Archive for May, 2009

Most people who wear cufflinks every day of their lives (or even just to work) can feel like it becomes part of the routine to put them on every day. It blends in with your morning rituals and before you know it you can’t even remember what cufflinks you put on that morning. Why not try and spice things up a bit by investing in some novelty cufflinks.

Novelty cufflinks come in all different shapes and sizes. They range from the sublime to the ridiculous (well ridiculously funny anyway). No matter what your taste you can find a cufflink to suit it. My favorite pair of novelty cufflinks has to be the laptop computer cufflinks. They are very funky and make everyone in the office giggle when they notice them. Sometimes I like to see how long I can be in a meeting for before I spot someone eyeing up my cufflinks. Or put two different ones on to see if people can tell. They are always a great talking point and I guarantee every day that I wear them one person asks me where I got them from.

Novelty cufflinks also make brilliant presents. People always have a use for cufflinks whether they wear them every day or they wear them once a year at thanksgiving. Just simply find out what they’re into (flying, hunting, star trek it doesn’t matter) and there will be a pair of cufflinks to suit them! It really is that simple and it doesn’t cost the earth either.

Wallets say a lot about a man (just like cufflinks). Some people think that a wallet is just a way of carrying around all your money and cards around in one safe place. But the rest of us think otherwise.

Wallets come in varying sizes and shapes. Some have multiple pockets for your change, some have zippers, and some have merely one compartment for everything. Some are made from leather, other from nylon. Some wallets are even made from rubber (for those of us who surf). But what you may not realize is that the type of wallet you own defines who you are. The more mature man will tend to go for the leather option with lots of slots for his many credit cards. A young surfer dude would much rather have a state of the art rubber wallet to keep his cash dry when he’s out at the beach.

Now you are aware of what some people perceive from your wallet you know what you’re looking for next time you go shopping. Why not try a bifold wallet in black? Nothing says sleek and sophisticated like black leather! Or you could even go for a money clip in silver or gold (they say I’m rolling in it by the way). So next time you’re in the queue at the store and someone pulls their wallet out to pay take a look at the person and see if my theory works. Or maybe I’m just looking into things a bit too deeply!

Fashion is one of the biggest money-makers around. With almost the whole population buying into it, it’s no surprise. If it’s a whole new wardrobe or just one signature piece, we are always trying to keep in fashion. But fashion isn’t just about clothes, it’s about accessories too. Jewelry in particular can create a huge statement and different colors and styles come in and out of fashion just like clothes.

Well there is a new trend hitting the shops. Women’s cufflinks. And they are set to be the next big thing. However this accessory won’t be a fly by night fashion statement. No, women’s cufflinks are the new bangle! With hundreds of different styles you can buy a pair for any occasion and to match any outfit. I particularly love these Swarovski Butterflies. Butterflies are very in at the moment and these cufflinks add a bit of bling to any piece. They are so petite and elegant that you will feel like a true lady wearing them. Because cufflinks come in so many different styles you can even use them as your key piece in your outfit and accessorize around them. Picking out the colors in your cufflinks and wearing a matching colored head band is a great example of this.

So if you are looking for the next big trend when it comes to fashion believe me, cufflinks are it. Available in every different color and style imaginable you will never run out of a pair to wear.

Cufflinks are an essential part of any man’s wardrobe. They are the male equivalent to women’s earrings. They have to be smart and stylish. Most men have several pairs of cufflinks for different occasions. A few pairs for work, one or two for social events, a pair for a special occasion and of course the family heirloom pair. With some men working 5 or even 6 days a week they have a different pair for every day.

But where do you keep these cufflinks? They are precious and need looking after. Some cufflinks can be very expensive (especially sterling silver ones) so you want to do all you can to keep them well protected. Why not try a cufflink box. They come in varying sizes and colors so they won’t look out of place on your dresser. My favorite is the Mahogany box (36 pairs). It holds up to 36 pairs of cufflinks and has a glass lid so you can see all of your sets from a glance. The mahogany wood itself gives a wonderful feel of grandeur and looks very classy. It doesn’t take up much room so it will fit perfectly next to your wife’s jewelry box. The only down side is that with 36 compartments you might feel you need to fill them!

So for those people who treasure their cufflinks or are just plain forgetful and can only ever find one of a set then why not invest in a cufflink box. Or drop hints for someone to buy one for you!

Pink has always been a very controversial color, and it hasn’t changed until now. Remember those “real men wear pink” shirts? They were perhaps designed at a time when the color pink is gaining popularity, not just from the female contingents. While it has been always associated with the female gender, a man who wears pink is considered cool and comfortable with his feminine side. Over the years the traditional color assignments for boys (blue) and girls (pink) are no longer relevant, or at least have lost much of its acceptance. Girl babies can be seen normally wearing blue dresses, black pants, and any color in between. Similarly, boys can use any color they want, including pink, orange, red, and their masculinities are not questioned. In fact, many times, color has not been an insight on the way a person thinks. But when it comes to pink flower power cufflinks, not many men can get away with wearing it without being controversial. With its very dainty design, those are unmistakable Manila Water. Perhaps, men can choose a less controversial pair of cufflinks if they don’t want to be subjected to the rumors in the office or in town. Anyway, it is so easy to shop for cufflinks by color so men can always pick one that will be more appropriate for their stature in life, and their personality. Cufflinks have always bought a little extra something anywhere and whoever wears this pink cufflinks will be sure to attract some attention – whether good or bad!

Have you ever watched the movie, Under the Tuscan Sun? This film started my obsession with ladybugs. It stars Hollywood actress Dianne Lane and is set in breathtaking Italy. Near as it is to the country I live in, I have never been there. I don’t travel much, you see. That’s why I love this story; it inspires me to travel! The story goes like this: an American book critic suddenly finds out she’s been betrayed by her cheating husband. She decides on a whim to take a group tour to Tuscany in Italy where she finds a run-down but big house and decides to settle there for good to start a new life. So, where do beetles come in? In the story, one of the characters tells her that love is like ladybugs. You’ll never find them if you set out to look for them but if you lie very still on the grass for some time, you can be sure to find them crawling all over you when you next open your eyes. That lesson just struck me. I was always in a hurry, always rushing into things, seeking someone to love where there was none. That is why I keep these ladybug cufflinks with me all the time. Aside from being unique cufflinks, these remind me to slow down and be patient. The cufflinks remind me to just live my life a day at a time and learn to trust in the power of nature. Love will find me at the right place and the right time.

Pretty is the word most people use to describe the home I grew up in. The pathway from the gate to the front door is festooned with ferns and perennials and violets. The rest of the yard is buried in wildflowers and fragrant herbs. A jade Buddha sitting atop the water fountain peacefully meditates in one corner where an iron-accented wood bench provides ample sitting space for humans who care to join him. My mom must have breathed a sigh of relief at having been blessed with a girl, rather than an unruly, hyperactive male child. She loves to putter around in the garden, creating beauty, as she often says. I think she’s really good at it – my mom created me, didn’t she? I gave her a pair of gardener cufflinks for her birthday the year before. I found those in a line of specialty cufflinks on the web. My mom loves them. She uses it for informal getups, sometimes even to clip the sleeves of her gardening outfit – long sleeved shirt with cutoffs. She doesn’t normally wear cufflinks but I guess she was so enamoured with the funny cufflinks I gave her, she’s found a way to use it whenever she could! I guess that’s what’s great about them in the first place – they’re functional yet fun. Who’s to say they should only be worn in formal or business occasions? I just enjoy watching my mom gardening, really. Her quirky sense of style and laid-back attitude has always been captivating. I am certain my dad would agree!

Women need cufflinks, too! Women’s cufflinks are all the rage nowadays. I guess more and more of us have realized that men shouldn’t have such exclusive rights to truly versatile accessories! One of my first pairs was actually pink ribbon breast cancer cufflinks. A cousin of mine publishes a medical magazine on cancer, or the big C, as it is often referred to. She gave me the cufflinks as a souvenir during a fancy dinner for her cause. It is alarming how more and more women are being afflicted by this disease. According to Breast Cancer UK, every 2.5 minutes, a woman finds out that she is sick. What is really sad is that while the disease is actually treatable if discovered really early on, many women still die from breast cancer. In fact, one woman dies of breast cancer in the European Union every 7.5 minutes – that’s one in four women diagnosed with breast cancer! The dinner I attended was to raise funds for cancer research and served also as advocacy for early detection. Regular mammography conducted after the age of 40, is what my cousin’s magazine advises in her magazine. In fact, since I have a very strong family history of cancer – breast, colon, bone and lung – she personally advises me to get checked even earlier. To tell you frankly, I’m terrified. Just the word brings shivers up and down my spine. I’m trying to get the courage to do it soon, though. I figure, it would be even more devastating to discover it too late, when I no longer have any hope for a cure.

Last year my boyfriend and I decided to go online and started browsing through hundreds of sites who sells cufflinks. We wanted to buy cufflinks cases or cufflinks boxes one that actually showcase elegance while meeting the storage needs my boyfriend needs at a very affordable price.
My boyfriend has collected 63 cufflinks over the years and he doesn’t own a cufflinks box. Now isn’t that crazy? Any way, we went through each cufflinks website and we came across this site that offers a very sleek and elegant and large cufflinks box and it has a bigger storage space which can store up to 72 cufflinks pairs. It really caught our fancy so we checked it out immediately and boy we were so proud and happy we decided to buy the Large Mahogany Cufflinks Box that was offered on that site.
The cost of the large cufflinks box actually compensated for our cufflinks box needs. Trust me it doesn’t cost that much and the quality and the material from where it was made from was really superb. To top it all since I have two little kids from my previous marriage we never actually worried about them because the one we bought has a locking lid, giving my boyfriend’s cufflinks collection more protection, plus it’s made from genuine oak as well.
It was perhaps one of the wisest moves we have made so far. Everybody was happy, especially me, since I don’t have to run around the house chasing all those cufflinks!

My Grandfather always said that if I should carry a compass with me at all times, then I will never get lost. Of course, that was in the forest during a hunting trip. But I think it applies to the way we live our life, in general. Many self-help books on the best sellers list note that every man needs direction to get to where they wanted to go. Surely you would agree that every now and then, you need to be able to check which way is north or if you made a wrong turn and are headed south when you wanted to go east. The compass these books refer to need not necessarily refer to literal compasses. For many, the compass could be their friends, their mentor or their parents. The person or persons who point you to the right path are valuable indeed. It is easy to get lost in the jungle of life where distractions cause you to involuntarily change your path every so often. Often it’s impossible to tell just by our lonesome which way is which. I personally needed someone who had ever much more experience exploring these woods to tell me how to get out alive and unscathed. You probably guessed right – my grandfather was my compass. That’s why when I found these unique cufflinks, I just knew I had to give these to him. I wanted to thank him with these compass cufflinks for being my constant guide and for always being available to give me direction when I feel lost. I’m glad to have expressed my gratitude through these cufflinks. It’s understandable why these would be one of the best-selling cufflinks in the market today!