Should shirt cuffs be snug or loose?

[shirtmakeritaly]

True, your hands most likely won’t slide right through a snug cuff but it does add a more touch of elegance to your style.

 

[Andy57]

True, your hands most likely won’t slide right through a snug cuff but it does add a more touch of elegance to your style.

I disagree. I do not care for snug (let alone tight) cuffs on a shirt. On my left wrist, I need enough room for my watch. For French cuffs, one ought to have enough room to insert one's hand through the cuff with the cufflink in place.

 

[shirtmakeritaly]

Nice feedback, although we make a variety of styles and fits, was just wondering if this would have been appreciated in the US. Grazie Andy!

 

[JFWR]

I disagree. I do not care for snug (let alone tight) cuffs on a shirt. On my left wrist, I need enough room for my watch. For French cuffs, one ought to have enough room to insert one's hand through the cuff with the cufflink in place.

I am going to agree with Andy here.

 

[TimothyF]

Some say the "right" way to put on cufflinks after wearing the shirt, not before

 

[ladislav.jancik]

The snug cuff helps keep the sleeve in place when you raise your arms, for example. So you don't have to adjust it all the time. In my opinion snug cuffs look better on (semi)formal dress shirts, looser cuffs look better on casual shirts. I also think that it is not a big deal to button any shirt cuff (doesn't matter if it is barrel of french cuff) after you put it on, not before, but I understand the convenience of loose cuffs.

 

[emptym]

I disagree. I do not care for snug (let alone tight) cuffs on a shirt. On my left wrist, I need enough room for my watch. For French cuffs, one ought to have enough room to insert one's hand through the cuff with the cufflink in place.

That's interesting. I'd never heard that about FCs.

As LJ alluded to above, a shirt sleeve should be long enough that when you raise your arms, the cuff stays at your wrist (w/o riding up much, if at all). But if the cuff is loose, it will slip down and cover part of your hand when your arms are down, even when buttoned/linked. I wonder if @Shirtmaven or @Despos have any thoughts on this.

 

[Shirtmaven]

You should never be able to put your hand through a closed cuff. Button or French.
If you can then it will hang past your wrist when standing. Nothing worse than a large cuff hanging out of a jacket sleeve.
Jacket sleeves are much slimmer in the last 10-15 years. A few years ago I had a customer In a "bespoke" suit where the suit sleeve was so tight he couldn't get his French cuff to show.

@Andy57 are you using double sided links?
Those are a pain to put in when the shirt is on.
I usually make the cuff 2.5" over skin.
Add + 1/4- 1/2" to accommodate a watch.
If you need more than 1/2" for your watch, then your watch is for show!

 

[St1X]

The cuff should be neither snug nor loose. The sleeves should have a proper length so you don't have to button your cuff so snug that it prevents it to slide down past your wrist bone

 

[breakaway01]

The cuff should be neither snug nor loose. The sleeves should have a proper length so you don't have to button your cuff so snug that it prevents it to slide down past your wrist bone

This approach may lead to shirt sleeves that are too short to prevent the cuff from riding up your arm when you raise your arm, which is especially noticeable when you wear a jacket. My shirt sleeve length is such that if I unbutton the cuffs, the open cuff ends about mid-way down my palm.

Your hand is so much larger than your wrist that you don't need a 'tight' cuff, just tight enough.

 

[Shirtmaven]

This approach may lead to shirt sleeves that are too short to prevent the cuff from riding up your arm when you raise your arm, which is especially noticeable when you wear a jacket. My shirt sleeve length is such that if I unbutton the cuffs, the open cuff ends about mid-way down my palm.

Your hand is so much larger than your wrist that you don't need a 'tight' cuff, just tight enough.

When buttoned you should be able to comfortablely put your index finger between your wrist and the cuff

 

[St1X]

This approach may lead to shirt sleeves that are too short to prevent the cuff from riding up your arm when you raise your arm, which is especially noticeable when you wear a jacket. My shirt sleeve length is such that if I unbutton the cuffs, the open cuff ends about mid-way down my palm.

Your hand is so much larger than your wrist that you don't need a 'tight' cuff, just tight enough.

I don't walk around with my arms raised. And I am perfectly fine with my sleeves sliding down when I raise my arm to reach something high.

 

[breakaway01]

I don't walk around with my arms raised. And I am perfectly fine with my sleeves sliding down when I raise my arm to reach something high.

You do you. I don’t mean raising your arm above your head. It’s even with reaching forward. If you wear a jacket or a sweater, the extra length isn’t even visible.

 

[Andy57]

@Andy57 are you using double sided links?
Those are a pain to put in when the shirt is on.
I usually make the cuff 2.5" over skin.
Add + 1/4- 1/2" to accommodate a watch.
If you need more then 1/2" for your watch, then your watch is for show!

Yes, of course I’m using double sided links. T-bar links are ugly. As I do not have a valet to dress me in the morning, I put the links on my shirt before I put it on. One of the many compromises we must make in this modern age.

Whether my watch is for show or not is no concern of my shirtmaker.

My shirt sleeves are made to the correct length and do not depend on being tight around the wrist. That seems like nonsense to me. One last point: if I commission a shirt, it will be made the way I want it made. If it is not made the way I want it made, we will iterate until it is. Or no more shirts will be made by that cutter. So all this angst about what is right doesn’t really matter. There is only one arbiter of what is right and that is the client.

 

[Son Of Saphir]

I disagree. I do not care for snug (let alone tight) cuffs on a shirt. On my left wrist, I need enough room for my watch. For French cuffs, one ought to have enough room to insert one's hand through the cuff with the cufflink in place.

Very true.
Even without a shirt cut for a watch the hand may still slide through the cuff.
The cuff width depends on the body shape of a person's arm.
If the cuff is too narrow, when a man bends his arm there may be restriction.
My cuff is cut to be the exact width of the arm when the arms are bent and when the outer part of the cuff moves up the arm 1 inch.
It is perfectly proportioned.

No solid rules for this.
It all depends on a person's body shape.