Friday, October 9, 2009

The Mystique of the Long-Sleeved Dress

What is it about the October issue of Vogue and long-sleeved dresses? The beginning of fall seems to send fashion writers into a tizzy of "OMG, dresses with sleeeeevz!" You might remember that last October was the issue that Plum Sykes wrote her supremely annoying essay on her quest to find the perfect dress with long sleeves.

Here is a taste of the annoyingness:

There are three things a woman really needs at 38: a husband, at least one child, and a dress with long sleeves, which, I have discovered over the years,may be harder to come by than the husband. I found two potential husbands in the space of four years—and married one of them. But in all that time, I found only one really good dress with long sleeves, despite looking for such a frock just as diligently as I looked for the husband.
Ah yes, the eternal quest to acquire husbands, children, and long-sleeved dresses. WTF, Plum Sykes? I think, as sublimely irritating as her first statement is, Sykes has an eye for a good silhouette with long sleeves: high, tight armholes and a sleeve that extends past the wrist.

Now this year's October issue loudly states on its cover: "WHY YOUR DRESS NEEDS LONG SLEEVES." Uh, okay. The evidence for this bold statement is a spread of loudly printed, long-sleeve dresses.

I think I've come to a conclusion on this frenzy: well-tailored, long-sleeved dresses are expensive. (Setting a sleeve in perfectly, as we sewists all know, can be a challenge.) Sure, you can get a long-sleeved poly/spandex jersey dress at any Macy's, but what about one in a lovely wool or crepe? Try a Roland Mouret:

These will only set you back a couple grand.

I confess that, with the weather turning a bit chilly, I've been feeling the pull toward long-sleeved dresses myself. Thank god I can make my own. Here are some of my pattern picks:

Vintage McCall's 6523. I adore the bell skirt here. It has a tulle petticoat to keep its structure!


McCall's 5927, with its high neck and slouchy sleeves:


This fab number from the August 2009 issue of Burda World of Fashion:

And lastly, Vogue 8615.

I think the key to these dresses is making sure you have the right bodice fit, as well as fabric choice. To get a slimming silhouette, one might need to raise the armhole a bit. And, of course, in order to maintain mobility, you'll want a fabric with a hint of stretch in it. It does help, in life, to be able to move one's arms.

So, what do you think? Are you feeling the long-sleeved dress this season?

31 comments:

  1. Seems a bit redundant to me. I guess she can't think of anything else.

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  2. Gretchen, I really your National Honesty Month theme. Hungry Zombie Couture did a post for National Honesty Month with a link to you. I'm going to do some posts this month with that theme. I posted a picture in the top left-hand column of my blog with the Title National Honesty Month. I got the picture from a royalty free stock photo site. I'm not real computer literate; so I don't know how to remove the words they have underneath the picture. I wanted to know what you think of having a picture of some sort that we can post with the title National Honesty Month kind of like the blog award pictures people post on their blogs? If you like the idea and want to come up with a better picture, let me know; and I'll happily put it in place of the one I am currently using. If you like mine, you are welcome to use it if you wish. In my honesty posts, I will be giving you the credit for the idea with a link to your blog. I would really love to know your thoughts on this. Please email me or leave a comment on one of my posts in regards to this. You can find my email on my profile page. Thanks.

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  3. Now, I haven't read anything from that magazine, nor ever heard of her, so based just on that quote; taken with a pinch of salt, I find the text a bit amusing. Exaggerating for effect is not a crime when writing...
    I love long sleeved dresses, they can be a bit hard to find, but that's why I sew =)

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  4. I think the picture from Vogue explains it all - you need long sleeves so you can cough or sneeze the new politically correct way!

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  5. I sort of love this look. I find it very sexy and classy.

    Also, I always find it strange when every single fancy dress available in stores is either strapless or sleeveless, regardless of the season. I live in Canada, people. I need the warmth!

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  6. What's the new correct way to sneeze? I hope I'm not doing it wrong!

    Trudy, I'm going to shoot you an e-mail!

    Erika, Plum Sykes is a perenially annoying socialite type . . . I can see that my previous knowledge of her is perhaps coloring my views here.

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  7. As one who has passed a certain age when gravity has taken its toll on my upper arms, I have long known of the alure of LONG sleeves.

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  8. I'm not really a fan of long sleeves in general - they belong to sweaters, cardigans, and jackets. (I prefer all of these items in 3/4 lengths though, only covering the wrists when it's just too cold to handle it.)
    I have one dress with sleeves to the wrist, vintage, black wool crepe, peter pan collar, slim skirt that actually fits. But I have yet to wear it... I prefer 3/4 sleeves, shorter or longer, as long as I can still wrap my hand around an uncovered wrist. I love the Burda dress you posted - the sleeves are just right.
    I guess I'm not really feeling the long-sleeved dress. Perhaps because I don't like tighter wrist-length sleeves in general, and I strangely really like my wrists, I prefer them uncovered. I would rather my sleeves to come to me through layering.
    Long-sleeved dresses on others - great! Long-sleeved sweaters layered with skirts - wonderful! But I think I'll pass on the long-sleeved dresses for myself.

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  9. LOL the new 'correct' way to sneeze or cough is into the crook of your elbow, instead of into your hand, since (duh) your hand will get germs all over everything you touch, but you're unlikely to use the inside of your elbow for much.

    Now, on topic... I never thought about long-sleeved dresses being hard to find. I guess it is probably hard to find a truly well-made one, though, that isn't made of a knit. I'm planning to make myself a cute long-sleeved dress from the fall/winter Burda plus, but it's a jersey knit dress. I'd love to make myself a nice lightweight wool long-sleeved (or 3/4 sleeve) dress sometime though, with the right pattern.

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  10. I honestly haven't thought about long sleeve dresses. I have thought of the fact that I need some long sleeve shirts but mostly I have been obsessed with short sleeves for like a year. Mostly on some cute little fitted sweaters. You can always throw a cardi or a jacket on top if its cold and then take it off again because the heat in the office is up too high. I am always freezing though so maybe I should be thinking about long sleeve dresses. I love the vintage mccall's and the chanel-esque burda, is there a pattern for that one? i want to see what the skirt looks like on it.

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  11. Hmmm... I understand what the girl's talking about.
    I love dresses, and I wear them frequently, more than skirts. But when it comes to long sleeved dresses, I have just a few of them. Even though I sew, I haven't had much success with long sleeved dresses. I guess I never took enough time for alter the pattern I worked with to make it really fit me.
    On the other hand, as much I've been sewing, I've been searching for a husband (or at least a boyfriend), with not much of success. But hey, I'm 30 - according to the writer, I have 8 more years to match a perfect long sleeved dress and a husband :).

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  12. Oh I must admit I do really rather warm to the idea of a lovely structured long sleeved dress, all very chic and grown up! I especially like the pattern with the bell skirt!Lovely! However getting a long sleeved dress that fits beautifully........maybe more of a problem....unless you have a few grand to spare like you said! I am now very much hoping you make one though! xx

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  13. I hadn't really thought about it, but I suppose I don't have any long sleeved dresses. I think long or 3/4 length sleeves would be great for everyday work wear. I wouldn't get a formal dress with long sleeves because all of my formal dresses are worn for dancing, and I get too hot while dancing to wear long sleeves. Plus, I really need a well done armstyce for dancing because I need to be able to lift my arm over my head.

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  14. I do love long sleeved dresses. I'm in the middle of trying to find a good green wool to make one. I even have the perfect pattern!

    Mentally reviewing, I've come to realize that I only have two long sleeved dresses. Out of perhaps half a dozen winter ones. All the rest I layer under sweaters and such. Hmm.

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  15. Oh my, I picked the Burda one, too, in their monthly magazine. But honestly, I'm incapable of sewing correctly a sleeveless dress, so long-sleeved dresses will be for another year. Or century. And when I'll be capable to sew them, you can bet they'll be out of fashion again. So I settled for the pencil skirt in the same collection instead.

    Anyway ... Plum Sykes, isn't she the untalented "author" of this "novel" about rich blondes ? I guess that explains all.

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  16. I think there is nothing more elegant than a long-sleeve dress. I'm currently on the hunt for one I've invented in my mind, but I've had no luck- guess I will have to search out a good pattern and dust my sewing machine off.

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  17. Plum does have great taste in clothes but her edit chip is perennially on the fritz. To those who did not read it: this was a droll little recitation on the difficulties of life with spotted bat arms & the near nirvanic solution sourced through expensively tailored design. Honestly, Plum probably woke up one morning & saw a chink in the expensively maintained armour of a 38 year old soon to be former hottie in a world of trophy wives & models. I love long sleeves, appreciate the workmanship & wear them quite often, alas the pages would have been better spent on more photos & less verbage.

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  18. Even though the first photo's dress is awesome and original, I think 3/4 sleeves are more graceful, more suitable for more people. I don't do long sleeves well, any thing on the wrist is bothersome, an I live in South Texas, it's rarely cold.

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  19. I don't wear long sleeves. I tend to drag them into food, or pens, or anything else lying around. I prefer 3/4 length sleeves, and feel they are more flattering on me.

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  20. I don't fit well in RTW dresses, much less long sleeve ones. My torso is too long for my dress size, so my boobs are way below the area that sticks out on the dresses and the back darts end inches above my butt!! They are just hideous on me. Now, add long sleeves to the equation and things get even worse! The sleeves are too short and just mess up the whole shoulder issue.
    I rarely even try on dresses. I am definitely a shirt and skirt or slacks girl. Now that I am sewing I might change my mind! I like the versatililty of mixing and matching different shirts with skirts, though.

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  21. I moved from Canada to tropical Cairns, Australia tp claim my right to bare arms.

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  22. I'm not really into the long-sleeved dress, honestly. Once the weather drops below 50 degrees I never want to wear anything but pants, because I get cold ridiculously easily. I'll wear skirts to church, but there's usually heavier fabrics and layering involved. Plus I've found that it's really hard for me to find a long-sleeved dress that doesn't look frumpy on me. I think I'm going to have to attempt to sew one anyway, though, since I have to go to a wedding in January...

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  23. I love dresses with long sleeves and have several of them. But once, on a wedding, I saw some woman with a gorgeous wool dress. Slim fit, beautiful wool, perfect colour. Since then I am trying to find/make such a dress for myself. I didn't get there yet (there is always something that just isn't perfect), but someday I will :-)

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  24. I think 3/4 sleeves are a more attractive look on a woman than a long sleeve.

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  25. Plum Sykes annoys me to no end! I read "Bergdorf Blondes" and wondered if she was being ironic, only to read her inane Vogue columns -- a "daring" experiment of only taking ONE bikini to St. Bart's. Dear God! -- and realizing... she is one of those worthless Park Avenue women.

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  26. Heheheh Plum IS pretty tiresome.

    Long sleeves are a bit of a problem for me, because I'm short, but not correspondingly petite of frame, so they are frequently too long on store-bought dresses. I have never attempted to make a long-sleeve dress. Wrong time of year for me to try one now- summertime and the living is easy and sleeveless, with everyone showing off their two tickets to the gun show!

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  27. Though she is completely inane, I'm wondering if Plum might have a point. Finding husbands is a tough job. And according to these responses, so is finding a decent long sleeved dress.

    I have yet to find a suitable long sleeved dress pattern that would work in an office or for casual wear. My mom commissioned me to make one for her right after I had read this post and had to refer back to it, hoping some inspiration would come to me. Since I haven't yet tried one, or anything with sleeves yet, I wonder what the difficulty is in creating a long sleeved dress. So far I've only created skirts and sleeveless dresses for myself and I'm now a little frightened to try and make an already difficult dress for a woman with long arms, a long torso, long legs, and huge boobs. Oh help me! Any pattern suggestions would be appreciated!

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  28. I admit: I'm on the fence about long sleeved dresses. They look fabulous on other women--women who don't have a tendency to get their hands (and consequently wrists) deep in dishwater and housecleaning (and are supremely klutzy, like moi). ;) In theory, I love these styles--especially that 60s cocktail dress. I also tend to be one of the sorts who is always pushing my sleeves up--I dislike things around my wrist. ;) So in reality, long sleeves probably won't find their way into my wardrobe in large quantities (but I will continue to lust over the gorgeous examples that crop up!).

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  29. Haha, I disagree with her on all points: it's not easy to find a husband (I'm 36 and haven't found a suitable one yet) and long sleeved dresses have nothing to do with age. It's all in the mind.
    I' m so not going to get one, but that's just beacuse I simply can't help moving too much to wear one (movement=heat=sweat if you wear the wrong clothes).
    Especially combined with narrow sleeeves, which I agree look the best.
    I dream of the day when I become a lady in smart clothes... (I am now a bunch of energy on a little red bicycle from 1951, at least my bike's ladylike!).
    I love the dresses you've picked, especially the grey one from Burda. Chic.

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  30. Plum is absurdly annoying, but I do turn to her column first whenever Vogue runs one. She's kind of like a very, very refined version of Real Housewives. You hate yourself for reading / watching, but somehow you just can't help yourself.

    Love the long-sleeved dress!

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  31. I am so relieved to see others hated that article. She and I are the same age and I do not have any of the hang-ups she does. I quit sunbathing in my teens so my arms are not spotted but I have gained a lot of weight. Still my plump arms do not bother me at all so I really don't get it. I do like sleeveless. I think it is flattering on me and I live in Texas so it is HOT most of the year.

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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