How to Roll Your Sleeves Up (and What NOT to Do)

so you're wondering how to roll your sleeves up the right way well you're in the right place today we're going to talk about a few different methods that you can use to roll up your sleeves and a few mistakes that you're going to want to avoid all right so maybe it's hot outside and you want to let your arms breathe maybe you're washing your mug in the office sink or maybe you just like the way that rolled up sleeves look no matter the reason you want to roll your sleeves up the right way and at the very least you want to avoid the dreaded sloppy roll speaking of which let's talk about what not to do first you want to avoid the one and done and this is where you just unbutton your cuff turn it over once and then just call it a day this looks really unfinished and unkempt and i'm surprised at how many times i see this out in the wild because to me it just looks kind of sloppy the other version of this is the pull up and that's where you do the one and done and then pull the cuff up to your elbow or above your elbow and again this looks very sloppy it doesn't even stay in place as you move around i've heard this called the italian roll but i've been to italy and i didn't see anybody doing it there so i would avoid this method too you also want to avoid the twist and this is where no matter which method you're using the cuff gets kind of twisted as you're rolling it and this not only doesn't look great but it also creates a very tight roll that's kind of constricting around your arm so it's not very comfortable and then finally you want to avoid the elbow bender and this is where you have a roll that's not quite below the elbow it's not above the elbow but it's right over that elbow joint and so every time you bend your elbow it kind of folds the cuff in half so it creates a big crease in that cuff it's not comfortable it gets worse throughout the day and it doesn't look great either so now that we know what not to do let's talk about the right way to roll your sleeves up i'm going to give you options and based on your sleeve length and your arm length and just your preferences you can choose one or two of these and they can be your go-to rolls we're going to go in logical order from simple to complex so the first one is the two turn i like to call this one the forearm hugger and this looks great especially on guys who actually have bigger forearms so you just take your cuff unbutton it you roll it over itself twice so you fold your cuff back and then fold your sleeve over the cuff now this is very easy to do it's very easy to undo so if you just need to roll your sleeves up quickly like if you're washing something in the sink and you don't want to get them wet this is a good method to use if you have thin arms you can leave that placket button that second button fastened and that'll create a tighter roll if you use this two turn method this looks especially nice on casual button-ups like oxfords or like linen shirts during the summer time i don't think it's the best method for dress shirts you know with dressier looks you probably want to avoid rolling your sleeves or go with one of the above the elbow methods next up let's talk about the j crew roll now this is also called the kennedy in fact i think it was popularized by john f kennedy i'm not sure about that but i usually see it called the j crew role now this is the method that leaves a little bit of your sleeve cuff poking out of the top of the roll it looks really cool and the great thing about this rule is you can do it below the elbow or above the elbow so if you're going to do it below the elbow you unbutton your sleeve cuff both buttons you pull the cuff up about three quarters of the way up your forearm so below the elbow and then you fold that inside fabric over the cuff just enough that you leave a little sliver of cuff poking out of the top so this produces the same basic look as the two turn but with just a little bit of visual interest it's a little more complex a little harder to do granted but i think it looks really cool of course you can also do this above the elbow so it's the same thing except for when you unbutton your cuff you're going to pull it all the way above the elbow and now you're going to have more fabric that you fold over the cuff and again just leave a little bit of the top of the cuff poking out and this is a very sturdy roll it stays in place all day i think it looks really cool if you have contrasting cuffs it's going to show a little sliver of contrast and you know this one is going to take a little bit of practice you want to make sure to get your fingers in there and make sure there's no like weird folding or twisting going on to make sure it's a nice clean roll but once you get the hang of it this very well might be your go-to method because it looks it looks really good and it's very comfortable now if you have shorter arms and you do this standard j crew roll it might leave the roll right on your elbow which we don't want so what you can do is what i like to call the j crew and a half so you basically do the j crew roll above the elbow and then you just fold the cuff over itself so you fold the cuff in half the entire thing and this creates a shorter cuff which looks good on shorter guys or guys with shorter arms it's a very tight roll it stays in place all day it's comfortable and it can solve that problem of the cuff being right over your elbow as a shorter and thinner guy this is usually my go-to method for an above the elbow roll next up we have the three turn or the basic role unlike the j crew rule this one really doesn't take much practice to get right it's the method that most guys are probably using right now and you basically just roll your cuff over itself three times so it's just like the two turn but with one extra turn you're probably going to want to unbutton both buttons for this one if you have really thin arms you can unbutton adjust the cuff and leave the placket button fastened for a tighter squeeze but most guys are going to want to unbutton both buttons this will likely result in a roll that's above your elbow but depending on the length of your arms and your sleeves this may result in a below the elbow roll which is fine now if you do the three turn roll and it ends up right on your elbow not below or above you can do one half turn so again just like with the j crew and a half roll just turn the entire cuff the entire roll over itself once to cut it in half so this helps get that roll above your elbow and it also creates a thinner roll which again i think looks good on shorter smaller guys finally if you have very short arms or if your sleeves are just a little too long for your arms you can use the mac daddy of all sleeve rolling methods the quadruple you roll your sleeve over your cuff four times which results in a thick sturdy roll that's gonna stay in place all day and should be above your elbow even if you have shorter arms i really like this method especially if i just want my sleeves to be rolled up all day and i want above the elbow roll i'll use the quadruple it's really important to avoid twisting when you're doing this so at each turn make sure to run your finger along the inside of the cuff and make sure to get out any weird twists or folds because if you mess up on like the first turn or the second turn it's going to be amplified on the third and fourth turn so if you do mess it up i would just start over because you don't want to be uncomfortable all day and that's it now you have six or seven methods any guy should be able to find one or two that works for him you're probably gonna need one go-to method for below the elbow and then another one for above the elbow which is fine and i'd love to hear from you did i miss anything do you have a different method that you like to use to roll your sleeves if so let me know down in the comments section thank you as always for watching and until next time stay stylish you

Channel: The Modest Man

Views: 239,100

Rating: 4.851738 out of 5

Keywords: how to roll your sleeves up, how to roll sleeves up, roll sleeves up, roll sleeves button up shirt, j crew roll, kennedy roll, ways to roll sleeves up, button down shirt, mens style, mens fashion, smart casual, business casual, roll sleeves dress shirt, ocbd, oxford shirt

Id: Gnyt3H4e2Xg

Length: 7min 36sec (456 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 14 2020