Let’s face it–when a busty woman finds a top that fits her large chest, has a flattering neckline, drapes the way it’s supposed to, and comes in a color she loves, she may be willing to overlook sleeve length. I do all the time (case in point: the floral dress with cap sleeves that I purchased from JCP last month).
Sometimes, however, we have the luxury of sleeve options. When you do have that luxury, keep in mind another lesson I learned from Amy Herzog’s Knit to Flatter workshop: The ending of your sleeve acts as an arrow to that point on your body. In my case,
- short sleeves point to my bust,
- elbow-length sleeves point to my waist,
- 3/4 sleeves point to my high hip, and
- long sleeves point to my hips.
In the pictures above, I really like the elbow-length sleeves because I feel like the they make me look more hourglassy even though I don’t have a super-pronounced waist. (For a different perspective, read Already Pretty’s thoughts on elbow-length sleeves in her post on sleeve lengths.) I believe this is one reason the Elise dress from Saint Bustier has looked amazing on every full-busted woman I’ve seen wearing it.
It almost goes without saying, but sleeves that end at the bust can place a simple black top squarely in “look at me” territory, as I discovered in 2010. In that post, I noted that I preferred waist-length sleeves to hip-length sleeves because they made for a “less cluttered look” on someone with my 5’3″ height.
A large bust is only one of the factors that goes into determining the best sleeve length for you. In the comments to last week’s waistline/neckline post, Wide Curves wrote,
“The other phenomena I noticed, since I am so short waisted, is I can only wear very short vertical(ish) sleeves or 3/4 sleeves that fall below my elbow. Everything else makes my chest/shoulders into a giant “box” and visually places my bust on my hips-especially if the sleeve ends around my bust.”
What factors determine your own sleeve-length preferences?
So useful to see the pictures for comparison!!! I really don’t like my arms at all and I have always been a great fan of elbow-length sleeves or 3/4 as second choice. I think they work better than any other lengths to balance my bust.
If I really “must” wear something sleeveless, I find that having a wide strap that falls over my shoulder slightly is something I can almost get away with.
I don’t like sleeveless or caps on me either, Mara, but I think Les Gros Bonnets helped me see that sleeves at all costs isn’t good for me either (when she commented on the JCP dress and on the Urkye dress I wrote about last week). Interestingly, Amy Herzog said that sleevelessness is “neutral”, and Sally over at Already Pretty said it makes for a long uninterrupted line.
I bought a nice top to wear for formal nights on a cruise but the sleeves ended right at my boobs–and I am also 5’3″ish. I used a trick Imogen Lamport recommended on insideoutstyle and shirred the sleeves so they are shorter and thus visibly widen my sloping shoulders and not my bust.
Thanks for sharing this, Argie. I have sloping shoulders, too.
Darlene, I love those body proportion posts! I like going sleeveless, because I think it’s a great way to show some skin in a non skimpy way. I also have very long arms for my height, so sleeveless means I don’t have to worry about the sleeves being to short. I never cared much for half sleeves, but I must say they look great on you. I’ve alway found 3/4 length sleeves graceful and feminine, so I like those too. And cap sleeves, because I embrace having broader shoulders, but they tend to be harder to get just right in terms of fit.
Astrid, you’re making me want to learn more about proportion so I can write more about it. The challenge is bringing in all the other aspects that influence our choices. I would love to spend an entire morning in a dept store dressing room with 10 other full-busted women, just trying on different combinations of outfits and posing for the camera and learning what works on whom why.
I think I must have a simplistic approach, because I think long sleeves = winter and short sleeves = summer. I don’t really care for 3/4 sleeves (too warm for summer, too cold for winter) but if I like the top in other ways, I will overlook them.
That’s always been my approach, too. But now my preference is 1/2 and 3/4 sleeves . . . unless the temps are in the 90’s!
For me, the worst possible length are half sleeves.. or a shorter version of those (which will come too close to the widest point of my boobs.. I would add a pic of me if I could to illustrate the matter). Short sleeves are not bad, but the little tulip-shaped petal thingies are the most flattering on me..something like this: http://fashionsizzle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/SleevePetal.jpg