Be like Omotola, embrace the creative sleeve drama

Sleeves… Seemingly unimportant for many, recent fashion studies have shown they can make or break an outfit. The trick with dramatic sleeves is to make a statement with how your arms look, while retaining an interesting outlook with the outfit. Balloon, cold-shoulder, bell or puffed up, ruffled, among others, are sleeve styles to choose from. Below are a few things to consider before embracing the trend.

 

Fabric makes the difference

Every now and then, stories crop up on social media and in the physical world of how fashion designers ruined people’s dreams of a particular outfit. However, some ‘victims’ do not take into note that their fabric may have been responsible for the terrible outcome of the style. And the tailors may also share in the blame of ignorance. So, when you choose a particular style for your dramatic sleeves, ensure the picture is clear enough to make out the exact fabric used for the style. Nearly every fabric can make dramatic sleeves; the trick is to know what works for what.

 

Pipe down on the rest…

When you choose to go dramatic, you have to stay as dramatic as possible. Dramatic gives no room for boring, flat, uninteresting sleeves. So, for the rest of the outfit, you may want to relax a bit so as not to make the outfit too distracting. For instance, you can’t do dramatic sleeves, yet do the one-sided slit, open cleavage, low back, all in one outfit. There is something as a little as too much, even in fashion.

 

Accessorise

Another way to make sleeves dramatic is to accessorise with beads, stones, glitter, trimmings or patterns. Your unexciting sleeves can transform into a creative wonder with the right touch of accessories.

 

Know what fits

As it turns out, even a feature as unimportant as body shape in this regard, comes into play when the style is dramatic sleeves. There are sleeves that will look weird on a slim figure, especially, if they make you look like you’re carrying something that looks extremely oversized. Bell, medium-puffed, balloon, will work well for slim people, depending on the design anyway. Plus sized people do well with certain kinds of dramatic sleeves. However, the design should not be such that the person looks ten times bigger than reality.

 

Let your skin glow

No matter your skin colour, dramatic sleeves would work much better with glowing skin. Invest in quality products (work more with natural ingredients) to get the best from your skin.

 

Neckpiece: To wear or not to?

When it comes to dramatic sleeves, there is sometimes the dilemma of whether to wear statement neckpieces or not to. The general rule, save a few exceptions, is to pattern the neckpiece according to how dramatic the sleeves are. If the style is on the very bold side, leave out the neckpiece for that outfit. And if you must, go for a simple one that droops towards the chest area – if the neckline is v-shaped. Layers are also not a bad idea, especially if the sleeves are designed such that the upper part of the arms are a little simpler and the creative cut works more towards the lower arms.

 

Get expert opinion

However the sleeves look on one person, do not assume that style would look just as good on you, unless the person is your identical twin in body structure. When in doubt, let your stylist know your fears and s/he can work you through the style. And who knows, between you and your stylist, you may come up with something even better.