How To Combine & Pair Cuff Links With Shirts, Suits & Ties (2024)

A lot of gentlemen are unsure what kind of cufflinks to wear with their outfit. Therefore in this guide, we will show you how to combine cuff links in your clothing, so you look dashing while at the same time you also have fun incorporating this accessory to your wardrobe.

Generally, cuff links don’t pair well with suits, so I suggest you look at your shirts. Obviously, it depends on your personal taste. But to start, I think a plain white or light blue shirt works well because you can have all kinds of cufflinks on them. They can be contrasting, such as a green one, blue, red, yellow, basically anything that contrasts those colors will stand out.

Usually, your cuff links are hidden underneath your suit sleeve so if you have something contrasting, they show up when you move around sometimes and you can get a little glimpse of it which is nice.

Wear Contrasting Cufflinks With Solid Colored Shirts

If you have a solid white shirt, maybe a solid silver cufflink is not the best choice because it blends in. You can go with a gold cufflinks so it’s slightly more contrasting or you just get something bolder in color.

Diamonds for day wear are not really recommended because they are strictly reserved for evening wear. Usually, it’s a tacky thing to wear diamonds during the day, and it just shows that you don’t have style but a lot of money.

Create Contrast But Keep It Balanced

If you have a striped shirt, you can try to combine the color with the stripe. If it’s yellow, go with yellow. If it’s orange, go with orange. Brown with brown and so on. With the striped shirt, you also want to create contrast and depending on what kind of stripe it is. If it’s a very fine stripe, you may get away with a pair of solid cufflinks because there’s enough of a contrast but it depends on the individual shirt.

Whether you choose a fixed bar cufflink, a chain cufflink, or a t-bar cufflink, ultimately, it does not matter.

If you wear checked shirts, I suggest you keep it simple with your cuff links and either go with a solid silver, solid gold, or solid rose gold, because checks are already busy and by adding another strong contrasting cuff link, it’s just over the top. The goal is to create some contrast but to keep it balanced and harmonious.

What Cufflinks To Wear for Black Tie and White Tie Events?

If you have a black tie invitation and you wear your tuxedo, you wear a white shirt, and you should usually go with either a gold and black inserts such as an abalone stone or dark mother of pearl. You can also go with onyx or hematite.

Traditionally for white tie, you’d wear either pearl studs or mother of pearl studs paired with matching mother of pearl cuff links that are white gold or platinum on the outside. With a tuxedo you can go with gold or silver, it’s up to you. Black is the number one choice, but you can also go with semi-precious or precious stones in contrasting colors.

Coordinate Cufflinks with your Socks

Another great way to wear cuff links is to coordinate them with your socks. If you have red or burgundy socks, you can go with a carnelian. If you have brown or blue socks, you can go with lapis lazuli or a tiger’s eye. If you have a pair of gray socks or charcoal socks, an onyx or hematite or abalone stone will work really well. Basically, pick up a color in the socks and pair it with your cuff links. It makes for a cool look and it’s coordinated, but it’s subtle and stylish.

Match Your Cufflinks with Your Accessories

Of course, you can also match your cufflinks with your tie and your pocket square, just like with socks. You want to ideally pick one of the colors and incorporate it into your outfits. For example, if the overall color palette of your outfit is warm such as orange and green, choose gold because it’s a warmer color. Silver is good with cooler colors, such as blue or gray.

If you are daring, you can also try to combine a pocket square that matches your socks and your cufflinks but what you should avoid is having the same tie and pocket square because it just looks gaudy. Overall, pairing cuff links is a lot easier than pairing pocket squares and ties.

Personally, I’m a big fan of trying to pair my cufflinks with pinky rings or in general, rings and little accessories such as a tie bar or a collar clip. For example, you can combine a malachite pair of cuff links with a malachite ring or tiger’s eye cufflinks with a tiger’s eye ring or carnelian cufflinks with a carnelian ring. Sometimes, it may not always work out a hundred percent, and that’s okay; just try to get something close that works together.

CONCLUSION

In general, you want to match the metal color of your cufflinks to other items in your outfit such as your rings or your belt buckle or your monk strap buckles. Some people even match it to their luggage or their suitcases. In my opinion, that’s a little over the top, and if it aligns that way, that’s great but if not, don’t stress out about it because elegance and style are about being confident and not being overly about matching everything exactly to the tee.