Bishop. Puff. Raglan. Leg-o’-mutton. Lantern. Kimono. Bell. It’s a thing, these days, that if you want the world to know that you are wearing Fashion, as opposed to just clothes, you wear a sleeve with an unusual shape and a name to match. The statement sleeve has an origin story in the Zoom dressing lockdown era, but continues to go from strength to strength in 2024, with Bella Baxter’s bonkers sleeves helping power Emma Stone to an Oscar for Poor Things.
But the most fashionable sleeve of all is a sleeve that isn’t there at all. The no sleeve is the new power sleeve. To be specific, what we are talking about here is the unstoppable rise of the sleeveless knit and the sleeveless jacket. Sleevelessness as a fashion statement works best on a jumper or a jacket precisely because they usually have sleeves. When you see a jumper without sleeves, or a blazer, the sleevelessness feels like a daring creative decision, whereas a shift dress without sleeves is just, well, a shift dress.
Let me rewind for a minute, in case anyone needs to catch up. If you are asking yourself, wait, is she talking about tank tops, then the short answer is yes, and the slightly longer answer is yes but please do not let yourself down by using the term “tank tops” in public. Sleeveless knit or sweater, if you will. Or tabard, if it has a boxy shape and you want to be fancy.
I’m a recent convert to the sleeveless knit and it is one of my most exciting new discoveries. Not quite as thrilling as Torres jamón ibérico crisps, but genuinely not far off. I didn’t used to get the point of sleeveless knits at all, to be honest. I used to think: if it’s a jumper, it needs sleeves, because when is it cold enough for a jumper but warm enough for bare arms?
But I was getting it all wrong. First, the sleeveless knit works brilliantly on top of lightweight layers, making flimsy dresses and filmy blouses viable for a longer season. Second, if your middle is toasty, bare arms are perfectly comfortable in middling weather. No, sorry, I don’t have time to investigate the science of this – we have serious fashion business to discuss – but it’s true.
Even better than how the statement no-sleeve works is how it looks. The big statement sleeves tend to conjure up a period-drama kind of mood, which is fun and jolly, but really I would always prefer to look modern, and a sleeveless knit does that. Sleeveless knits are a little bit preppy in a wholesome, weekend-party-good-sport kind of way, but they are also a bit nerdy in a Prada kind of way, which stops them being too posh and smug.
If you wear a sleeveless knit over a sleeved dress or blouse, then the conversation between the two pieces is where the magic happens. A cosy Fair Isle sleeveless knit will bring levity to a striped shirt, or, if you switch the roles around, a crisp and boxy tabard-style plain knit can sharpen up a floral dress. If you wear the sleeveless piece on its own, as a chunky vest, then the chic is served up in the clean vertical line from shoulder to hip, so it is most effective with a bottom half that elongates that line, meaning wide-legged trousers will be more impactful than leggings.