Basic shirt cuffs - how to choose

Dress shirt cuffs remind us of what makes menswear so unique: it's all in the details. Most dress shirt cuffs are pretty classic: a barrel cuff with a squared edge and two buttons - which helps determine the snugness you want in around your wrist. Otherwise, a dress shirt cuff is usually defined by the shape of the cuff enclosure.

Barrel Shirt Cuffs
The most common off-the-rack shirt comes with a two-button barrel cuff. However, you will also be able to find one-button barrel shirt cuffs as well as 3-button barrel cuffs, although the latter are not recommended unless you’re really tall. For the slightly shorter man, single-button barrel shirt cuffs work the best, as they give the illusion that the wearer has longer arms. For additional style, barrel cuffs also come in the straight cut, as rounded barrel cuffs or with an angled cut to make your shirt stand out subtly. The barrel shirt cuffs are frequently worn to work, for informal occasions and sometimes even for formal occasions – though they are not considered very formal.

French Shirt Cuffs
If you wish to be more formal, then french shirt cuffs are the way to go. These are normally worn with a jacket, although these days, many wear them without. The french cuff has to be worn with cufflinks, which allows for more style options with the same shirt through different cufflinks. French cuffs can be styled in a variety of ways – from contrasting shirt cuffs to different cuts, which include the straight cut, the rounded cut and the angled cut.