Cufflinks

Cufflinks are essential if you're wearing double-cuff shirts. The simplest types consist of two discs connected by a short chain. More popularly, cufflinks come as a design connected to a metal bar that slots through the buttonholes. Part of this bar swivels outwards to hold the cufflink in place.

An alternative is the sink knot, which will often come free with a mid-price formal shirt. Co-ordination is key. Unlike cufflinks, these should never stand out.

Common mistakes include:

• Cufflinks worn with single-cuff shirts: this may have worked in the early twentieth-century when heavily-starched cuffs and collars were popular but looks sloppy today
• Matching ties and cufflinks, invariably bought as a present, should always be avoided
• Avoid novelty cufflinks too
• Women should never wear cufflinks