December 2011 - Cufflinks Blog

Archive for December, 2011

NYE Fashion Night Out: White and Red

Saturday, December 31st, 2011
Shoes happen to be one of the most important aspects of your NYE outfit. With all this formal wear ensuring you will get into the most exclusive clubs and restaurants at the brink of the New Year, you want to have at least one “personal statement item” that expresses your individuality. Distressed burgundy combat boots are a show stopping way to add that extra punch to your all black ensemble:
Pair these radical red shoes with simple White Enamel Knot Cufflinks, which are sure to go with any and every shirt you have in your closet. They’ll look extra shiny on NYE too.

 

White! Remember that less-than-popular gradation? Armani has you covered with this festive sports-coat on sale just in time for tonight. The thing about wearing white during the winter months is it has to be off-white–not bleached stark white. If it has a “vintage” look, you’re golden. Or whiten..?

 

Pair your off-white clothes with a rugged off-white accessory, like these super cool digs from Maison Martin Margiela. Remember: it’s all about the shoes and accessories. Plus we’ve never seen shoes like this before. Pair this beige/off white attire with red layered flower cufflinks for a textured look.
Maison Martin Margiela Distressed Blucher $750.00
Remember what Mama always told ya? Put a hat on! Your head releases and retains the most heat in your body, so it’s important on cold winter nights to cover it up. But NYE is not a time for boyish ball caps and beanies. Try this sleek driving hat or basic gentlemen’s cap from Barney’s New York. And make sure your tie is secure on your shirt with a basic tie bar from CLM:

NYE Fashion Night Out: Black and White

Friday, December 30th, 2011

Make it a red carpet experience. Tis the season to look positively fly this New Years Eve. Here are some of the hottest trends, by the best designers around town, some of which happen to be on sale. (Yeah for post-christmas sales!). Let’s start with your basic white collared shirt: it’s basic, well made, and yes you can wear it again after the 31st until it fades to yellow. Then of course, gentlemen, it’s time to get another. A must-have closet staple (assuming you didn’t get any under the Christmas tree).

Basic Dress Shirt from BarneysBasic Dress Shirt from Barneys

Now to cover the white shirt you have many options. The most reliable and unassuming is the black Two Button sports Jacket with a blinging pair of designer cufflinks. You can’t be wearing Alexander McQueen without designer cufflinks, right?

Two Button Sport Jacket by Alexander McQueen (On Sale at Barneys)Two Button Sport Jacket by Alexander McQueen (On Sale at Barneys)

Add texture on your sleeve with these Aymara Blue Butterfly Cufflinks made from real butterfly wings (yes, real). And you can feel good wearing them too: 10% of proceeds are donated to the Butterfly Farm in Peru, where these elegant little creatures live out full, healthy lives in the rain forest. Made with 950 Sterling Silver:

Aymara Blue Breeze Cross Butterfly CufflinksAymara Blue Breeze Cross Butterfly Cufflinks

Step up your fashion forward attitude by this new tweed jacket by the one and only YSL:

Tweed Blouson by Yves Saint Laurent ($669 on sale)Tweed Blouson by Yves Saint Laurent ($669 on sale)

Black and white, black and white…Pair these staple gradations with Aymara Zebra Star Butterfly Cufflinks, again, made with pure Peruvian silver and Butterfly wings.

Aymara Zebra Star Butterfly CufflinksAymara Zebra Star Butterfly Cufflinks

SLACKS! What will you wear on your bottom? Most men today can wear the slim fit pants that are all the rage. It is not, I repeat, not okay to be wearing relaxed fit or loose fitting pants on NYE or any other day for that matter. Tighten it up.

Slim Leg Trouser from Burberry London $250Slim Leg Trouser from Burberry London $250

Bring your information with you–maps, directions, music, you name it, it can fit on these real working USB Cufflinks from Ravi Ratan:

Gunmetal 4GB USB Flash Drive Cufflinks

Gunmetal 2GB Cufflinks from Ravi Ratan

This sleek, ultra plush beautiful distressed cardigan is a more laid back way to cover your basic collared shirt. Check this one out by John Varvatos:

Distressed Cardigan by John Varvatos ($299 on sale at Barneys)

Top it all off with a, yes you got it, a top hat. This one won’t break your bank and is moderately priced from Barneys:
Short Brim Fedora from Barneys
Pair all this chic black with Onyx Cufflinks from Ravi Ratan:
All in all, you can’t go wrong with making black and white accessories your “thing” for the New Years. It assures you will look amazingly slimmer and will even make your lady look good. Happy New Year friends.

What To Remember When Going Out On NYE

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

 

 

1. Make Reservations. This can be for a table at a restaurant, bar, night club, or a roof top. Just make sure you put your name or names down on a list somewhere so you don’t have to wait in extra lines, you can avoid the tourists traps, and getting a seat and waiter will be ten times easier.

Las Vegas CufflinksLas Vegas Cufflinks

2. Pick a drink (or a type of alcohol) and stick with it for the whole night. If you’re craving a martini, try to stick with vodka the whole night, be it cosmos, citrus vodka with ginger ale, vanilla vodka and coca cola–you get the point. If it’s Whiskey or Gin, stick with that. The only exception is beer, wine or champagne in the early night. You can always mix with those!

Champagne CufflinksChampagne Cufflinks

3. Decide who you’re going out with beforehand. It makes it so much easier on your stress and partying levels if you decide your “crew” beforehand. Then you won’t be wasting time texting and calling people trying to see what “everyone’s” doing.

Oil Derrick Cufflinks

Oil Derrick Cufflinks

4. Make dinner plans or plan a dinner party. Put together a group list, set up a festive NYE menu filled with lots of champagne, (have everyone bring a bottle too), pick up some streamers and party hats like you’re back in grade school, and have a nice grown up dinner. Then get a cab together and go wild on the streets.U Of California Bears Cufflinks And Money Clip Gift SetCalifornia Bears Cufflinks

5. Be firm about plans. Others will follow. Everyone waits until the last minute to decide what they’re going to do on the “First Day of the Year.” Make it worth it.

Star Drops Handmade Lampwork Glass CufflinksStar Drops Handmade Lampwork Glass Cufflinks

6. Plan your outfit. There’s nothing worse than someone inviting you somewhere ultra exclusive on NYE only to realize two hours before that 1. you have nothing to wear 2. you have nothing clean to wear. Ladies, splurge a little with your Christmas bonuses and buy yourself a shiny cocktail dress. Men, get some festive new cufflinks to go with a classy top hat. You won’t regret looking the best at the party.

Skyline of Blue Mother of Pearl CufflinksSkyline of Blue Mother of Pearl Cufflinks

7. Pocket sound/noise makers. Mini pots and pans. Wooden sticks. You get the picture.Cherry Dot Paisley Cufflinks

Cherry Dot Paiseley Cufflinks

Post-Christmas Style Trends

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Vintage Cord Boot Cut Pants from JCrew, Why we love them: they’re ultra stylish for the winter, much better quality than plain khakis, better and more suitable alternative to jeans, relatively inexpensive, and look good with literally any shirt and cufflink.

JCrew Vintage Cords, $59JCrew Vintage Cords, $59

From JCrew: “Introducing our best cords ever. The design was inspired by vintage American 5-pocket cords; the new sulphur-dye and vintage-wash process is all ours. We gave them an authentic jean look and feel with handsanding on the thighs, knees and seat, with additional grinding along the waistband, pockets and hem. Cotton. Zip fly. Traditional 5-pocket styling with reinforced back pockets. Import. Machine wash. Catalog/jcrew.com only.”

Add some Eastern Zen and elegance to these old fashioned cords with these mystical Rudrakska Seed Cufflinks. Remember, these sacred seeds are take from the type of tree Buddha sat under when he gained enlightenment.

Sterling Silver Checker Board Cufflinks

Sterling Silver Checker Board Cufflinks

 

Sorel Black Snow Boot

GQ Says: “Sorel boots have been around for ages and everyone clomps around in them in the slush. They’re typically fur-lined, brown, and extremely utilitarian. But when I saw them in all-black and lined in plaid, I thought, That’s the stealth boot of the season. I’m not advocating walking around the office in them in a suit, but I think we all need a bit of style when it’s raining. Even when boots are in style, they can look strictly weekend. But these are chic and simple.”

Sorel Black Snow BootSorel Black Snow Boot

Pair these sleek winter snow boots with Hand Painted Dalmatian Cufflinks like these from designer Pierce and Hobbs

Sculpted Beagle Pup Cufflinks

Sculpted Beagle Pup Cufflinks

Style we Love: Colored Sweaters that POP. After experiencing an endless cycle of Christmas lights, we are still attuned to seeing bright colors. But unfortunately after the Tree comes down and the house lights get packed back away, we don’t see much color for the rest of the winter season. Try this: An everlasting style updated in new colors. Made from supersoft, luxurious Italian cashmere in a 12-gauge knit from a world-famous mill. V-neck. Other colors like aqua and purple available form Jcrew.com

Cashmere V-neck sweaterCashmere V-Neck Sweater from JCrew

New Plaid Flannel Sweaters from Uniqlo: They are ultra comfy, trendy, and affordable! PLus they’ll probably be on sale after Christmas. Why we love Uniqlo’s flannel? Because there’s simply so many styles to choose from! Literally, they about 20 colors, all of which will match your wardrobe perfectly for the post-holiday season.

Enamel Race Horse Cufflinks

Enamel Race Horse Cufflinks

Pair these stylish sets of plaid shirts from Uniqlo with a rugged pair of cufflinks, like these Hand Painted Horse Cufflinks

Uniqlo Plaid Flannel Shirts, $19-$29Uniqlo Plaid Flannel Shirts, $19-$29

And don’t be afraid to exchange those unwanted Christmas gifts. Yes, it’s the thought that counts, but some things you just will not use. So use that extra cash or exchange to buy some new post-holiday cufflinks to pair with any one of these latest fashion trends for men. Here’s to 2012!! Stay Stylish Friends.

Seven Most Common Holiday Facebook Statuses

Sunday, December 25th, 2011

 

 

 

I’m so THANKFUL for…(insert adorable dog, mother, son, grandmother who passed 10 years before, my new ipad2, my husband who finally decided to do the dishes, my children for going to bed early, my neighbors for turning down the music, scotch tape for making wrapping presents easier, the dollar store, and finally, for 5 hour energy for helping you make it through the day)

Facebook Me CufflinksFacebook Me Cufflinks

I’m so STRESSED (because of my job, lack of wardrobe materials, iphone was stolen/broken/smashed/fell in the toilet, I can’t find the matching underwear set for Sarah’s American Girl doll collection, my credit card froze, traffic on the way home, there are no more turkeys left at5 the grocery store, your gift card finally ran out from last year’s Christmas, and you still haven’t made plane tickets back “home” for the holidays and it’s Dec. 25th)

Ireland 1 Pence Celtic Bird Coin Cuff LinksBirds Cufflinks

Omg we’re having eggnog and roasted chestnuts by the fire (aka we’re drunk, aka we’re having so much fun, aka will probably forget this in the morning, aka you burnt yourself roasting your chestnut but won’t publicly announce that on Facebook, you really don’t like eggnog but drink it anyway because it’s one of those things you’re supposed to do…)

My kids are driving me crazy. Almost done shopping…(your kids drive you crazy every day. it’s just that you only feel like a good parent if you post this three times a year, with the exception of holidays because then you have an excuse to be over stressed and take it out on your kids.)

Dennis the Menace Comic Strip Stamp CufflinksDennis the Menace Comic Strip Stamp Cufflinks

Yea ______ !!! (insert football team/football player who just scored two seconds before this was posted) (all the random drunken guy friends you have across the United States that are obsessed with their local team and still drink Natty Lite out of a can. Yes a can.)

Washington Redskins Cufflinks and Tie Bar Gift SetWashington Redskins Cufflinks and Tie Bar Gift Set

Look at my early Christmas present!! (insert photo of x-box, ring, bracelet, coach handbag, etc.) ( just another way to brag and show what you think you may be worth in case someone ever asks–you can simply say “Hey I’m worth like 10 coach bags, okay??)

Like/Dislike Facebook CufflinksLike/Dislike Facebook Cufflinks

Look at this New Photo of Me, Hubby, Dog, Cat, and our refrigerator… (obnoxious Christmas photos where everyone is looking intoxicated-ly happy and cheerful, wearing their favorite cashmere sweaters and matching pants, aka dysfunctional families trying to pretend normalcy)

Capricorn The Goat, Hand Painted Coin CufflinksCapricorn The Goat, Hand Painted Coin Cufflinks

But the BEST statuses are those that simply say Merry Christmas (or any affiliated holiday) and Happy New Year! End Status and blog update.

 

Merry Christmas everyone!!  Love, CLM