18 Sleeve Designs To Match Your Dresses

Sleeves cover your forearms but you can be folded up to elbows as and when required. Also, you can play with sleeves to make your dress more attractive. Sleeves come in different lengths and they can be designed in various ways to suit individual needs. If you want to know more about sleeve design, you should continue reading the article.

What Are Different Sleeve Lengths?

The sleeve length of a dress depends on the overall length and design of the dress. It could be long for full-size dresses or short for crop tops. Sleeve length is classified into three distinct categories according to its lengths.

Short Sleeves: These sleeves remain above the elbow length and they could be a tad bit shorter or a few inches above the elbow.

3/4th Sleeves: Sleeves are extended to just below the elbow.

Full Sleeves: Sleeves cover the full length of the arms.

But the variations in sleeve designs are quite exciting. There are plenty of sleeve designs to explore and choose from. Here we’ll discuss some of the most popular sleeve designs.

  1. Raglan Sleeves
Raglan Sleeves

They run like an extension of shoulders with an inseam stretching under the arms. The advantage of these sleeves is they come in all lengths. So, you can play with the design to make your dress more attractive. It is good for bodycon dresses, casual tops, and t-shirts.

  1. Kimono Sleeves
Kimono Sleeves

Inspired by the Japanese Kimono attire, this features wide, long, and loose sleeves. They indeed look very similar to your bathrobes, but this style is fast catching up. You can consider this design for both western and Indian dresses especially blouses, tops, and both short and long dresses.

  1. Bishop Sleeves
Bishop Sleeves

This style was taken from period dramas of medieval England and improved to make it suitable for modern women. These are full-length sleeves fitted near the elbow and opened up as they move down to the wrists where they form cuffs with buttons. They are better suited for western tops and one-piece dresses.

  1. Off-Shoulder Sleeves
Off-Shoulder Sleeves

Open and bare and starting a little below the shoulder bone, off-shoulder sleeves are quite popular even after being a common design. This design is common but its advantage is that it can be customized to any length and size. Good for Indian attires like blouses, one-piece dresses, tops, and maxi dresses, the off-shoulder sleeves are most of the time a personal choice of users.

  1. Butterfly Sleeves
Butterfly Sleeves

Perfect for deep neck tops or dresses, butterfly sleeves present an amazing combination of cap sleeves and puffed sleeves. They look like small extensions to shoulders sitting delicately on the dresses. Also, they don’t taper like puffed sleeves. You can try butterfly sleeves for tops, dresses, Kurtis, and blouses.

  1. Puffed Sleeves
Puffed Sleeves

These are short sleeves but gathered in a way that makes them look like puffs. Their length remains just below the shoulder but the puff design makes them look bigger. Puffed sleeves are best suited for traditional attires, short tops, tunics, and shirts.

  1. Cap Sleeves
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