Nothing beats a conversation-starting long-sleeve dress
Remember those carefree heady days of halternecks, spaghetti straps and bandeau dresses? When you could wear them without looking at your arms and thinking, ‘What they need is a cardigan.’ Whether you dare to bare your arms (or not) is a personal choice. It seems, 40+ women either love or loathe their aging upper arms and from a quick poll of my friends who are late-forties to mid-fifties, most prefer to cover them up. I genuinely don’t mind my upper arms, I quite like them in fact, and I will happily show them in public, however, I still prefer to wear dresses and tops with sleeves. Why? Because longer sleeves cleverly balance my bottom-heavy, pear-shape figure and I feel a little more polished and put-together. For me, it’s all about the power of a great sleeve!
Body politics aside, when I wear longer sleeves (from the elbow down), my figure looks instantly more in proportion. The demure drama than comes from wearing a statement sleeve makes me feel more confident, modern and relevant. It also helps that interesting sleeves have been the hardiest fashion silhouette of the past few years with both runway designers and the high street getting more creative with their sleeve designs. The swinging Sixties had the miniskirt; now we have the mega-sleeve. Because there are endless shapes and sizes of sleeve (puff, fluted, bell, mutton, balloon…), it feels like a different look every season.
The statement sleeve phenomenon is an inclusive trend, too. A three-quarter fluted sleeve (think The Vampire’s Wife signature sleeve) is literally the most flattering sleeve a woman can wear. I particularly love this party season’s sheer, lace and see-through fabrics which provide a playful peek-a-boo element - a fashionable and sexy way to conceal-and-reveal your arms without having to do a single tricep curl! If you feel self-conscious about showing your arms, please don’t ruin an outfit by shoving a drab cardi over your glamorous party dress, get yourself a sexy sleeved dress. With parties to go to, people to see, upper arms to conceal… here are my top choices for long sleeve party dresses.
Geneve Maxi Dress
Sequinned wrap dress
Silk Color Block Lace Maxi Dress + Belt
Hawthorne taffeta-trimmed stretch-ponte midi dress
Gold Metallic Tiered Midi Dress
Velvet Round Neck Midaxi Column Dress
Silver Split Sleeve Sequin Mini Dress
Red Arabella Ruched Mesh Dress
Velvet Ruched Dress
Suzi Maxi Dress With Detachable Feathers in Blue
Black Star Mesh Felicity Dress
$119.00 at neverfullydressed.com
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