Off The Cuff Sartorial Blog

Off the Cuff Sartorial Blog

Off the Cuff is still in the design stages. An advance peek at many Off The Cuff articles can be found on this page.

More regularly and in greater depth than our Sartorial Excellence Newsletter, Off the Cuff will cover sartorial issues from top to bottom. Everything from top hats to shoe soles.

In the photo, Master Shirtmaker Alexander Kabbaz (top) touts the benefits of link cuffs. Link cuffs are designed to be fastened with cufflinks, but not to fold over like French cuffs.

Explaining one of the benefits, Kabbaz said "The major advantage here is comfort. Unlike the double-heavy French cuff, link cuffs are much lighter. In addition, the do not have the great bulk of the better-known cuff and therefor slide much more easily within the jacket sleeve.

"It is little-known", he continued, "that the link cuff was not only the first cuff, but also the most formal. It is the only acceptable cuff to wear with formal dress. Before the idea of buttons came about, men were known to punch a hole in the (single) cuffs and use a string to tie them together for warmth."

On the Cuff (bottom) is a hand-embroidered monogram. "These", explained the bespoke shirt maker, "are much more attractive than the machine made version. They can be made much smaller and offer a greater degree of subtlety and refinement. However, there is a downside. It takes the machine about 30 seconds to produce a monogram. By hand they average 45 minutes each."

"Nonetheless", continued Kabbaz, "in our bespoke studio we only do hand embroidery. Machine embroidery is great for towels and hats, but would be an anathema if used on a $1000 dress shirt made of Swiss fabric which required 12 hours in the making. At least," he opined, "that's one man's opinion."