Cocktail Dress with Sleeves
What kinds of sleeves should be on a cocktail dress will depend on the person wearing it. Just as with many other things in life, it's all a matter of what makes you feel the best and what you think you look best in.
First, you need to know the sleeve styles that are available with cocktail dresses.
Bishop Sleeves - These sleeves are loose fitting down the arm, but gathered at the wrist, to allow flowing motion, yet control of the sleeves.
Bell Sleeves – These sleeves are fitted much of the way down the arm, but open into a large bell shape at the bottom.
Cap Sleeves – These are typical sleeves that will just cover the top of the shoulder.
Dolman Sleeves - These sleeves are full at the top, but gradually tighten in to a perfectly snug fit at the wrist.
Fitted Sleeves – These sleeves are perfectly fitted from top to bottom and do not have any open space.
Gibson Sleeves – These are sleeves that are full all the way down. Sometimes they are made even more full looking through the use of a puff at the top.
Juliet Sleeves – Juliet sleeves are mostly fitted down the arm, but have a puff of fabric at the shoulder, harkening to days of old.
Three-Quarter Sleeves – These sleeves literally come three-quarters of the way down the arm, ending just below the elbow. They are often relatively tight sleeves as well.
Once you have decided on the sleeve style, you need to know your body. What do you think about the look of your arms?
If you have attractive arms, you may want to show them off and emphasize them through the use of a cap sleeve that shows your skin, or fitted sleeves, that will show the shape of the arm.
If your arms are a little lankier than you would like them to be, you can give them more oomph through the use of bishop, dolman or gibson sleeves.
Have a little extra weight on your arms than you would like? Juliet or bell sleeves may be your better options. The juliet sleeves will let the poof at the shoulder pull eyes away from the rest of your arm that you may not want them to see. Likewise the bell at the bottom of the bell sleeves will make the rest of your arm look smaller, in comparison.
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