The old saying is “Clothes maketh the man” and if that is true it is also true that small details can make or break your carefully thought-out image. Smaller items such as your tie, a tie pin, and cufflinks, can make a very big difference to your overall appearance and to how others see you.
True, many men have ditched the tie these days and wear an open-necked shirt with a suit, which rather destroys the whole image. There are so many things that you can do with a tie because there is an endless range of designs, so you can choose a tie that presents the image that you wish, so long as it goes with the suit.
A Blue Suit With A Green Tie!
For example, only a couple of days ago a gentleman was photographed wearing a dark blue suit (fine) with a plain green tie! Maybe nobody had told him that “blue and green should never be seen – together”! It is much the same with shoes. Quite often you see a man with a smart dark blue suit, or dark grey, wearing brown shoes when they should be black. All right, there are no actual rules, and you can’t get fined for getting it wrong, but there are certain traditions that you need to follow if you want to be taken seriously.
Much the same goes for cufflinks. There are thousands upon thousands of designs out there, and it is all too easy to choose the wrong pattern if you don’t stop and give a moment’s thought to the image that you want to present to the world. Of course, many men – probably the majority – wear shirts with buttoned sleeves, but if you want to make a statement you need a pair of cufflinks. But they need to be the right cufflinks.
So, for formal occasions such as a dinner party, an evening at the theatre, or even going to the office, you need to wear a formal pattern of cufflink that is smart and yet understated.
On the other hand, if you are going to an informal do you can choose something that will stand out more, and even something that will make people laugh. There are plenty of designs out there that incorporate novelty patterns, and there are certainly occasions when you can wear them for fun. But not if you have been invited to the next party at No 10!