Dresses with sleeves - hard to find? - YouLookFab Forum

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About: Ensemble: Fall Dress & Gilet

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Dresses with sleeves - hard to find?

Bijou

Veteran

I really love today's ensemble and wear my gilet often in cooler weather. But on reflection, whilst I love wearing dresses, I mainly wear my gilet with pants and skirts because most dresses I have are sleeveless.

The fact that I have few dresses with sleeves, is not because I prefer sleeveless dresses, but how scarce they are. I often wear a shirt underneath a sleeveless dress for warmth in cooler weather.

The items in finds are what I plan to wear for today's ensemble, but I was truly surprised to find that I had only two dresses that would work, because most of my dresses are sleeveless.

I am sure I am not the only one who struggles with this. It seems crazy that there are not more dresses with sleeves being produced.

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36 replies

Latest reply was from Bijou

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Totally. I have only 2 somewhat casual transitional dresses I can wear with the faux fur gilet, pictured below. And yet I have 8 transitional sleeveless tunics and 2 winter tunics which all need layering tops, that I can also wear with it. The latter are kind of annoying as I then have to think about the colours of the layering top, the tunic, the ponte pants/leggings AND the gilet which is 4 different items as well as the shoes or boots. With long sleeved dresses there would only be 3 to consider.

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Jenni NZ

Veteran

Love your little black dress!

Bijou

Veteran

Jenni, you little red dress is beautiful and your gilet is maximal fatness at its best. You must look amazing in these.

Inge

(website)

I SO hear you!! It's one of the most frustrating things in fashion. The other one being: finding dresses and skirts that are at least knee-length when you are taller.

Bijou

Veteran

Inge, yes dress and skirt length is frustrating too. I am not tall, so usually a dress looks a bit longer on me than models, but even then some are shorter than I prefer.

BrieN

Veteran

Yup.
I am hoping the flounce sleeve tend gets more sleeved dresses out into the marketplace. I know they're not ideal for every occasion but at least it would be a start...

DonnaF

Veteran

Sleeved woven dresses can be tough to fit, too. . .I just ordered the regular sized sweater dress below which I'm thinking would look skimpy on a regular size woman. The sleeves are said to be bracelet length which means they should be nicely long sleeved on me. And the length is 34" which I am hoping will be BARELY long enough; some are and some aren't. It's ridiculous that at 5' 1" I still need to worry about the length of non-Petite dresses and skirts, and I'm even willing to go about 2" above the middle of my knee! (You know, the line at the back of the knee. I think my actual knees take up more space than they used to.)

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rachylou

Veteran

It's really really tough to find a dress with sleeves!

Sal

Veteran

It is hard!!

I have two loose shifts with long sleeves and they have been so well worn......I love being able to layer over or under or wear alone....really good for a wide variety of weather.

Bijou

Veteran

BrieN - I think you are onto something there, I have seen more dresses sporting the flared sleeves, so it is a positive start.

DonnaF - I love that sweater dress you have ordered. The length should be good on that for you because most models are about 5'10. It is crazy that the lengths are so short because I am sure that if that dress hit the model just above the knee, it would appeal to so many more women.

Rachy - The real question that has to be asked is why is it so hard. Surely arms are one of the easiest parts of a body to fit?

Sal - I am with you on loving dresses with sleeves. The ones I have are heavily in rotation.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

So hard to find! I have precisely ONE sleeved dress at the moment. I used to have one more, but wore it out. The one I have is too formal for daily wear in my casual life. I'd love to have a sweater dress with sleeves for autumn/ winter. Am on the hunt!

Jane

Veteran

I haven't really looked for dresses very much, but I can recommend Cos for long sleeved dresses at the moment. They seem to have quite a few. And also Boden I think.

stella belly

(website)

Love the first one, because of its design include prints, I love to wear and always try to discover colorful designed prints on dress.

SW Ann

Veteran

I've found that the easiest way for me to find sleeved dresses is to do a search on my favorite websites....several times each season, since new things emerge all the time. As a result I've replenished my sleeved stock of dresses and have gradually let go of most of my sleeveless dresses as I just don't wear them. Nordies, Zappos and others let you search for "sleeves" among other criteria and it's really helpful for finding styles you might like.

mtnsofthemoon

Veteran

I recently purchased this dress online. It has not arrived yet but fingers crossed it works. Thought I would share since I have taken to calling a long sleeve dress/sweater dress a "unicorn" item. it also comes in a "Plumb" color.

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gradfashionista

(website)

Veteran

I've found that J. Crew and Nordstrom usually have a good selection of dresses with sleeves, but it depends on your needs.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I'm with Inge. Trying to find a combination of casual style (not occasion, not officewear), sleeves, knee length or longer, and a style and fit that works on a body with hips and boobs -- well, there is a reason I own only four dresses with long sleeves, and two are special-occasion only. Of my two casual sleeved dresses, one is a shirtdress from Anthro, and the other is the striped tiered dress from Bailey44 that a bunch of us bought like 5-6 years ago. Every dress in this thread is too short for me, and I'm only 5'7".
That's how hard it is for me to find dresses that work. Sigh.

kkards

Veteran

I am not a dress person.....primarily because 1) I want something comes to or below my knee ( don't want to worry about how I sit)... 2) sleeves...the whole point of a dress is its 1 piece...shouldn't have to find another piece to make it wearable in the AC or winter.....but for some reason this year I found myself "window" shopping dresses and have seemed to find a smattering of lenght and sleeves.....finds 2&3 speak to me...but unfortunately to a life I don't have.

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The Cat

Veteran

Agree that dresses with sleeves, especially long sleeves, can be hard to find.

Possible solution: Wear a skirt with a matching pullover or blouse.

Christina F.

Veteran

Definitely Boden. I have also noticed Loft has a few right now. They are the trendy maximal sleeves, so you have to not mind bell shaped etc. it seems like this maximal trend can work for people who want sleeves though-if they like it, that is.

unfrumped

Veteran

I still don’t get it. I always think that if there’s a market for something, someone wii try to fill that demand and make a profit.
But either that’s not how it works, or I’m in a small minority and most women want short, sleeveless dresses.

Bijou

Veteran

Suz - I hope you find that elusive dress!

Jane - both Cos and Boden look like they have a good selection. I am a bit loathe to buy a dress online due to fit challenges, but I may have to take the plunge.

Stella - I like prints too, the first dress is one I wear often because it is an easy dress to wear.

Mthsofthemoon - that is a beautiful dress. I hope it works out.

Grandfashionista - some food suggestions, I will check these out.

Janet - it is beyond crazy that you find it hard to get dresses. The length issue is even more perplexing than the lack of sleeves.

Kkards - those are great dresses! Length and sleeves.

The Cat - yes a pullover and skirt is a good substitute. I do like the ease of a good dress.

Christina F - Boden does have a nice selection!

Unfrumped - well I don't know who these mythical customers are? I do own quite a few sleeveless dresses that sit above the knee, not because I prefer them, but merely because that is all that is available.

Christina F.

Veteran

Bijou, fortunately, with Boden, there are usually detailed reviews as well as the measurements. I do always have to factor in the cost of a return when I buy from them, though... but the quality on the winners is usually worth it!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

The Cat, a large part of the appeal for dresses rather than skirt-and-top is the ease of one piece, rather than dealing with waistbands of skirts playing with top lengths, etc. I don't mind untucked tops with skirts in the summer, but it's just too much fuss in the cooler months because then you have to add hosiery/tights, etc. I can see skirt-and-top having more appeal for a dressy environment, but for casual wear, at least for me, it's just too much bother. I like the one-and-done aspect of a dress, when I can find one!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Apart from a sentimental sheath that I wore for my 40th seven years ago - all my dresses have sleeves. Harder to find - but it's getting better. It's the lack of length that's become my challenge.

Kari

Veteran

It is a real challenge. I tend to hang on to my sleeved dresses as long as I can. Sometimes I go a few years before finding a good sleeveless dress. I wish all clothing distributors and brands allowed you to filter for sleeve length!

The first two are several years old. 2012, 2013 or so? They are knits and I baby them even while wearing them often. The second dress needed a repair recently from a rip (a pet's toenail snagged a hole.)

I retired a few others that were more body-con or shorter than I like these days (and pretty worn-in too.)

The third dress came in during 2016. The 4th-5th joined in 2017 during the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.

The remaining three are more semi-formal occasion dresses instead of what I wear regularly.

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Kari

Veteran

I love the idea of your white Witchery dress with that gilet. I hope we'll get to see how it looks!

DonnaF

Veteran

This won't help with gilets, but sometimes the solution for sleeves is to layer dresses or wear as jumpers. The sleeved Max Studio dress is way too short in the middle as is, but the striped one is a bit longer so I just wear it on top. The Halogen flounce back almost looks better with a white shirt underneath, and the denim dress needs something underneath due to the armholes.

But none of this solves the length problem, does it?

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BrieN

Veteran

I currently have one sleeved dress, and it's not for lack of trying to buy more. Armholes and sleeves are tricky but they're not *that* difficult.

I have a hard time not seeing this as subtle age/size discrimination. But maybe that's my bias.

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