Some trends grow symbiotically. Take peanut butter and jelly, Nirvana and Dr. Martens or a cinched waist and statement sleeves. Ever since the waist became defined the shoulders and arms became big, puffy and oversized to exaggerate the silhouette. The statement sleeve has taken centre stage both on the catwalk and on our Instagram feeds. Early adopters include Leandra Medine sporting Rosie Assoulin’s signature oversized sleeve tops.

This season the trend expanded to the masses, from balloon to billowing and bell-shaped the impressive sleeves this year a offered in great variety to suit all tastes and arm sizes 🙂 For an uber romantic aesthetic head over to Roksanda Ilincic who presented elegant feminine dresses embellished with aethereal bell sleeves. Ellery focused on length rather than volume while Balenciaga and Jacquemus showed exaggerated 80’s puffer sleeves. Over at Gucci, Anna Sui and Simone Rocha the interpretation was dramatic balloon sleeves. Thankfully we can now find most of these styles from high street brands like Zara Topshop and Mango without breaking the bank.

Although a summer trend the statement sleeve is an absolute winner for the upcoming AW season. It can instantly lift any old boring wardrobe item by giving it depth and volume. It also is quite cleverly elongating and thus complementary for any figure.

So unless you’re prone to dip your sleeves into your dinner – statement sleeve tops and dresses will be one of your favourite purchases of the year!