Anton van Dyck - The Cardinal-Infante Fernando de Austria

Portrait of a 33 years old man, by Jan Albertsz Rotius

A cuff is a layer of fabric at the lower edge of the

sleeve A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to '' slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, ac ...

of a

garment Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

(shirt, coat, jacket, etc.) at the wrist, or at the ankle end of a trouser leg. The function of turned-back cuffs is to protect the cloth of the garment from fraying, and, when frayed, to allow the cuffs to be readily repaired or replaced, without changing the garment. Cuffs are made by turning back (folding) the material, or a separate band of material can be sewn on, or worn separately, attached either by buttons or studs. A cuff may display an ornamental border or have

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

or some other trimming. In US usage, the word ''trouser cuffs'' refers to the folded, finished bottoms of the legs of a pair of

trousers Trousers (British English), slacks, or pants are an item of clothing worn from the waist to anywhere between the knees and the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth extending across both legs as in robes, skirts, and ...

. In the UK, while this usage is now sometimes followed, the traditional term for the turned up trouser hem is 'turnup'.

History

Between the 15th and 18th centuries, rich men often wore sleeve cuffs ornamented with fine

. Still today,

Catholic clergy The sacrament of holy orders in the Catholic Church includes three orders: bishops, priests, and deacons, in decreasing order of rank, collectively comprising the clergy. In the phrase "holy orders", the word "holy" means "set apart for a sacre ...

have the cuffs of their

choir dress Choir dress is the traditional vesture of the clerics, seminarians and religious of Christian churches worn for public prayer and the administration of the sacraments except when celebrating or concelebrating the Eucharist. It differs fr ...

ornamented with fine lace.

Shirt cuffs

Except on casual attire, shirt cuffs are generally divided down one edge and then fastened together, so they can let a hand through and then fit more snugly around the wrist. Some sweaters and athletic garments (both tops and pants) have cuffs that either contain elastic or are woven so as to stretch around a hand or foot and still fit snugly, accomplishing the same purpose. Divided shirt cuffs are of three kinds, depending on how they fasten: * Button cuffs, also called barrel cuffs, have buttonholes on the one side and buttons on the other (sometimes more than one, so that the fit can be adjusted). * Link cuffs, which have buttonholes on both sides and are meant to be closed with

cufflink Cufflinks are items of jewelry that are used to secure the cuffs of dress shirts. Cufflinks can be manufactured from a variety of different materials, such as glass, stone, leather, metal, precious metal or combinations of these. Securing o ...

s or

silk knot Cufflinks are items of jewelry that are used to secure the cuffs of dress shirts. Cufflinks can be manufactured from a variety of different materials, such as glass, stone, leather, metal, precious metal or combinations of these. Securing o ...

s. They are most commonly fastened in either the "kissing" style, where the insides of both sides are pressed together, or very unusually with the outer face touching the inner face, as with a button cuff (though this is unorthodox). Link cuffs come in two kinds: ** Single cuffs, the original linked cuff, are required for

white tie White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal in traditional evening western dress codes. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a wh ...

and are the more traditional choice for

black tie Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element f ...

. Also, some traditionalists may wear this style with

lounge suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...

s as well. ** French, or double, cuffs, are twice as long and worn folded back on themselves. French cuffs were once considered to be more formal than button cuffs, although they are seeing a resurgence in business wear, particularly in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Even though traditionally French cuffs could only be worn with a

or more formal clothing (and not a

sports jacket A sport coat, also called a sport jacket (or sports coat or sports jacket in American English), is a men's smart casual lounge jacket designed to be worn on its own without matching trousers, traditionally for sporting purposes. Styles, fabrics ...

), this is now not followed by most, while some even wear these cuffs without a tie or jacket. They remain the preferred choice for formal and semi-formal occasions. French cuffs should generally be paired with cufflinks. * Convertible cuffs may be closed with buttons or with cufflinks. Anatomy of the single or double cuff: The fabric is folded back onto itself, thus the inside of the shirt sleeve becomes the outside of the cuff and the outside of the shirt sleeve becomes the inside of the cuff.

Trouser cuffs

Most trouser legs are finished by hemming the bottom to prevent fraying. Trousers with turn-ups ("cuffs" in

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances ...

and elsewhere), after hemming, are rolled outward and sometimes pressed or stitched into place. The functional reason for the cuffs is to add weight to the bottom of the leg, to help the drape of the trousers. Parents may also use cuffs to extend the life of children's clothes by buying pants that are too long, cuffing the leg and then unrolling it as the child grows. Originally, however, it started as men rolling up their trousers to avoid getting mud splashed on them when roads were still unpaved. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, young people in some countries would tightly fold the pant leg longitudinally along the leg, then roll the bottom of the pant leg to "lock" the long pleat in place at the bottom. This was done to slim the appearance of the legs. Reportedly, this "tight-rolled pants" or "pegged pants" fad made a comeback in the

2010s File:2010s collage v21.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed; Crimea is ...

, beginning in London. This was followed by a trend in tailored trousers for younger wearers no longer being made long enough drape and 'break' over the wearer's instep, but to stop at the top of the shoe, avoiding a break.

Jacket cuffs

The buttons and buttonholes at the end of suit jacket sleeves are generally decorative and non-functional. "Surgeon’s cuffs" can be opened at the wrist, and are traditionally associated with

bespoke tailoring Bespoke tailoring or custom tailoring is clothing made to an individual buyer's specifications by a tailor. Clothing Meaning of the term The word ''bespoke'' derives from the verb ''bespeak'', to speak for something, in the specialised meani ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Sleeves Wrist