Closing French Cuffs Barrel Cuff Style

[Ianiceman]

In the books Fleming had Bond follow his own style of wearing short sleeved shirts under his suits. If you see photos of Fleming there is usually no sign of any shirt cuff protruding from his jacket sleeve. The turnback sleeve was probably inspired by Terence young taking Connery to get kitted out by Sinclair and Turnbull and Asser.

 

[The Silverfox]

I distinctly remember there being a mention of turnback-cuffs with the reasoning that I have given, though I am not familiar enough with the books to claim this was his standard outfit. It might have been with regards to a situation where short-sleeved was not an option, such as with black tie.

I did know that flemming himself had a strong aversion to sleeved shirts and usually wore short-sleeved ones. If I remember correctly, his irritation was with the fact that the bottoms of the cuffs got dirty during the day, and he thought any sign of dirt on the cuffs was very unseemly, and therefore opted for no cuffs at all. Bond's style often resembles that of Flemmings own, such as a penchant for light-weight suits and aversion to laces, but I wasn't aware this quirk was one of those.

 

[Ianiceman]

Yup. I reckon Fleming was a bit weird and certainly manifested a lot of his personality into Bond like as you say a strange abhorrence of shoelaces. Unlike bond he often wore bow ties not black knitted silk ties. Once the films started to be made and proved successful there was a bit of a crossover as he wove aspects of the film Bond back into the books, such as making him half Scottish (as Fleming himself was) tipping his hat to Connery.

 

[Svenn]

Not sure about using french cuffs, but the idea of using cufflinks to close a barrel cuff has always intrigued me... anyone have any pics of that?

 

[Matt S]

Originally Posted by The Silverfox

I distinctly remember there being a mention of turnback-cuffs with the reasoning that I have given, though I am not familiar enough with the books to claim this was his standard outfit. It might have been with regards to a situation where short-sleeved was not an option, such as with black tie.

Turnback cuffs were not a part of the literary Bond. The reason you give is a logical one, but one that viewers have come up with themselves. You probably read it online somewhere. I've read it online, not in a book. I don't believe any mention was ever made to the type of cuffs Bond wore in the books, but Fleming said once that Bond didn't like long-sleeve shirts. The simple reason that Sean Connery wore 2-button turnback cuffs is that Terrence Young liked them and wore them himself. They were not invented for Bond. I read somewhere that they were invented for black tie wear, long before Bond ever wore them. Bond didn't wear his with black tie until his fourth movie, Thunderball.

 

[Ianiceman]

Originally Posted by Svenn

Not sure about using french cuffs, but the idea of using cufflinks to close a barrel cuff has always intrigued me... anyone have any pics of that?

Do you mean single cuffs or convertible cuffs? Single cuffs are what are supposed to be worn with white tie. For normal business wear, cufflinks on a shirt which doesn't have French or double cuffs are usually on convertible cuffs. That iconic photo of Michael Caine in Get Carter holding up the shotgun it appears thats what he's wearing. Looks a bit weird and insubstantial to me. French or barrel, no in between.