Column

September 2007

The Magic of Sleeve Length

You may have shortened or lengthened your trousers, but have you ever considered what impact your sleeve length can have on you? It's huge!

Perhaps you have narrow shoulders. Maybe you have a small chest. If you're a woman, you might have curvaceous, wide hips. Surprisingly enough, choosing the right sleeve length can help balance your body proportions, emphasise your good areas and place less focus on those that you'd prefer people not to notice. This is how it works:

Capped sleeves: 
Suitable for people who want to widen their shoulders. They also suit women who have wide hips as they make the hips to look slimmer, helping to balance the proportions of the whole body.

Short sleeves:
If you want to emphasise your chest, choose short sleeves that finish in line with the middle of your chest. The eye will be drawn towards the end of the sleeves, and will fool the brain into thinking that your chest area is there. For ladies, make sure you are wearing a well-fitted bra.

Three-quarter length sleeves:
They make the arms appear slimmer and longer.

Long sleeves:
Make sure they cover your wrist bones, particularly when wearing a conventional business-type shirt or blouse. Otherwise, they can make your arms look shorter or longer than they really are, so that they seem to be out of proportion. When worn under a jacket, especially as part of a suit, the cuffs should show approximately a quarter to half an inch below the jacket sleeves.

Avoid:

• Raglan sleeves if you have sloped shoulders

• Short sleeves that finish in line with your chest or breasts if you don't want to emphasise this area

• Capped or puffed sleeves if you have wide shoulders

• Three-quarter length sleeves that finish along the widest part of your stomach, if your stomach is big relative to your overall proportions

• Long sleeves that finish along the widest part of your hips, if your hips are big relative to your overall proportions

These may seem like minor points but you'd be surprised how much impact they have. Try adjusting some of your sleeves and see for yourself!

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