suppose he was right: Proportion is all relative and every item needs to work with the other.

In any case, when having a coat sleeve fitted, it is still usually off, most often on the too-long side; once you wear your coat for a few months,it will start to crease in the elbows and become shorter. (btw, the only tailor I know who adjusts for this occurrence is Rubinacci who cuts a wider than normal elbow on his coats and a quite narrow coat cuff, much like a shirt).

I no longer get working button holes on a coat sleeve; it allows for future adjustsments, both shorter or longer, for when the coat finally settles or my arms grow longer. I also try to get the coat sleeve cut at a slanting angle, to follow the downward slant of the shirt sleeve and maintain a constant amount of shirt sleeve showing; again most tailors just cut the coat sleeve parallel to the ground.

[uppercase]

Here are perfect shirt sleeves on an arm in motion: tight, unmoving, hugging the wrist. Neapolitan.

[Gruto]

In the first case the cuff of the shirt should be buttoned tightly enough so it does not move much from the position we have chosen.

hugging the wrist.

Do we have a different school ? I've seen several old portraits showing a wider cuff that doesn't hug the wrist. I think that a wider cuff adds comfort, especially on warm days.

[uppercase]

Alden and I are of the same school: tight cuffs.

Loose cuffs are an abomination; terribly inelegant.

I prefer a shirt cuff which cuts off the blood supply to the hands. Not every shirtmaker will make this.

The criteria for a proper shirt cuff, imo, are:

1. Sufficient length in the shirt sleeve to allow one to hold a car's steering wheel without the sleeve cuff pulling back away from the wrist.
2. Sufficient width in the shirt sleeve elbow to allow one to bend ones elbow when holding a martini without disrupting the position of the sleeve cuff.
3. A sufficently tight and long shirt cuff to hug the wrist, unmoving, throughout a range of arm motions whether reaching for Sophia Loren, a drink or racing. Plus, a sufficiently tight shirt cuff such that when standing, the shirt cuff do not slide below the 'T' of the wrist.
4. As to amount of shirt cuff showing below jacket sleeve, I am agnostic: none of de Sica's suit coats show the shirt cuff; it is his personal preference. He knew what he was doing. Though I personally prefer a bit of shirt cuff showing. Yours look good Gruto.

[marcelo]

I prefer a shirt cuff which cuts off the blood supply to the hands. Not every shirtmaker will make this.

I also favor tight cuffs, though not to the point of making my hands numb. But how do you manage to watch the time, supposing you do not carry a fob watch? I once ordered a shirt with a slightly wider cuff on the sleeve on the left hand side, but that I was not a good solution, for I do not always like to wear a watch. The idea of wearing my watch over the cuff, as some Italian men are reported to do is out of question. Any thoughts?

M.

[alden]

But how do you manage to watch the time,

You can have the left cuff made slightly wider, go to the fitting wearing the watch you intend on using. And you can have 8 cms cuffs with two buttons. Unbutton the first button when you want to check the hour.

Michael

[Costi]

Marcelo, perhaps it is best to keep your cuffs tight and ask the time whenever you care about it... or not

[kilted2000]

Marcelo, perhaps it is best to keep your cuffs tight and ask the time whenever you care about it... or not

Is't this what pocketwatches are for?

[shredder]

I prefer a happy median, neither tight nor mammoth, like so:

[storeynicholas]

Judging by the focus of HRH's attention, one has to wonder about the next shot...
NJS

[alden]

(what oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed dear Prince)

Back to the serious work at hands.

PC is wearing cufflinks and that changes things a bit.

M Alden

[marcelo]

But how do you manage to watch the time,

You can have the left cuff made slightly wider, go to the fitting wearing the watch you intend on using. And you can have 8 cms cuffs with two buttons. Unbutton the first button when you want to check the hour.

Michael

Thanks for this, Michael. Or maybe I should just enjoy my clothes and forget about the time, as Costi suggests...