Cuff Links ... French Cuffs ... Elegant Menswear


French cuffs have had a roller coaster reputation over the past century. While they have always been the cuff of choice for formal wear and the elite, the popularity of French cuffs in cocktail party attire and business dress has waned over the past decades. There was a time in the 60s, 70s and 80s that men dressed up for all kinds of occasions. Then "casual Fridays" led to every day "business casual" to compulsive "dressing down" in jeans, shorts and T-shirts. I for one like the elegance of suits, ties and, yes, French cuffs.



Many centuries ago, men's shirts were considered "underwear" and were not worn as an outer garment. That changed by the 16th century. Cuffs on shirts appeared by then and the oldest known cufflinks were supposedly worn by Charles II in the late-1600s.


French cuffs have been worn by royalty ... presidents ... celebrities ... and important people like the rest of us. 

Prince Charles giving the "Royal Wave" with his French cuff showing ... and Kate Middleton with Prince William also in his French cuffs.
Frank Sinatra --The Chaiman of the Board -- almost always wore cuffs and links.
Both presidents FDR (Franklin Roosevelt) and JFK (John Kennedy) are shown here sporting their French cuffed dress shirts.
The Princes and Beckham ... dressed to kill!

They are a wonderful way for men (and women today!) to accessorize their outfit with something more than wingtips and silk ties. Gosh, if it's good enough for James Bond, why not for the rest of us?

Sean Connery ... the best Bond ever.
Ahem ... Are my cuffs straight?
Ladies have gotten into the French cuff groove too!
We have a wonderful selection of cufflinks ... tie pins (tie tacks), tie bars (clasps) and shirt studs as well ... ranging from formal to novelty ... from Swank and Hikok to sterling silver and 14K gold. We even have a number of sets from "new old stock" salvaged from a Central Valley jewelry store that went out of business in 1927!

Some of the wide variety of cufflinks available at Vintages
We also have a few sets ... cufflinks and tie bars or tacks
Novelty cufflinks are fun as well
These wonderful men's ... and women's ... accessories are available in our Los Gatos shop ... and many are also available in our online antique site.

These are a couple of the old Victorian era cufflinks with fancy monograms
These are 14K gold cufflinks from "new old stock" from c1925 ... ready for monograms if you wish

At Vintages we have cufflinks in a variety of materials from gold and platinum to sterling silver to copper and enamel to mother-of-pearl and strait costume ones too
These are the last two wedding cufflinks we have!

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