Sleeve


A sleeve is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period. Various survivals of the early forms of sleeve are still found in the different types of academic or other robes. Where the long hanging sleeve is worn it has, as still in China and Japan, been used as a pocket, whence has come the phrase to have up one's sleeve, to have something concealed ready to produce. There are many other proverbial and metaphorical expressions associated with the sleeve, such as to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve, and to laugh in one's sleeve.
Sleeve length varies from barely over the shoulder to floor-length. Most contemporary shirt sleeves end somewhere between the mid-upper arm and the wrist.
Early medieval sleeves were cut straight, and underarm triangle-shaped gussets were used to provide ease of movement. In the 14th century, the rounded sleeve cap was invented, allowing a more fitted sleeve to be developed.

Types of sleeves

Often the names applied to sleeves in historical costume are modern.
TypeBrief descriptionImage
Angel sleeveA long wide sleeve that usually hangs loose from the shoulder
Batwing sleeveA long sleeve with a deep armhole, tapering toward the wrist. Also known as a "magyar" sleeve
Bell sleeveA long sleeve fitted from the shoulder to elbow and gently flared from elbow onward
Bishop sleeveA long sleeve, fuller at the bottom than the top, and gathered into a cuff
Butterfly sleeveUsually found on Filipiniana, the national costume for women of the Philippines, and dresses or formal blouses that start at the shoulder and get wider toward the end of the sleeve but usually do not go longer than 4–5 inches. The difference between a butterfly sleeve and a bell sleeve is that butterfly sleeves usually do not go completely around the full arm.
Cap sleeveA very short sleeve covering only the shoulder, not extending below armpit level, usually worn by women
Cold shoulder sleeveA long sleeve that is disconnected past the stitching on top of the shoulder, but not underneath, where the armpit is. The top of the bicep is exposed.
Dolman sleeveA long sleeve that is very wide at the top and narrow at the wrist
Fitted point sleeveA sleeve that is long and narrow and ends in a point resting against the back of the hand
Gigot or leg-o'-mutton sleeveA sleeve that is extremely wide over the upper arm and narrow from the elbow to the wrist
Hanging sleeveA sleeve that opens down the side or front, or at the elbow, to allow the arm to pass through
Juliet sleeveA long, tight sleeve with a puff at the top, inspired by fashions of the Italian Renaissance and named after Shakespeare's tragic heroine; popular from the Empire period through the 1820s in fashion, again in the late 1960s under the influence of Zeffirelli's film Romeo and Juliet
Kimono sleeveA sleeve cut in one with the bodice in a wide sloping shape, similar to that on traditional Chinese robes
Lantern sleeveFull, gathered sleeve where the top part of the sleeve is plain and the cuff balloons out halfway between wrist and elbow
Pagoda sleeveA wide, bell-shaped sleeve popular in the 1860s, worn over an engageante or false undersleeve
Paned sleeveA sleeve made in panes or panels, allowing a lining or shirt-sleeve to show through
Poet sleeveA long sleeve fitted from shoulder to elbow and then flared from elbow to wrist. Often features ruffles on the cuffs
Puffed or puff sleeveA short, ¾ length or full sleeve that is gathered at the top and bottom, now most often seen on wedding and children's clothing
Raglan sleeveA sleeve that extends to the neckline allowing easier movement
Set-in sleeveA sleeve sewn into an armhole - also known as a "Drop Sleeve"
Two-piece sleeveA sleeve cut in two pieces, inner and outer, to allow the sleeve to take a slight L shape to accommodate the natural bend at the elbow without wrinkling; used in tailored garments
Virago sleeveA full "paned" or "pansied" sleeve gathered into two puffs by a ribbon or fabric band above the elbow, worn in the 1620s and 1630s
Wizard's sleeveA sleeve that extends from the shoulder to wrist expanding in a conical shape, draping openly off the wrist
1/4-length sleeve or quarter-length sleeveA sleeve that extends from the shoulder to midway down the biceps and triceps area.
¾ length sleeve or three-quarter length sleeveA sleeve that extends from the shoulder to a length midway between the elbow and the wrist. It was common in the United States in the 1950s and again in the 21st century.