How To Roll Up Your Sleeves – The Italian Way.
Originally published 6/16/2010
For as great as our President can look when he’s dressed to the nines, the guy sure does struggle when it comes to loosening the collar and relaxing a bit. The man still tucks his t-shirt into his sweatpants when he plays basketball. Anyway…
See the President’s roll up there? Don’t do that. The guy looks like he has a cotton bagel halfway down his forearm. Here’s what you want to do:
- Unbutton the cuff.
- Grab the edge of the cuff and flip the whole cuff back.
- Allowing your sleeve to turn inside out along the way, drag the cuff slowly up past your elbow until the now bottom seam of the cuff is in your elbow pit.
- Fold the extra 3-5 inches of exposed inside-out sleeve up to “lock in” the cuff.
- Done.
You’ve got a cuff right above your elbow that’s not going anywhere. It’s amazing how well this looks and works.
Need a new dress shirt to do this with? Try the Alfani Red Tonal Stripe, or the DKNY Fitted Stripe
Perfect…just rolled up my blue ginham shirt and it looks great…Thanks MaN
I agree. I also just started doing this recently, and it does look a lot better than the “cotton bagel” look.
It never occurred to me that there’d be a ‘right’ way to roll a cuff – well done.
Not a “right” way… just… “righter?” It’s sleeker, and it holds up real well over the day when you lock it in.
“Better.” Let’s go with better.
but i like the other way! ok fine….
After trying it this way, I gotta give Joe props. The sleeves don’t have the annoying tendancy to fall down when done like Joe shows.
Good tip. I’ve been rolling up my sleeves like this for years now. Another good thing i’ve found about rolling sleeves up this way is if you have a shirt with a contrasting fabric/pattern on the inside of the cuff, it allows you a sort-of subtle way to show that off. My Levi’s flannels have chambray inner cuffs and looks great when I roll the sleeves up.
This was featured in GQ months ago and I’ve been doing it ever since. Solid advice from a fine publication.
I use this way a lot when I am out and about but when it comes to work time I fold my sleeves up over themselves a few times so it doesn’t come undone. Bothers the hell out of me when I am working and I have something in my hands and the sleeve becomes undone.
Depends on the occasion.
My mind has been blown.
Wow! Saw this article, tried it out and it locks in perfectly. You have changed me.
Huh. I just learned something new that’s fundamentally useful. Thanks!
It seems like just about everyone does it this way in Europe, and after a semester in Spain, I was trying to figure out how to do it until I saw it in a copy of GQ the other year.
Epic. I work in a bank where long sleeves are expected in the summer, but rolled up sleeves are allowed. No more pushing up sleeves all day? Can’t wait to try this one out on Monday.
Can we get a YouTube tutorial or something similar? I can’t seem to get it right.
This just changed my life.
what kind of sorcery is this..?
I find the best possible way to fold a cuff is to do it before you put the shirt on (or inversely take the shirt and then roll the cuffs). They seem to stay in place longer and look much better.
Obligatory: http://i.imgur.com/OQf9m.gif
And here I was thinking I invented that method.
this is ultra classy
I like to roll up my sleeves and this is one perfect way to do it.
Either way is valid. Basically what we’re looking at is the way the Marines (President’s method) vs the Army (article’s method) used to roll up their sleeves.
Personally, I just do a loose roll below my elbows. I have beefy forearms and it makes them look awesome! Unless I’m working or something, I think rolling up past the elbow looks a little goofy, regardless of how you do it.
I have to disagree – I like my cuff snug at the top of my forearm…I find this most comfortable –