Key takeaways
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01
Nine cuff names sound like nine decisions. It’s really two: how the cuff closes, and the shape of its corners.
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02
For most of the week a button cuff is the right call. Save French cuffs for the days that need a jacket and a reason.
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03
If you wear a watch, ask for an adjustable cuff. It’s the difference between a cuff that sits over the watch and one that catches on it.
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04
Black tie means French cuffs. The single link cuff belongs to white tie, one step more formal again.
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05
Dress the cuff and the collar to the same level. French cuffs under a button-down collar look like half a shirt got the memo.
Shirt cuffs are one of the few details you get to choose when a dress shirt is made for you, and they're the part people see at the end of your jacket sleeve all day. They also decide how dressy the shirt reads, before anyone has looked at the collar.
There are more types of shirt cuffs than most men realise, and they're easier to choose between than the names suggest. These are the options we put in front of clients at a shirt fitting, from the everyday button cuff to the French cuff you'd wear with cufflinks. Our senior tailor, Scott Grant, walks through all nine in the video below.
The Two Choices Behind Every Shirt Cuff
Every shirt cuff comes down to two choices: how it fastens, and the shape of its corners. Fastening decides how formal the shirt reads; the corner shape decides its character.
There are three ways a cuff fastens:
- Cufflinks. The French cuff, which folds back on itself and closes with a link rather than a button.
- Two buttons side by side. The adjustable cuff, which can be done up tighter or looser.
- Two buttons one above the other. The vertical cuff, which fastens at one fixed width.
And there are three corner shapes:
- Square. The standard, with the corner left as a clean right angle.
- Rounded. The corner curved off, which softens the cuff.
- Angled. The corner cut across on a diagonal, sometimes called a mitred corner, which sharpens it.
Three fastenings and three corners give you the nine cuff types in the video. Once you can name the two choices, a cuff chart stops being a list to memorise and turns into two questions: how dressy does this shirt need to be, and what should it look like at the wrist?
French Cuffs (Double Cuffs)
What Is a French Cuff?
A French cuff is twice the usual length, folded back on itself and fastened with cufflinks rather than buttons. It's the same cuff as a double cuff; the two names are interchangeable.
Scott puts it at the top of the range in the video:
“French cuff designed for cufflinks. The most formal cuff option.”
That holds for everyday dressing and for black tie, where the French cuff is the standard. The one cuff more formal again is the single link cuff, which the video doesn't show and which is reserved for white tie.
What a French cuff asks of you is the reason it isn't an everyday cuff. You need cufflinks, so the shirt can't go on in a hurry. You need a jacket in most settings, because a folded cuff and a link look overdressed on a bare forearm. And you need an occasion that suits it: a wedding, a formal dinner, or a client meeting where the extra step reads as care.
Square, Rounded and Angled French Cuffs
A French cuff comes in the same three corner shapes as any other cuff, and the choice changes its mood more than its formality.
Square is the standard and the most traditional, and it suits any formal occasion.
Rounded takes the corners off. As Scott describes it:
“Rounded French cuff. Softer rounded edges, more for a cleaner, relaxed look.”
That softness makes it a good choice for wedding shirts, where a formal shirt shouldn't look stiff.
Angled goes the other way:
“Angled French cuff. Sharp angled corners. More of a modern business look.”
It reads business, and it works best with a sharper collar, such as a widespread or a cutaway, that carries the same lines. All three are options on our formal shirts.
Button Cuffs
Button cuffs are the everyday default, sometimes called barrel cuffs, and they're the cuff on almost every business and casual shirt. They come in two button arrangements, and the difference matters more than it looks if you wear a watch.
Two-Button Adjustable Cuffs
An adjustable cuff has two buttons side by side, so you can fasten it tighter or looser on the same wrist. It's the standard cuff for business and casual wear.
The real reason to choose one is your watch. Fasten the looser button on that wrist and the cuff has room to sit over the watch, rather than riding up behind it or catching on the crown every time you reach across a desk. On the other wrist, use the tighter button and the cuff sits close and neat. It's a small thing, and you notice it every day once a cuff doesn't do it.
The corners follow the same pattern as the French cuff. Square is the standard and works for business and casual alike. Rounded is the softer classic, a little simpler and easier on the eye. Angled is the more modern shape, sharper at the corners while keeping the easy fit that makes an adjustable cuff worth having.
Two-Button Vertical Cuffs
A vertical cuff has two buttons stacked one above the other, and both are fastened. The extra height suits a slightly deeper cuff, which gives the wrist a longer, cleaner line. Scott keeps the description short:
“Two-button vertical cuff: minimal, simple, everyday cuff.”
The three corners shift its character in small steps. Square is the minimal, everyday version. Rounded is more relaxed and a little more elegant. Angled is the sharpest of the three.
The difference that matters when you're ordering is width. Both buttons do up, so a vertical cuff is set to one width and can't be loosened to make room for a watch the way an adjustable cuff can. If you wear a watch most days, the adjustable cuff is the easier choice for that wrist. Both are options on our made-to-measure business shirts.
Single Cuffs and Convertible Cuffs
Two more cuffs complete the set. Neither appears in the video, and each answers a specific question.
The single link cuff is one layer, left unfolded, and fastened with cufflinks. It's the white tie cuff, worn with a tailcoat at the most formal dress code there is, where a French cuff would be the error. At black tie it's acceptable, but it isn't the standard. The French cuff is. Our guide to the black tie dress code covers the rest of that outfit.
The convertible cuff fastens with a button like any everyday cuff, but carries a second buttonhole so it can take cufflinks instead. It's the honest answer if you want one shirt for both work and a wedding: buttons on Monday, cufflinks on Saturday. With links in, it won't look quite as dressy as a French cuff, because it's a single layer rather than a folded one, but it gets you most of the way there without a second shirt.
How to Fasten a French Cuff With Cufflinks
Putting on cufflinks is the part most men find fiddly, and it gets easier once you know the order. Folded, a French cuff has four buttonholes, two on each side of the opening.
- Fold the cuff back on itself so the four buttonholes line up.
- Bring the two edges together so they meet with the inside edges touching, rather than overlapping the way a button cuff does. This is the position known as kissing cuffs.
- Push the cufflink through all four holes from the outside, so the decorative face stays on the outer side of the cuff.
- Close the fastening by turning the toggle or bar flat, then check the decorative face sits on the outside of the wrist.
The honest tip is to make the job easier before you start. Feed the cufflinks loosely through the cuffs before the shirt goes on, then close them once your hands are through. Or fasten the harder hand first: the cuff on your writing hand, which your other hand has to do up. Leave that one until last and it's the one that takes three attempts. Our cufflinks are designed to go in this way.
Which Shirt Cuff to Wear for Work, Weddings and Black Tie
Match the fastening to the occasion first, then choose the corner shape that suits the collar and the rest of the outfit.
| Occasion | Cuff | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday business | Two-button adjustable, square or rounded | Fits over a watch, reads neat without fuss |
| Client-facing or formal business | French, square or angled | A step dressier without being an occasion |
| Wedding guest | French or convertible | Dressy enough, and the convertible gives you the choice |
| Groom or groomsman | French, square or rounded | Formal, photographs cleanly |
| Black tie | French (double) cuff | The standard. A single link cuff is acceptable. |
| White tie | Single link cuff | The only correct cuff |
| Smart casual, no jacket | Button cuff, any corner | French cuffs without a jacket look overdressed at the wrist |
Whatever the occasion, the cuff and the collar should be dressed to the same level. The two ends of a shirt are seen together, so a French cuff under a button-down collar reads as a formal shirt that stopped halfway up. Keep French cuffs for a semi-spread, widespread or cutaway, and button-downs for button cuffs. Our guide to shirt collar types covers which collar goes where.
Choose Your Shirt Cuff With Lupo Bianco
Two choices settle every cuff: how it fastens, and the shape of its corners. Choose the fastening for the occasion and the corners for the character, and the rest follows. As Scott puts it, it all adds up:
“Honestly, they’re subtle little details, but when you build all this up into the combination of a shirt, a tailored shirt, it will make all the difference.”
At our studio, a shirt fitting settles the cuff alongside the collar, so both ends of the shirt are dressed to the same level, and we'll check how it sits with the watch you wear. Cuffs are one of the details you only get to choose when a shirt is made for you. Book a fitting and we'll put the options on your wrist.
