My husband has recently had to change his daily wardrobe. He starting working an office job and realized his regular “work clothes” just weren’t up to par. Taking him shopping is a personal shopper’s worst nightmare. He thinks black can only match black or red, and insists on pairing dark shirts with dark pants. It’s a regular Johnny Cash situation. We recently attended his sister’s wedding up in Minnesota, and he decided him and our son were going to dress up and dress alike. First, we had to find an outfit for the monkey. Of course, he’s the one who’s hard to please. Then we went in search of finding my husband a shirt that was close in color. Unfortunately he’s a very popular size. The only shirt we could find with all the specifications was a Donald Trump original (we’re high class like that) and was french cuff. My husband has never been the one to dress up. In fact, first words out of his mouth were, ‘this one doesn’t have buttons on the sleeves, what a rip off’. My ex husband was the exact opposite. He spent more money on clothes for himself than me and my son combined. I am very well aware of a french cuff shirt, the need for cufflinks, and the fact difference between a sport coat and a blazer. So here I am, explaining to a 31 year old man what a cuff link is, in the middle of the Katy Mills mall.
I have come to realize my husband is not the only person who doesn’t realize the importance of the cufflink. So I am taking it 
upon myself to educate the masses. I feel like it’s my calling in life. Well, not really, but here it goes:
A cufflink by definition is a “decorative fastener worn by men and women to fasten the two sides of the cuff on a dress shirt or blouse”. Originally a cufflink was made of string, and referred to as “cuff strings”. The cufflink’s popularity grew during the reign of Louis XIV, then being made of colorful glass buttons and jeweled studs, typically diamonds, connected by gold links, so becoming the cuff-link.
Today cufflinks come in all shapes and sizes. Some are more gaudy, in my opinion, and remind me of used car salesman, others are more depictive of the wearer’s personality. Even Apple and Star Wars geeks like cufflinks! Working in the store, one of our biggest conversation pieces has to be the large tray of cufflinks we keep at the register. People will spend thirty minutes examining the tray, going through all the pieces. Kalen finds some of the greatest shapes and designs, some looking more like trinkets and something you would keep on display than wear. But where better to display something so unique than on your person. As women we spend hours putting together the perfect outfit, just hoping it will make heads turn and show our personality in a way a few words can’t. I met a woman not too long ago that said she likes to wear mens’ french cuffs, if nothing else than to show off her cufflinks. Cufflinks are like jewelry for your clothes. The best part about them is you can find them for just about any interest you may have. We’ve found train ones, golf ones, peaches if you’re from Georgia, even beer steins. Those are still my favorite.
I was SO excited when my husband bought his first cufflink shirt. I immediately thought of all the cool cufflinks I could get him, Viking related most likely. He’s not into jewelry, he owns like four watches that he never wears. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him consider a bracelet or a necklace. He says they’re for girls. I love not having to compete for shopping time with him, but after awhile, he’s a little hard to buy for. At least I’ve opened the door to something new I can shop for when it comes to him. We were in a time crunch for the wedding, so I had to settle for some boring, ordinary, run of the mill cufflinks. He still needs help putting them on, but I definitely see more french cuffs in our future. Even a manly man likes to feel pretty sometimes.
Bess & Evie's Vintage 