First, let's start with the shirt. How long should your sleeve length be on a
regular shirt with french cuffs or double cuffs for cuff links and later we discuss
barrel cuffs. First, let's talk about the length og a French
cuff shirt, it should always end at the roof of your thumb or you can also see the kind
of creases on the inside of your hand, here. The shirt should have this length no matter
whether your arm is hanging or angled. If your shirt gets shorter when you move your
arm, that means that the armhole is too big and it simply shortens the shirt when you
move. Ideally, you should replace the shirt because
there's no way to make a bigger armhole smaller. French cuffs form what is also known as a
horse shoe shape. Ideally, this should not be too pinched and
tight like so. It should also not be so wide that you can
put on cuff links and then put your shirt on afterwards by sliding your hand through
the sleeve out. If you can do that, your shirt cuff is too
big. The button hole on your shirt cuff should
be exactly in the middle of the cuff and the button hole should be towards the edge. If the button hole is located too far up,
you get a pinched shape that's extreme but you want this nice horse shoe shape. In Britain sometimes, you find shirts that
have the button hole moved towards the front edge of the cuff with the intention to show
more of your cuff links underneath your jacket sleeve. In Europe, particularly in Germany or Austria,
this is usually a feature reserved for black tie or white tie shirts because it's a celebratory
event and you want to show more of your cuff links. At the end of the day, it's a matter of choice
and both are correct. If you wear a wristwatch, you should always
consider that when you get your cuff size because it has the fit underneath of it. A custom shirt usually accommodates for that
especially when you ask for it because some people wear their watch on the right hand
and others on their left wrist. So keep that in mind when you buy a shirt
and when you buy a watch. For barrel cuff shirts with buttons, the length
rule is exactly the same, should reach the root of the thumb and they should fit tightly
against your wrist, again, with enough space for a watch. Most of the time, I see men wearing barrel
cuffs that are way too wide and sometimes they have these 2 buttons that are adjustable
but they should fit as tight as possible and you can always adjust the button to get the
tight fit. All you have to do is cut off the button and
sew it back on. Stay tuned for another tutorial or simply
give it to your alterations tailor. Now that you know how long a shirt should
be, the question is, how much shirt cuff should you show? Whenever we post pictures about men wearing
jackets, there's inevitably a discussion about the proper sleeve length. Oftentimes, people argue vehemently that a
certain amount that shows is correct, although if you go through history, and if you consult
different people, you realize different lengths are considered proper by different people. For example, Allan Flusser suggests you show
a half an inch of cuff, shirt cuff that is, underneath your jacket sleeve. On the other hand, Bernhard Roetzel, famous
author of the book "The Gentleman" suggests just one cm which is about 2/5 of an inch. To learn more about him, check out our video
interview here. If you go back to the 50's, you find guys
that suggest just a quarter inch or about 0.6 cm or alternatively, 2 cm which is 4/5
if an inch or almost an entire inch. Others even argue it's proper not to show
any shirt cuff at all. To learn more about the different opinions,
pleaae check out our full fledged guide on our website here. We, at Gentleman's Gazette, believe that it's
a matter of taste and personally, I prefer anything in around half an inch, maybe a little
bit more. What's more important than an exact measurement
is proportion. Ideally, you want the amount of shirt cuff
you show here to correspon to the amount of shirt you show on the back of your neck here. So if you have half an inch on the back of
your neck, you should show about half an inch on your shirt cuff. It's much easier to adjust the sleeve length
of the jacket or a shirt, rather than adjusting it on the neck. If you decide you don't want to show any shirt
cuff at all, make sure that the sleeve length is not too long but rather proper and ends
right past the little crease in your hand or the root of your thumb. Otherwise, it looks like you got a jacket
from your older brother. The opposite is bad as well. If you show too much cuff, it looks like you
got a jacket from your younger brother. Ideally, you want the shirt sleeve to fill
out the sleeve of your jacket. Occasionally, off the rack jackets are cut
very wide and you can even see the sleeve lining, that's something that you should avoid. The other problem a lot of men face is having
a large shirt cuff fit into a tapered jacket sleeve. That leaves yo with a cuff bunching up and
it simply looks terrible. if you have a barrel cuff with buttons on
your shirt, you definitely want a more tapered jacket sleeve otherwise, it looks disproportionate. Fortunately, you can always ask your alterations
tailor to amke the bottom part of your sleeve more tapered so it looks more balanced. Traditionally, button cuffs were a bit more
casual so with the more formal double-breasted suit, you would always wear French cuffs or
double cuffs with cuff links. Today, you can basically wear anything you
want but if you want to adhere to the classic dress code you should always go with barrel
cuffs for more casual ensembles and French cuffs for more formal outfits. Of course, when you wear a white tie, you
actually have a single stiff cuff that is very formal but it's a very special shirt
and we talk about this in another video. In my opinion, Prince Charles does a very
good job in balancing his shirt cuffs, his sleeves, and his neck. Next time you see a picture of him or see
him on TV, pay attention to that. For more information about sleeve length,
please check out our in-depth guide on our website, here. Now that you know everything you need to know
about the right sleeve length, please subscribe to our channel and sign up for our free newsletter
so you get video like this right to your inbox.
