Cufflinks and the bow tie come together to create a fashionable look for men. Indeed, at a wedding, a gala evening or a birthday, the bow tie has made its big comeback. Cufflinks, meanwhile, are no longer just a simple accessory used to close the cuffs of French-cuff shirts. On the contrary, they're genuine jewellery, reinforcing a classic style or adding a touch of originality to a man's outfit.
Just as you need to know how to match your cufflinks with a tuxedo or a shirt, the same goes for the bow tie. The bow tie comes in silk or cotton, white or black, in a classic or pointed shape — so how do you go about matching your cufflinks with your bow tie? Discover our menswear guide and our advice for achieving the perfect pairing between these two accessories, based on your personality and the occasion.
The different accessories in a man's look
Men have several accessories at their disposal that come together to create optimal visual harmony for a wedding or an evening out. These are small details that, once coordinated, make all the difference and help assert the elegance of an outfit and the charisma of a look.
- The bow tie. Often preferred to the tie for special occasions, the bow tie comes in different sizes, materials and colours. For a wedding, the silk bow tie often wins the most votes, even though the wooden bow tie has made a notable entrance among men's favourites.
- Braces or the belt. Here are two accessories to choose between, depending on the look you want. If you go for a three-piece suit, the belt is the better choice. If you decide to wear a bow tie, braces will look stunning, especially in leather.
- Socks. These are very discreet accessories that shouldn't be overlooked, as when they peek out from under your suit trousers, they can be the ultimate touch of elegance.
- The shirt. Different shirts exist, characterised by different cuts — tailored or straight — and different collars, such as a wing collar, an Italian collar, a dandy collar or a triple collar, for example. Shirts also come with different cuffs, such as French cuffs, round cuffs, convertible cuffs or cocktail cuffs. To sport classic or elegant cufflinks, you'll need to choose a French-cuff shirt.
- The pocket square. It can be worn in different ways on a suit jacket. Its colours are also very varied, allowing it to be paired with other elements of the outfit. Delicately positioned on the jacket, the pocket square can echo the colour of the tie.
- Cufflinks. They're the final note of the outfit, like the last chord resonating at the end of a piece of music. Cufflinks, fastened to the cuffs of French-cuff shirts, let men express their personality.
Choosing materials for the bow tie and cufflinks
Many materials are used to make bow ties: wood, wool, cotton, silk, fabric, and more. As for cufflinks, there's also a huge variety of materials: metal, gold, silver, precious stones, mother-of-pearl, stainless steel, fabric, and more. To find the ideal pairing between a bow tie and cufflinks, you first need to look at the materials.
- Silk cufflinks. Silk is an elegant material found equally in a bow tie, a tie, a pocket square, or cufflinks.
- Liberty-print fabric cufflinks. Liberty print offers countless possibilities: if you choose a Liberty-print bow tie, you can echo that pattern in your cufflinks.
- Gingham fabric cufflinks. This fabric comes in a wide range of colours: red gingham, blue gingham, and even pink gingham — all colours available to echo a tie or bow tie made from gingham fabric.
- Wooden cufflinks. This collection combines tradition and modernity to give shirt cuffs a chic look, with the wood set on a silver-tone metal mount. These cufflinks pair well with wooden bow ties or a brown or beige tie.
- Precious-stone cufflinks. Precious stones, set on a silver- or gold-tone metal mount, offer magical, colourful shimmer. They pair well, for example, with silk bow ties or ties.
- Watch-movement cufflinks. Painstakingly handmade in black rhodium-plated steel or with silver-tone finishes, these cufflinks offer a stunning purity and precision. You'll also find other types of cufflinks: genuine little clocks, letting you set a different time on each wrist. This kind of watch-movement accessory pairs with any type of bow tie.
Creating colour harmony for a chic, fashionable outfit
Once you've chosen the materials for your accessories, you'll need to determine the colours and patterns of the different designs. Certain style rules should be respected to avoid overloading the outfit. For example, it's not advisable to mix too many patterns: if you choose a Liberty-print bow tie or tie, don't wear a gingham shirt. Likewise, if you choose a silk bow tie, leather braces and a black tuxedo, it's best to avoid wool cufflinks. Finally, for a monochrome look — black tuxedo and black tie — silver-tone metal cufflinks will look stunning, and will also suit a white suit.
As the cufflink is fastened to the cuffs of a French-cuff shirt, it sits right next to your watch, and will be even more visible once you take off your jacket during the evening. Here's some advice for harmoniously pairing your cufflink with your watch: with a watch set with precious stones, you could choose a silver or gold cufflink; with a leather-strap watch, a metal cufflink will assert a chic, fashionable style.
Matching cufflinks and bow ties for a wedding
The wedding is a special ceremony during which men and women wear their finest outfits. For men, the tuxedo is often favoured, although the three-piece suit still has its place for a distinguished, modern style. The groom-to-be chooses his outfit based on his own taste, but also based on the wedding's theme: suit, pocket square, shirt, cufflinks, shoes and socks are all precisely chosen for their colours and materials. In wedding tradition, it's common to use or adapt one of the groom's accessories for his best men's outfits too. Cufflinks are therefore personalisable gifts that the groom-to-be gives his best men, after choosing their size, shape, material and colours. The cufflink is not only a discreet accessory, glimpsed beneath a suit jacket, but also an extra ingredient adding a magical touch to the wedding.
By following this advice on materials, colours and shapes, you can be certain not to make a fashion faux pas, and to make the right choice when pairing your bow tie with cufflinks. There are countless cufflink designs available, as well as personalisable cufflinks: an extra opportunity for you to create unique designs specially suited to your outfit. Cufflinks are the details that make all the difference on French cuffs, because while a suit reveals a man's elegance, his cufflinks reveal his character.
We also recommend these other pages:
- Matching your cufflinks with your shirt
- Matching your cufflinks with your tie
- Which accessories go well with cufflinks?
- Wearing original cufflinks
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