Sunday, July 22, 2012

Short sleeves or rolled up sleeves?

In a couple of weeks I'm going to visit my family in Israel and as a gift I'm making my brother a couple of Boaz shirts that he loves so much. But when I told him he asked if this time i can make him a shirt or two with short sleeves? which lead to a discussion on the matter of short sleeves vs rolled sleeves???
Me: No, I don't want to make you short sleeves"
"Why not?  its way to hot hear to wear long sleeves..."
"I'll make the shirts in light fabrics and you can just roll up the sleeves... it looks much better anyway..."
"Boaz common, do it for me..."
"Danny, I'm not and here is why: ...." 
Fit and Style - For short sleeves to look flattering and stylish they should be fitted and not longer than the center of your biceps....which are both details that are hard to find, unless you have your shirt custom made or have your tailor alter the sleeves for you.... even than they don't look good on everyone and you really need to have the body and arms to make them look good, where rolled up sleeves work everyone and will add a masculine touch. When wearing a suit or a jacket although it fine to wear shirt sleeves under the detail of having your shirt sleeves longer than the jacket sleeves (about 1/2") is a detail that balances the total look and colors in your outfit (especially when wearing a dark suit and a light colored shirt).
Seasonal - realistically you'll wear a Short sleeve shirt for about 2 months out of a year...is it really
worth the investment, where you can wear a fitted long sleeve shirt all year around? And lets be realistic here, do you really think that the 3-4"difference in length between having your long sleeves rolled up or short sleeves will be crucial to your body temperature??? More importunately is what fabric the short is made of and how light it is.
My brother like my style advice so he had to except my rules, but the debate is a legit question? what do you prefer?
The cuff design of the Boaz European shirt
To support my preference I even designed the cuffs of my European style shirt (picture above) in a way that you can fold the sleeves and have the cufflinks hold the fold for extra comfort.
In case you share my opinion on the matter here are few tips on when and how to roll up your sleeves?
When - Generally the message that is sent with rolled up sleeves is of effortless, comfort and casualness... so make sure that's NOT how you'll show up for your next Job interview, or official business meeting. Other than that even though its fine to take your jacket off in your office and roll up the sleeves, DON'T have them rolled up under your jacket...would think that comes without saying....
How - Every man should roll his sleeves to the length that feels comfortable for him. I prefer 2-3 folds max, so the sleeve is about 3/4 of my arm's length, this way it looks nice, feels comfortable and doesn't have too many folds that will get it bulky. Unless you are folding a french cuff (which are longer than a regular cuff) than i would have the width of the fold be the length of your cuff to avoid a crease in the cuff (In case you need to roll it back down after).
Other tips for rolling up your sleeves are: make sure before starting to fold your sleeves that the cuffs are unbuttoned, including the smaller button on the slit tab above the cuff so it will not restrict the folding. Than stretch the sleeve to its maximum length and start by folding the cuff, making sure that after each fold you stretch the roll and the length of the sleeve to keep it neat and as less bulky and bunchy as possible!
Enjoy rolling and please share your preference, I'd love to hear it....

7 comments:

  1. ahahahahah I agree with you! The short sleeves are the most terrible thing that fashion designer could think and create. Short sleeves are ugly! They say they were made as a solution for business wear in summer. It's unbelievable that they can be considered elegant! No no no horrible, terrible, super-ugly! You can't be considered as a serious man if you wear short sleeves shirts! Try to explain once more to your brother why he has to roll up the sleeves. Tell him that women will look at him in a different way! He will wear only rolled up sleeves and you won't hear of short sleeves shirts anymore! ;)
    Alessandro - http://www.thefashioncommentator.blogspot.it

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    1. Alessandro, I love your comment...say no more! thanks

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  2. Generally speaking, what you get with long sleeves is an option of choosing long, or short, and that's why I prefer long ones.
    But anyway, the most horrible thing is a short sleeve ( I mean wide sleeve reaching an elbow )witha a tie. Just can't stand this "style".

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    1. Great point, long sleeves does gives you the option to choose!
      That S/S look that you are describing is exactly why I'm against S/S. When the short sleeves fits bad than that look is a killer! and most guys wouldn't recognize how bad that look is, which is why over all i recommend not to open that door and just stick to rolled up sleeves...

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  3. You looks pretty! love the color combination and the view is just nice :)

    ReplyDelete
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