Sleeves are still one of the major fashion stories of 2018, and the stars seem to be enthusiastically adopting the trend and seeing if they can out sleeve each other with celebrity fashion sleeves that end up in the gossip columns.
Some of them seem to get it spot on and looking on trend, others seem to be latching on to a trend for dear life. Fashion bloggers and Instagrammers love a sleeve too – just search Insta under #sleeve or do a Pinterest hunt and you’ll be rewarded with so much inspiration you won’t quite know what to do with it. For inspiration, lookup Parisian fashion Instagrammer Anne-Laure Mais, aka Adenorah.
One of the simplest trends seems to be voluminous fabrics, often bell shaped. Of course, Wingz were nailing this back in 2012 but it’s good to know we’re so far ahead of the fashion pack!
To nail the trend, the key is simplicity. We love a white top with a voluminous sleeve, of course we suggest white chiffon Wingz and a summer top. War the looser, flowing top with a fitted bottom like a pencil or wiggle skirt, or straight leg trousers. Don’t go too flowing with skirts and trousers as you could have too much of a good thing!
Models on the runway at Isabel Marant were demonstrating just how versatile a sleeve can be, and while designer J.Mendel is known for his amazing dresses, sleeves are becoming a major feature with pretty lace designs featuring long, bell-shaped sleeves.
So how do our favourite celebrities dress up a sleeve?
Celebrity fashion sleeves in the news…
Soap stars love a good photo opportunity, and one of our favourites from the British Soap Awards in June was Emmerdale star Laura Norton, who went full on sixties in a cute floaty white lace dress with bell sleeves.
Lady Gaga has reached back a few more decades than her usual eighties style for inspiration and she’s recently been spotted out and about in sophisticated sixties chic – she was papped leaving the recording studio in a white blouse with a tie neck and big floaty bell sleeves teamed with a black mini-skirt and grey sparkly knee-high boots. LOVE this look, Gaga!
Another night of star style gave celebrity fashion sleeves an outing in early June – The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Party at Burlington House in Piccadilly attracted a lot of stylish outfits and one of our favourites was Charli XCX in a stunning black gown which featured gorgeous, delicate lace puff sleeves.
Last but not least, you have to love Laverne Cox’s stunning sequinned minidress. The long flowing sleeves just added to the glamour as Laverne attended the Portraits Of Pride with GLAAD event in Beverly Hills recently. Go, girl!
FLOTUS celebrity fashion sleeves
We can’t help but notice an odd trend that involves sleeves that you don’t actually put your arms through.
We all spotted Victoria Beckham at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May, with interesting split sleeves – worn with her arms through the split instead of the cuff. However, Melania Trump is the undisputed queen of not wearing sleeves properly.
To the first lady, sleeves seem to be surplus to requirements. She’s spent three years in the public eye demonstrating not wearing a coat in the way it’s intended to be worn, hanging a coat from her shoulders and leaving the arms dangling uselessly by her side.
Washington Post fashion columnist Robin Givhan called 2017 “the year of the sleeve” for Melania, who seemed to enthusiastically follow the trend, mixing it up in fur-trimmed, puffy, floaty and embellished sleeves, but only on tops and dresses. We wonder if this might explain why she doesn’t like a coat over the top, hiding the statement sleeves, crumpling and creasing?
The other, funnier explanation is that it stops Donald grabbing her hand! An empty sleeve can be a useful safety buffer for when you’re boarding a plane and your husband wants to hold your hand…
Main Image By The White House from Washington, DC - Photo of the Day: February 6, 2018, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66698896