Tyler Towers, Reporter
@tyler.tcourant
A common theme that has circulated the fashion world for the past 3 seasons is accentuated sleeves. Although this has been a repetitive trend that tends to come and go, it means something different every time. The trend can vary from puffed, flowy, draped, asymmetrical, pointed, over sized, and other styles.
A little walk through history before focusing on this year’s comeback:
Throughout the decade of the 1890’s is when puffy sleeves were first introduced to the fashion world, marking history. Below is a collage of images that show the experimental development of the accentuated sleeve.
image: Sleeve Shifts of the 1890s – historicalsewing.com
Although the puffed sleeve was strictly made only for dresses back in the late 1800’s due to the under-developed fashion industry, it was then reintroduced in the 1980’s, almost a full century later. However, this time around, it was made out of a variety of different materials for countless occasions.
image: liketotally80s.com
As shown above, the use of the puffed sleeve has greatly evolved over time. It can be worn in a more casual, athletic look or in a more upscaled, bold, dressier look, to even being worn on a wedding dress. This look has become timeless.
As puffed sleeves have developed through time, they have continued to branch off and create more specific looks such as a more flowy sleeve. As the seasons change, shifting from cool to warm weather, our fashion must follow. This coming winter/spring 2021 season, there will be a main focus on puffed sleeves as well as flowy sleeves.
The image above is an example of flowly sleeves into a tighter cuff, specifically shown in a bright red which is a huge aspect of this winter’s color scheme.
image: Tyler Towers image: Tyler Towers
Above are two images of shirts in a light green color which is a very trendy color that came in during Fall 2020 and will continue to shine through even until Summer 2021. The first image can be worn as an off the shoulder look as shown, or worn more on your shoulders like the second image.
This last shirt will be worn closer to the end of spring/ beginning of summer 2021, but is worth showing considering the style of the shirt. Clearly shown on the model is a shirt with puffed sleeves and an exuberant pattern of oranges on a pink background. This is a classic and timeless spring/summer pattern that goes along nicely with this years up and coming trend of accentuated sleeves.
