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What’s This About:
Cufflinks are put on in four moves: fold the cuff back so the buttonholes line up, pinch the two layers together with the edges meeting (the kissing fold), push the cufflink through the aligned holes from the outside of the wrist, and turn the back to lock it, with the decorative face on the outside where it can be seen.
The four-hole version of that fold belongs to a French cuff, also called a double cuff, which is folded back on itself and has two holes on each side; a convertible cuff is not folded and takes the cufflink through two holes only.
Cufflinks can be worn with a suit, a blazer or a shirt on its own, with the metal matched to the watch and the tie bar rather than to the shirt.
This guide answers the questions men ask standing at the mirror with a shirt and a pair of cufflinks, such as:
– Which way do cufflinks go, and which side faces out?
– How do I put on bullet-back, whale-back, chain and fixed cufflinks?
– Can I wear cufflinks with a normal button-cuff shirt?
– Kissing cuff or barrel cuff, and how much cuff should show?
– When are cufflinks appropriate, and what do I match them to?
and many more!
The method is the same for every fastening type; the cards give the difference for each.
Key Points:
01Face out: the decorative face sits on the outside of the wrist where a watch face would be, and the back sits on the inside.
02Kissing cuff for a French cuff: fold the cuff back, bring the two edges together so they touch, and push the cufflink through all four holes. That count is particular to the double cuff; a convertible or single cuff has one hole a side, so the same cufflink passes through two. The barrel fold, one edge over the other like a button, is for single cuffs.
03The back locks it: a bullet or whale back is turned vertical to go through and flat to lock; a chain or fixed back goes through small end first and needs no turning.
04Not just for black tie: cufflinks with a French cuff are correct for business, weddings, dinners and a blazer, and the metal matches the watch and the tie bar, not the shirt.
The answer
The short answer
Putting on cufflinks is a matter of folding the cuff correctly and pushing the cufflink through from the right side.
OTAA’s guide gives the four moves: “Bend your arm to your chest to reach your cuff with your other hand”, “Pinch the two sides of your cuff together so that the buttonholes of the fabric line up”, “Starting from the outside of your cuff, slide the back of your cufflinks through the buttonholes”, and “Once the back of the cufflink has passed through both layers of fabric, adjust it to secure the fabric in place”; on direction, “The emblem should always face out when wearing cufflinks with a suit or formal outfit so others can admire it.”
The Modest Man’s guide describes the fold: “fold the end of the cuff over so that holes closer to the edge overlap the ones farther up”, then “kiss” the two sides by “aligning each end so that all four of the holes themselves are also perfectly aligned”, and “the cufflink’s decorative face should be on the outside of the cuff holes”.
The rest of this page is the fastening types one by one, the two cuff folds, the shirts that take cufflinks, when to wear them, and what to match them to.
The method
How to put on cufflinks, step by step
Step one: put the shirt on first, with the cuffs open; cufflinks go in on the wrist, not on the table, because the fit changes once the sleeve is on. Start with the cuff you find harder, which for most right-handed men is the right one, fastened with the weaker hand, and do the easier wrist second.
Step two, on a French cuff: fold the cuff back on itself along the crease, so the buttonholes nearest the edge sit over the buttonholes further up the sleeve; this halves the cuff’s length and lines up two pairs of holes. A convertible cuff is not folded, so this step is skipped and the cufflink passes through one hole on each side.
Step three: bring the two folded edges together so they touch, edge to edge, with all four buttonholes in a line; this is the kissing fold, and it is the correct one for a French cuff.
Step four: hold the cufflink by its face, with the back turned in line with the post if it swivels, and push the back through the aligned holes from the outside of the wrist inward, four of them on a folded French cuff and two on a convertible cuff, so the face stays on the outside.
Step five: lock the back: turn a bullet or whale back through ninety degrees so it lies flat across the inside holes, let a chain or fixed back settle on the inside, or snap the two halves of a snap cufflink together.
Step six: check that the face sits flat on the outside of the wrist and that the cuff does not gape, then repeat on the second wrist, which is the easier one if you followed step one.
If the cufflink will not go through, the holes are not aligned; pinch the fold flatter rather than forcing the post, which frays the buttonhole.
The fastenings
The cufflink types, and how each goes on
Scroll horizontally to see all columns →
| Type | The back | How it goes through | Formality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet back (toggle) | A small bar that swivels on a post | Turn the bar in line with the post, push through, turn it flat | Everyday; the most common |
| Whale back | A flat, angled tail that flips down | Flip the tail up in line with the post, push through, flip it down | Everyday; the easiest to lock |
| Fixed back (ball or bar) | A solid post with a smaller stud at the back | Push the small end through first; no moving parts | Everyday to formal; secure |
| Chain link | Two faces joined by a short chain | Push the smaller face through, then the chain follows; it hangs loose | Formal and traditional; the double-faced version shows on both sides |
| Silk knot (monkey’s fist) | A second knot, no metal | Push one knot through, holding the other | Casual and business; cheap and colourful |
| Snap or stud | Two halves that snap together | Push one half through each layer, then snap | Vintage; the snap wears with age |
The common one
Bullet back and whale back
Gentleman’s Gazette describes the angle for the toggle types: “Most of them are angled, so you want to angle them down” and push “through and pushing against from the bottom of the cuff”; the bar turns in line with the post to go through, then flat to hold.
The whale back is the same idea with a wider tail that, in the Gentleman’s Gazette’s later guide, “automatically goes into the right shape” when it is flipped down.
The traditional one
Chain and double-faced
Two decorative faces joined by a chain, which the Gentleman’s Gazette calls “the most traditionally styled cufflinks you can find”; the method is to “hold the small end”, “put it on your buttonhole, hold it tight with your thumb and push through”, so the larger face stays outside and the smaller one shows on the inside of the wrist.
A double-faced chain cufflink is the one to choose when both sides of the cuff will be seen, because the inside of the wrist is visible whenever the hand is raised.
The secure one
Fixed back
A solid post with no moving parts, which the Gentleman’s Gazette describes as combining “the best of both worlds”; the method is to “hold it between your index finger and thumb and have your two middle fingers underneath the cuff, then just push it through”, small end first.
The casual one
Silk knot
Two knotted silk balls on an elastic core, worn with a business shirt or a blazer rather than with black tie; hold one knot and push the other through the aligned holes, and choose a colour that picks up the tie or the pocket square.
The cuff
Kissing cuff or barrel cuff, and which shirts take cufflinks
French cuff, called a double cuff in British shirtmaking and a French cuff in American usage for the same garment: a long cuff with two pairs of buttonholes and no button, made to fold back on itself, which is why it presents four holes to the cufflink; the kissing fold is the standard, with the two edges meeting, and it is the cuff OTAA calls “traditional to wear cufflinks with”.
Barrel fold: one edge laid over the other, like a buttoned cuff, so the cufflink acts as a button; The Modest Man reserves it for single-hole sleeves, where “you’ll put one hole over the other and stick the cufflink through, essentially creating a makeshift button”; on a French cuff it is a second-best fold that flattens the cuff and hides half the cufflink.
Convertible cuff: a single cuff with a button on one side and a buttonhole on the other, plus a second buttonhole beside the button; fold nothing, lay the edges together and push the cufflink through the two holes, leaving the button unused; the everyday answer to “can I wear cufflinks with a normal shirt”. Because nothing is folded, the four-hole instruction written for a double cuff does not apply here.
Button cuff (barrel cuff with a button and no second hole): no, not without alteration; a tailor can add a buttonhole beside the button, a small alteration that turns it into a convertible cuff.
Cuff length: with a jacket on, about half an inch of cuff shows below the sleeve, and the cufflink sits just at or below the jacket’s edge; a French cuff is cut longer than a button cuff for that reason, so a jacket sleeve that hides it is too long.
When
When cufflinks are appropriate
Black tie and white tie: expected, with a dress shirt and, for a stiff-fronted shirt, matching studs; the Gentleman’s Gazette’s suggestions for black tie are “onyx or abalone, or hematite” with the note that “you can also wear gold cufflinks or silver cufflinks”, and for white tie “platinum or white gold cufflinks, maybe with some white pearls”.
Business and weddings: correct with a suit and a French-cuff shirt, and the Gentleman’s Gazette’s rule for business is that “plain gold or silver is fine, but you can also wear semi-precious stones”, while “shiny diamonds may be too much”.
A blazer or sport coat: yes, with a French or convertible cuff; silk knots and plain metal suit the blazer, enamel and stones suit the suit.
Without a jacket: a French cuff with cufflinks is correct on a shirt worn alone, at a dinner or in an office where jackets come off; the cuff should still be folded and the face still outward.
The limit is the cuff and the register of the outfit, not the cloth. A short-sleeved shirt has no cuff to fasten, and a button cuff with no second buttonhole cannot take a cufflink until one is added, whatever it is woven from. Casual shirts in oxford cloth, flannel or linen are usually made with plain button cuffs, which is the practical reason cufflinks do not appear on them; a linen or oxford shirt cut with a double or convertible cuff takes them. Beyond that it is a judgement about how dressed the rest of the outfit is, and a cufflink on an untucked casual shirt generally reads as a mismatch rather than as an error of fact.
Matching
What to match cufflinks to
The metal matches the other metals on show: a steel watch takes silver-toned cufflinks, a gold watch takes gold, and the tie bar and belt buckle follow the same metal; the shirt colour is irrelevant.
The face matches the occasion: plain metal and dark stone for black tie and business, enamel and colour for a wedding or a dinner, silk knots for a blazer.
The pair matches each other: cufflinks are worn as a pair, face out on both wrists; novelty cufflinks belong at a party, not an interview.
For the rest of the outfit, our guides to the dress codes cover what the shirt and jacket should be: black tie and cocktail attire, and our guide to tying a bow tie for the evening.
Questions readers ask
Common questions
Which way do cufflinks go?
The decorative face goes on the outside of the wrist, where a watch face sits, and the back goes on the inside; push the cufflink in from the outside so the face stays where it belongs.
How do cufflinks work with buttons?
On a convertible cuff, which has a button and a spare buttonhole, lay the edges together and push the cufflink through both holes, ignoring the button; on a plain button cuff with no spare hole, a tailor adds one.
Can you put cufflinks on any shirt?
On a French cuff or a convertible cuff, yes; on a button cuff only after a buttonhole is added; on a casual or short-sleeved shirt, no.
Do cufflinks go on shirts or suits?
On the shirt cuff; the suit or blazer sleeve sits over them and shows about half an inch of cuff and the cufflink’s edge.
Kissing cuff or barrel cuff?
Kissing (edges meeting) for a French cuff; barrel (one edge over the other) for a single cuff with one hole per side.
Sources checked for this article (13 September 2026)
- OTAA (US), Which way do cufflinks go? How to put on cufflinks: https://www.otaa.com/en-us/blogs/gentlemans-guide/which-way-do-cufflinks-go
- The Modest Man, How to put on cufflinks, Karlton Miko Tyack, updated 4 July 2026: https://www.themodestman.com/how-to-put-on-cufflinks/
- Gentleman’s Gazette, How to put on cufflinks, Sven Raphael Schneider, 16 December 2016: https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/how-to-put-on-cufflinks/
- Gentleman’s Gazette, Cufflinks: the definitive guide, Sven Raphael Schneider, 29 August 2021: https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/cufflinks-definitive-guide/
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