One of the most out-of-the-ordinary fashion pieces that has hit Amarillo lately is leather cuffs that many college and high school students have been wearing.

They are about two inches wide, wrap around the wrist and use a belt-like loop and pin to stay on.

Sometimes they are decorated with metal studs, or spikes, but some are simply plain, matching the character of the one who wears them.

"The cuffs are cool because they are big and are guaranteed to stand out," said Jeremy Self, a music major. "Usually they have metal in it, which makes them more noticeable."

Self has been wearing the cuffs for about a year and has noticed their increasing popularity. "When I first started wearing them, people were telling me they looked awkward," he said. "But now chicks are always complimenting me on it. It is most definitely a chick magnet."

Even far away, the cuffs are becoming increasingly popular. Bonnie Dixon, a former Amarillo resident and now a junior at Liberty University, has noticed the popularity of these in and around her East Coast school. "I remember seeing them in Amarillo, but not too many people were wearing them," Dixon said. "But here in Lynchburg Va., and in the Washington, D.C., area, many people wear them."

Cuffs once were popular only in punk rock bands. Members would wear spiked-out leather bands around their necks and eventually started wearing them around their wrists, too.

Now they are versatile.

"It is a new trend that punks to preps can wear," Dixon said. "They have so many styles that anyone can find something that suits them." Now cuffs have become so popular that they have been converted to watch bands.

"Guys who don't want to look like they are wearing a bracelet will buy one with a watch on it," Self said. "Either way they choose to do it, they still look cool."

Not everyone thinks that they can get away with that type of bold style.

"I don't think they look stupid; I just wouldn't wear it myself," said Jeremy White, a psychology major. "I would feel awkward wearing it, because it is too big."

A cuff does cover up most, if not all of the wrist, depending on the size of the person, but with new fads, not everyone is going to look right in them.

"Not everyone can just wear them," Self said. "People who wear them have to have a certain demeanor about them."