Is the Cufflink Dead?

Cufflinks are amusing things to wear. When you buy a pair of earrings you only need ears to use them and when you buy a necklace you only need a neck to wear it but when you buy a pair of cufflinks you need a special shirt to wear them with and when you buy a shirt with cuffs you have to buy a pair of cufflinks or you cannot wear that shirt.

Before buttons men and women tied the ends of their sleeves with cord so that the wind and cold couldn’t get in. More elegant dress clothes were tied with ribbons.

But is the cuffink dead? Hell no! There is a cufflink museum in New Hampshire USA, and a National Cufflink Society. There are people who are obsessed with collecting cufflinks. Take Derek Anastasia who has a collection of almost 17,000 pairs of cufflinks. Anastasia believes that cufflinks made a resurgence in America when Regan came to power and wore cufflinks a good deal. Gene Klompus president of the National Cufflink Society has more than 35,000 pairs!

The first cufflinks were chains, really called cuff fasteners, and as they became more elegant they evolved into items of jewellery and bits were added to the chains.

During the period of the Industrial Revolution in England there was an explosion in the presence of cufflinks as manufacturing methods went from hand made one-off pieces to mass production.

When I see someone wearing cufflinks I always take notice of them. Those cufflinks are making a statement about that person and that person is making a statement about themselves. They are telling me that they are proud of themselves and that they are making an effort to dress to impress.

You can dive out of bed, drape a shirt around you and toss your coat on and rush off to the office and hardly even know what you have done, but the moment you start to put those cufflinks through your sleeves something magical happens.

It is a kind of ritualistic thing where now you are adorning yourself in order that other people will notice you. Now you start to think is this shirt the right one? Is it ironed well enough? Should I wear another coat? You cannot simply snap cufflinks on or push them through your cuffs hastily without thinking. The act makes you slow down and forces you to think about why you are wearing cufflinks. No, the cufflink is far from dead!

Gary Hocking is an Australian manufacturing jeweller who has his own website: http://www.jewelleryexpress.com.au You are free to copy this article as long as you leave the live link to his website.

Cufflinks - To Wear or Not to Wear?

A cufflink (also known as cuff-link) is a decorative fastener generally worn by men. It is used to fasten or link two portions of a French Cuff, typically on a dress shirt or blouse.

Cufflinks are worn on the dress shirt or blouse especially consisting of a post – a short cylindrical portion – or chain connecting two disc–shaped parts, one of which is sized to fit through the button-hole of the cuff, the other which is positioned on the most visible side of the cuff, is wider.

A decorative fastener as it is, one must wear cufflinks keeping with the mood of the occasion or the tone of the event. Hematite Cuff Links may be worn to the most formal occasion. Paua Shell Cuff Links may suit a more festive occasion and daily wear. One can also wear cufflinks and studs with a shirt front with double buttonholes for the studs.

One must keep in mind that appropriate attire is usually not as rigid as a uniform, and there are many opportunities for personal expression. Plus, looking good with always fashionable cufflinks/gem cufflinks means one is more likely to enjoy the occasion. Hence the simple reason behind wearing cufflinks would not only be to look good but also to feel good which is naturally enhanced with a smart and decent sense of dressing.

How to wear Cufflinks

In order to wear a cufflink or rather link a cuff with a cufflink , you have to close the swivel bar and insert the cufflink through the holes from the outside. Next you have to open the swivel bar to finally secure the cuff. The process is easy enough for anyone to learn at one try. Learn more at How to wear Cuff Links

Arjun, a lover of fashion, clothing and also a musician. To learn about him please visit : http://www.arjun.in

22 Ways to Find Your Matching Single Cufflinks

'Singles' collectors are you there? Well, I have managed to find at least 22 ways which you can obtain your matching pair of single cufflinks.

Would you like to read them now? I can understand your frustration when coming to find your matching piece of single or finding a missing match. The question is what it takes to find it? Well, another missing side of the pair. How it is possible it is limited made? So much effort and time need to be invested and usually a person will give up before finding the missing 'link'. Agree?

Finding your single cufflinks

1. Online Auction. With the advance in technology and popular use of the Internet auction site allows us to search for things more quickly and easily. Try auction site like eBay, Yahoo Auctions,WeBidz online auction site, buyselltrades and Auctionfire.

2. Forum. Join discussion forum online on cufflinks matters and participate in related topic. Or create a topic to discuss about single cufflinks. Post question on where you can find your missing 'link'.

3. Create Blog. You might want to create a blog just like this one. But focus on Single cufflinks exchange. Draw collectors to your sites and you are in business.

4. Advertise on Google Adwords. I am sure you might find this strange but what do you do if your dog went missing? You will put up notices for reward. Learn the basic on Google Adword. Basically, if you input the correct keywords, competition would be as low as 0.01 cent. Of course, you need to have a landing page (Website). Try getting a free web page like geocities, freewebs and bravenet. Post your single cufflinks picture, description, year of made, etc. Not difficult to do a web page nowadays. Try it!

5. Talk to Experts. Yes, this is what I love doing. Learn more about your single before trying to find them. Know where to start finding is more important than just keep on finding. Experts like Gene and Derek could help you. Check out their interviews with me if you have the time.

6. Search Engine search. Perhaps the most straightforward way is to conduct a search on search engine. You never know what you might find. Popular search engine like Google and Dogpile would return you with a list of results.

7. Weekend Garage sales. This would be the pastime of a full-time collector do you agree? You usually will be able to pick up a few good ones on one of your lucky day. Just don't give up.

8. Antique Shop. You can visit your local antique shop and browse around. Check with the shop owner if he knows anyone having a collection to sell. Some shop owner might not be willing to take that loose piece of cufflinks. They ended up at the garage sales.

9. Attend Cuff linkers Get Together. If your community has a get together group, join them. Usually exchange of cufflinks took place in such event. If there is none, you can always start one. No one is stopping you.

10. Write to Online Cufflinks Merchants. Don't be shy to ask them. You never know if they are actually looking for a similar piece just like yours. Exchange can be done if both parties agree to do a trade.

11. Advertise on local Newspaper. This might involve abit of cost upfront but you never know who is would come along. A new venture might result. Single cufflinks is really considered a niche market.

12. Magazine Advertisement. Look out for local magazine on Men's accessories. National Cuff Links Society used to run a publication call 'THE LINK'. Cuff linker would place a small picture to feature the item they wish to buy or sell. Although this publication is no longer in production but local small ads magazines are still alive. The fee is also lower when compared to newspaper advertisement.

13. Creative Classified Ads Online. Write creative classified ads to get cufflinks collectors to read about what you are searching for. Maybe you can write 3 pages tips on how to store cufflinks properly.

14. Interest Sharing Web Portal. You can join interest portal like myspace or squdioo to find or create a topic on single cufflinks. You can bet collectors will start to swarm in.

15. Make a video footage of your collection. You can make a short video using your cell phone and upload in onto YOUTUBE. You can tell people that you are looking for 'singles' and how your cufflinks singles cufflinks look.

16. Cufflinks manufacturers. Check with the original manufacturer of your singles if it is still possible. You never know if they have a spare singles one hidden under their bed.

17. Sell on eBay. Yes. Get your singles listed on eBay. You hear me correctly. The point here is to generate the interested cufflinks collector, singles collector to come to you. Well, the detail on how to do this I won’t be explaining much here. Do drop me a note if you need to know how.

18. Search outside your country. Yes. Travel out of your country to find it. While you are on holiday, you might want to check out the country garage sales or unique stores. You never know what you going to find. Ask the local for advice to locate the area best known for second hand sales.

19. Get a matching side. I am referring to a matching theme. If you are missing a side on coin, then get a matching coin side cufflinks. As to individual preference, you might find it distasteful but it is really up to your tolerance level towards your collections.

20. Offer a reward or a deal. Put on all sources that you can get hold of, a small reward for people who provide clue to finding your missing pair or special deal you can come up with. But you better check out how much does your pair of cufflinks really worth.

21. Setup an offline cufflinks club. You might to consider setup a private cufflinks club. If you need help, perhaps I can recommend someone to you. The fastest way is to meet and talk face to face on a common interest. I am sure many would agree.

22. Place your Order. Make a similar one. This is unlikely what cufflinks collector will do but if it is a pair which is not too expensive or not worth collecting, you might as well buy a new pair and use the singles for decorative purpose.

The above are just some ways which you can use to find your matching singles. However, this list is non-exhaustive. Only your mind determines or limits the numbers of way.

Adwin Ang is a cufflinks collector and writes articles on some tips on wearing and buying cufflinks. He would conduct interviews with the cufflinks experts in this area and have compiled an ebook at www.adwinang.com