Wristycuffs

It sure has been a while so you'll have to forgive me *sympathetic look*.  Life has been a little hectic of late, and now Michelle has headed off on holiday to Cuba - YES I'M JEALOUS - leaving me to look after the business, blog and her lovely pets!  Thankfully Dodge (the dog) and Wolowitz (the hamster) have settled in well; to be honest my parents were ridiculously excited about them coming to stay.

Back to the business at hand, for a long time I've been one of those guys - I don't know where this Americanism has sprung from but using it definitely makes me feel cool - that finds wearing jewellery, in any form, rather peculiar.  It's not that I didn't admire the look, quite the contrary, but I was never sure whether I could pull it off.  The only thing I've really worn as far as accessories go is a watch, which is a little lame.  But recently I've been trying to experiment more with bracelets, whether leather or beaded, just to try something different.

I got inspiration from one of my favourite blogs: I AM GALLA.  Written by Adam Gallagher, a 20 something Californian who is currently living and working in New York, the blog tells the story of his personal style plus his recent move and new life in the Big Apple.  I love his sense of style and how he interprets different themes and genres in to wearable outfits.  There are few personal style blogs for men that I think actually represent realistic looks that you'd want to wear, so I'd recommend you check him out here.  I'm also rather jealous of his collection of 'sunnies' - I still prefer the word shades, but maybe that's an English thing?  Anyway, a while back he wrote a post about 'Male Arm Parties' and the trend of men decorating their wrists (see here), highlighting the nature of crossover male and female fashion and celebrating this trend, which is definitely accessible to men.  It was from reading this I took courage and decided to host my own 'arm parties'.

Like most things I decided to buy inexpensive items so that if I didn't like the result I could hide them away in a drawer and thankfully forget the whole thing had ever happened.  I started with just two bundles from Primark that were £2.00 each - nothing right?  Blacks, browns and blues were easier to start with as they're versatile and would fit with the majority of guys wardrobes.  Most of the time I picked a watch as the focal point and then would add some bracelets to bulk up the look.

I think wearing a mixture of materials such as beads and leather gives a better overall look, and it is generally more pleasing to the eye.  I'm now looking for some onyx or metallic pieces to add to my collection just to mix things up and be a bit more versatile.  I do at times feel perhaps people I see overwhelmed one arm - I fear one arm becoming longer than the other - and so I have started occasionally splitting them up so each wrist is more balanced.  I'm not sure whether this is right or wrong; I like how they look anyway.  Also I sometimes just wear a few bracelets on my arm without a watch, which adds something a little extra to my outfit.  I guess they say the Devil's in the detail and that's what accessories ultimately are - detail.

Adam coined the term 'kickbacks' to make things a bit more masculine, but not to be outdone I thought it only proper to come up with my own name.  I plumped for wristycuffs as a play on 'fistycuffs', which I think adds a little humour and is quintessentially British.  Also when I looked up fistycuffs (which means fighting) I found the Urban Dictionary defined it as 'an expression used only by filthy Englishmen' which left me in stitches!

Ultimately I guess it's all down to personal style and what you like, but I have to say I'm a fan and I'll definitely be embracing this trend, which will surely continue to be relevant this summer.  Hopefully you like the look, but please excuse the pictures - I tried my best with my iPhone camera and had a little fun with PicMonkey!

Neil x