Ladies*, I firmly believe that at least 80 percent of us would be more beautiful if we skipped the current sleeveless trend. I will admit it is beautiful when worn by the right age/fitness level/type of woman—supermodels and Michelle Obama, for example. BUT most of us are not in either of those categories.
First, how does it look? Isn’t there an age cutoff for firm arms? I have avoided sleeveless fashions in the decades since my early twenties. Even if you have toned arms, if you are over twenty-five, have you looked at the “elephant skin” puddling effect of skin folding above the back of your arms above the elbow? It’s especially easy to observe while in church and everyone is standing in pews. I don’t find it as obvious in women with darker skin—probably due to better resiliency due to the type of skin.
Second, isn’t anyone cold? Watching the news this morning, news anchors in the Midwest and in NYC are wearing sleeveless blouses in January and February. The men in the news reports are wearing long-sleeved shirts and suit jackets and ties. Does this make any sense?
Third, wouldn’t we save on sun block if we wore sleeves rather than sun block? (Ok, there are a few days when sleeves might be optional—if we are outside in blinding sun and it’s 90 or higher—but we need sun block, right?)
For those of you who are blessed with beautiful upper arms, by all means, show them! In my world, a sleeve is a beautiful thing.
*please, let’s not even think about men wearing sleeveless shirts—oh, the horror!
