A guide to men's cufflinks

Online, May 2, 2010 (Newswire.com) - We know that the choice of cufflinks can sometime be a little overwhelming and as it's an integral part of any formal outfit or dinner suit where is the first place to start looking? Over the years many online retailers have begun to sell cufflinks for men ranging from quality and expensive gold and silver cufflinks to affordable and fun novelty and knot cufflinks however before we go into where you should buy them let's look at the history.

We all know that a cufflink is a decorative fastener worn to fasten the two sides of the cuff on a dress/formal shirt however do you know how they came about? Well the forerunner of today's formal shirt first appeared in the 16th Century and the cuff openings were held together by cuff-strings. These proved popular for centuries until Louis XIV began to fasten his sleeves with 'boutons de manchette' or sleeve buttons, which were basically identical pairs of colored glass buttons joined together by a short, linked chain. By 1715, these paste-glass buttons gave way to pairs of two, decoratively painted or jewelled studs ... which are where the modern day cufflink comes in.

Cufflink designs vary widely. The simplest design consists of a short post or chain connecting two disc-shaped parts. There are however other styles from T-bar and knot to chainlink cufflinks. Also note that you can buy monogrammed cufflinks either as a gift or to remember an occasion or event which can then be personalised (normally with the initials of the wearer).

So to help you choose a pair of suitable cufflinks the Dinner suit team have found a selection online including gold cufflinks, silver cufflinks, designer cufflinks and novelty cufflinks. The team have also reviewed a number of cufflink retailers from Links of London, Aspinall, Marks and Spencer, Goldsmiths and John Lewis. Come check out all options at the dinner-suit.co.uk site.