Thursday, September 2, 2010

Punctilios: The Monkey's Fist

No, not Monkey Kung Fu (obviously written by a practitioner), nor Monkeybone, the Brendan Fraser flick, nor The Monkey's Paw, the W. W. Jacobs short story we read in high school.  The Monkey's Fist.  It's an old sailor's knot repurposed by clotheshorses as a casual fastener for French cuffs.  To wit:


Those shown came with the Brooks Brothers shirt, but I'm fixing to buy a set of many different colors.  Why?  Well, as you may know, my wardrobe evolved over the past several years in an ecosystem of daily suit-and-tie wear, with French cuffs optional.  Like "black tie optional", I interpreted "French cuffs optional" as "French cuffs?  Hell, yeah!"  The new job is somewhat more casual, on average, with a lot of variability.  Meanwhile, I have approximately 0 business casual items, so almost all my dress shirts are French cuffed, but metal studs seem too formal on a day with no tie.

Enter the Monkey...Fist.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 2, 2010 at 12:42 PM

    I think the monkey fist or "knot cuff links" as Brooks Brothers calls them ($9 a pair) are a good call to dress down a french cuff shirt.
    Its popular to get them in your alma mater's colors, as Brooks Brothers sells 2-color ones also. They are usually in a big jar on the checkout counter.

    More importantly, nice looking watch! The Stuhrling Aristocrat Elite. I see it now on Overstock.com for $185.18 - are you happy with it? Is it a "buy"?

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  2. LeeSeptember 8, 2010 at 9:13 PM

    Thanks re the watch! In fact, I did get it from overstock.com. I've been satisfied. It feels big on my wrist, to me, but everyone else says I'm crazy.

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