Watch and Cuff Confusion

[StyleCurious]

Hi Dappered,

As a college kid at his first summer job, I've only recently started wearing dress shirts on a regular basis. I've noticed that many slim fitting shirts don't have enough room in the cuff area to cover any part of the watch. The sleeves are long enough (and sadly, because I'm not in a financial position to get all of my sleeves shortened, a bit too long) but the cuff is too close to the wrist to cover any bit of the watch. The end result is that my left sleeve looks quite bunched up and stops against my watch and my right sleeve is slightly bunched up and stops a bit into my palm area. This has always looked a little weird to me and I was wondering if it truly is a problem and what I should do to fix it if it is, or if it is no big deal at all.

[jessy_diamond]

Problem solved :

[bremersm]

What size watch are you wearing? The only things I can recommend is to either get a thin watch; like a Skagen, or move the buttons of the shirt.

[StyleCurious]

Jessy, is that a common practice? I don't think I've seen that before, but it looks interesting. I might try it out.


And my watch is 5-6 millimeters thick, which I don't think is huge.

[VespaMatt]

Switch to a smaller watch. Doesn't sound like its meant to be worn with a dress shirt anyhow. Or just leave the cuff unbuttoned. I know its popular to have custom shirts made with more room in your cuff on your watch wrist.


A simple, cheap solution for sleeves that are too long, if you wear a jacket: Position the cuffs where they should be and then slip a rubber band on your sleeve, usually right around your elbow. It will keep your sleeve from coming down too far. No one will know if the jacket is covering it up.


@Jessy, hah at the Agnelli look. I love it but am too self-conscious to try it.

[VespaMatt]

Yeah, not thick at all, your cuffs are just too tight.

[LesserBlackDog]

I think Jessy is being sarcastic.... I wouldn't recommend wearing your watch over your shirt.


Are you wearing French cuffs or barrel cuffs? A French cuff fits the wrist more tightly than a standard barrel cuff. That's one reason why I prefer not to wear them.


French cuffs and wristwatches are simply anachronistic to each other. Pocket watches, and not wristwatches, were the standard timepiece when French cuffs were the most commonly-worn shirt. In the early 20th century, after WWI, wristwatches and barrel cuffs largely replaced pocket watches and French cuffs in everyday menswear.


If you're wearing barrel cuffs, then I'm not sure why it won't fit over the watch. I wear slim-fit dress shirts every day and the sleeve will always fit over my watches, even the relatively large ones (42mm diameter, 12mm thick). 5-6mm thick is a VERY slim watch (most "slim" watches are around 8mm). If there are multiple buttons on your cuff, you will want to make sure that you aren't buttoning the cuff tighter than it needs to be.


Having said that, if your shirt cuff "sits" on top of your watch, that doesn't strike me as a particularly big deal. The only problem I foresee is that it might look strange to have a bit of shirtsleeve showing under a jacket on one arm, but not the other.


And here are some gratuitous pictures of my largest daily-wearer, both under and over my sleeve.

[Cause Moe]

There's an easy fix, probably DIY. Move the cuff button of your left cuff a fraction of an inch, increasing the cicumference of the cuff. Only go as far as you have to, as you say that the sleeves are a bit long, and you don't want them to fall down onto your hand, but you should be able to get the watch under the cuff.

[VespaMatt]

Watch over the shirt cuff was made famous by Fiat tycoon Gianni Agnelli, who was known as quite a style icon and selective rule breaker. Wearing his watch over his cuff served a purpose though, he was allergic to the nickel used in the stainless steel.


He was also known for wearing boots with his bespoke suits.