I think dresses with sleeves are trickier to construct and therefore more expensive to produce. I once bought a wool long sleeved dress and brought it to the tailor thinking it just need to be hemmed. The tailor showed me that the armholes/sleeves were a bad fit and that I should either consider bringing up the shoulder (very expensive alteration) or just return the dress. I returned and the search continues.

Bijou, I don't know what your budget is but you could have a look at
Shortlist Shop
http://www.shortlistshop.com.au/

and LuluManna
https://www.lulumanna.com.au/

Both Aussie labels and both doing sleeves.

xxx

FWIW, I noticed that a cold shoulder woven shirt I just bought was more forgiving through the shoulders and back than it would have been had it had normal sleeves. Maybe this is why we are seeing cold shoulders? Easier to fit?

I feel your pain. At 5'3" I cannot find dresses that are long enough, have sleeves, and are not black. Those that do have sleeves often are for someone with a bigger, lower bust. I have been looking for some new sweater dresses for several years and bought a red one that is too short but I hope will be ok as a tunic over tights and tall boots. It is still way to warm to try it.

ChristinaF - thanks for the Boden recommendation, I should give them a try.

Kari - I love your dresses, especially your green ones! Hope they work with your new gilet. You have a great selection to work with.

Janet - I too love the ease of a dress, just finding them can be the tricky part!

Angie - You are such a great role model - you don't settle for items that don't work. I do agree that for tall people the length issue is even more frustrating than lack of sleeves. At 5'5 even I have issues with lengths being too short and I am usually a good 3 - 4 inches shorter than the models that are used to sell the dresses.

DonnaF - you have a great selection of dresses. It is fun to see your casual, yet stylish dresses. Also that is a very interesting observation about cold shoulder sleeves.

BrieN - What with the lack of sleeves and short lengths, it does seem that designers often cater to the young models rather than those of us who actually buy clothing.

Muffin - that is an interesting observation about the cost of constructing garments with sleeves being more expensive. Personally, I am happy to pay extra for the benefit of a sleeve.

Deborah - thank you for the recommendations of ethical Aussie labels, something for me to definitely look into. I am happy to pay more for something special.

Joy - you always look amazing, so I think your red dress is going to be a winner. How crazy that you are finding it hard to get dresses long enough, designers really need to step up and help us all out a bit.

Hi Bijou, just because I need a break at work!! Here's some examples of some dresses with sleeves for our Spring. I think all of them would work with the right long vest

I have #1 in black and I am crushing on #4 but am waiting for a silver and black version

I know we are talking about sleeves, but I quite enjoy wearing a sleeveless dress with a gilet:) It's a really modern clean look

Any way food for thought. xxx

Deborah, you have provided some beautiful dresses. I love how fluid these ones are. #4 would be amazing in silver and black. Thank you so much. It won't be long before I will be happily wearing sleeveless dresses again. On Friday our temps are due to hit 30 C so warm weather is on its way!