When buttons just are not enough

It's a simple accessory that is often overlooked by the Indian man because we simply prefer to button up. Yet a cuff can make all the difference to your wardrobe.

Gone are the days when cufflinks were the norm for the rich and the powerful alone, and a stylish pair can quickly up your style score. The best part? They’re also available in a range of metals, designs and themes.

Samrat Zaveri, managing director of TBZ Nirmal Zaveri, believes that Indian men are becoming more fashionable at the work place, too. “Cufflinks aren’t a power statement anymore; they are more of a fashion statement. Any occasion requiring formal wear is an opportunity to make a tasteful and elegant statement with cufflinks,” he says.

Cufflinks added to your outfit for an important meeting, a cocktail party or even a dinner date can make a powerful statement about your personality and your fashion sense. 

“Designs are constantly changing to incorporate the latest trends. So for the Football World Cup, soccer ball design cufflinks were the rage. If you love golf, you can wear cufflinks designed as golf clubs,” says Kamlesh Hemdev,

Office wardrobe

You’re half asleep. You’re running out the door. You’re late for a meeting. Probably not the time you want to be perfecting your look. But remember: that’s the outfit you’ll be wearing when you ask for a pay rise. Plus if the worst happens, that’s what you’ll be wearing as you leave the office when you’re fired – and you’ll want to go out in style.

Trousers: It’s tempting to go for black as the safe option, but do it too often and you’ll look like you’re off to a funeral. You’re safe with dark blue and brown trousers in most seasons; plus a lot of the big brands are betting on camel as a good summer colour along with light blue and grey. If you’re feeling daring get on-trend with a gingham check or a thin pinstripe – check out Zegna’s pairing of charcoal and blue stripes.

Ties: If ties are the done thing at your workplace, it’s not a case of mix and match and cross your fingers. Buy your shirts and ties together and try picking two shades of the same colour. To really turn some heads take celebrated British designer Paul Smith’s advice and add a polka dot or stripe.

Shirts: Although trousers and jackets cost more, don’t splurge on them and skimp on shirts, since on tough days you’ll definitely be down to your shirtsleeves and that’s not a time to look sloppy. Stick to white on formal occasions, but a light blue or grey will look better when you’re without a jacket.

The big day: When you need to don a jacket for an important meeting, double breasted may be tempting to hide your paunch but can also look retro (and not in a good way). Use sparingly and stick to slim single-breasted suits to impress your seniors (See this year’s D&G collection for inspiration).

If you want to get promoted, you need to look like you’re moving up the ladder today. So even though a more casual wardrobe might be tolerated in the job you’re in now, you’ll need to smarten up your act in order to fall in line with those giving you the orders. Just try to avoid wearing exactly the same outfit as the boss, because no one likes a copycat.

effortless style

It is one of life’s great paradoxes that ‘effortless style’ requires a fair bit of effort. It is best explained by the Italian term sprezzatura which first originated in Baldesare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier.
 
A kind of self-help book for the upwardly mobile Italian aristocrat, Castiglione defines sprezzatura as ‘a certain nonchalance so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought.’
 
That ideal explains why Rennaissance era art and architecture looks so elegant, and why Italian men today are able to be stylish with (apparently) such ease. One need look no further than Italian style icons such as industrialist and former Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli or actor Marcello Mastroianni.
 
So what does it take to attain sprezzatura? Money alone is not enough. If that were the case, the streets would be full of elegantly dressed men.
 
Firstly, it requires a ruthless eye, which eliminates all superfluous decoration. Gaudy colours, bling watches, fabrics that shine and glimmer, anything which shouts ‘Me! Me! Me!’ are the antithesis of effortless style.
 
Secondly our clothes need to fit in such a way so as to make us appear as tall and lean as possible. If you’re having your clothes made, this is relatively straightforward. For everyone else, almost all of the tailored clothing we buy off the peg will need to altered in some way. Shirts that billow at the waist and trousers that hang half way down our derrieres are the most common crimes against style.
 
To avoid this fate we need to take our clothes to an alterations tailor. Shirts need to be ironed, shoes need to be shined, fingernails need to be clipped and our hair needs to be cut and combed neatly. Most importantly, we need to cultivate good manners – a strong handshake, interest in the conversation of others no matter how boring – these things press home the advantages enjoyed by the stylishly dressed man.
 
All of this requires great effort. The trick is to make it appear effortless. Over the next few weeks we will explore the detail of how to achieve elegance and style. How to tie your tie, the correct length for trousers, the correct fit for suits and how to mix and match colour and pattern.
 
It might sound like the fine details, but the details are what will change merely trying to be stylish into the real thing.