The Cap Sleeve Is No One’s Friend

An open letter to clothing manufacturers/retailers:

Oh for the love of Pete, people, enough already with the cap sleeves! If ever a style was unflattering on just about everyone over the age of eleven, this is it. Seriously, they even look dorky on the models!! (From the petulant look on the first one’s face, I’d say she agrees with me.)

It’s going on a few years now we’ve been subjected to this abomination; isn’t it about time this trend was denounced by every style diva on daytime TV as a horror to avoid at all costs right up there with whiskered jeans??? Why must every bloody garment on the rack be equipped with these half-assed shoulder outcroppings that leave one no choices except to wear unadorned and look like a linebacker, or add another layer and fry when the mercury climbs??? Why do you subject us to this humiliation year after year? Why??? WHY???????

Yours truly,

Une femme

Pics from Shopbop, Banana Republic.

All original content property of https://unefemmenet.wpengine.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License.

Stay in touch

Sign up to be notified of new posts and updates from une femme d’un certain âge.

Affiliate links in posts may generate commissions for unefemme.net. See my complete disclosure policy here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

15 Comments

  1. Oh, can I be a signatory to that letter? You’ve touched on a pet peeve (although that’s a weak term for this issue) and if you can get any designer to pay attention, you’ll be doing women everywhere a huge service. Last week I almost bought a dress that was otherwise impractical just because I was so grateful for its midway-to-elbow sleeves.

  2. These sleeves can definitely create the linebacker look. The only way I think they work is if there’s a slight drape to the fabric.

  3. Sorry, no, I have to disagree. I actually like the cap sleeve. It shows off toned arms. It’s more flattering on my figure than normal short sleeves, which hit me right at the fullest area of my chest. Not a good look. Cap or elbow, nothing between. Takes all kinds, I suppose.

  4. Cap or elbow, nothing between.

    Hey, I’d be thrilled with elbow length. It’s the Cap Sleeve Monopoly that’s got me tweaked. Give us a choice at least!

    (Yes, I know 3/4 sleeves have been popular and I love these, but would love to have something to hit right above the elbow for warmer days.)

  5. Let’s face it, only the best of us whoare shall we say of a certain age are going to look good in cap sleeves. I’d rather have three quarter sleeves which for some reason scream Princess Grace to me.

    In the mean time have you seen the wall street journal article on the drop dead gorgeous model who wasn’t thin enought for the Paris shows? She might have weighed all of 115 pounds and been 6 feet tall!

  6. belle de ville, yes I saw that, and right after I read the article you linked to about Carine Roitfeld. I’ve got some strong throughts about both that I’m going to post about soon.

  7. Oh no! I love cap sleeves. Cap sleeves are my friend. Not the tiny caps that leave too much underarm exposed, but the 2nd example looks good to me. I’ll admit I have very thin arms, and they’re one of my best features. So, get your variety but don’t banish them!

    I would also love elbow length sleeves instead of 3/4.

  8. Not cute on me, as have some ‘under arm dingle dangle’. If anyone finds good quality elbow length tees out there, pls post.

    This is a wonderful blog, thanks so much.

  9. Add to the unflattering cap sleeve the very unflattering PUFFY cap sleeve. I do love that look on my five year old niece though. 🙂

    Christine

  10. Dejapseu:

    I only just read this post, rather late. I have to say I like the cap sleeve. The DvF dresses (!) I bought last month are cap sleeved and they look great. Yes, toned arms are required but some Reebok tubing can help fix that. We all do watch TV, or watch an egg boil or do something which leaves our hands free to do it. Don’t we?

  11. Shefaly – for some, perhaps, however for many of us (and especially more as we age) a “toned” arm does not always equal a “thin” arm. I’m broad shouldered with thick upper arms and no amount of toning will change that.

    I personally think that even for someone with fabulous arms, sleeveless is a better look than cap sleeves, unless you’re very narrow in the shoulders and want to create the illusion of some width. YMMV, of course.

  12. I’m reading this really late (looked up cap sleeves and found this almost a year later after the post) but would like to say that cap sleeve only really work on very narrow shoulders. I take after my dad in a lot of ways, including his broad shoulders, and sometimes even regular t-shirts look like cap sleeves on me. Ug! I love, however, tank tops and sleeveless for warm weather and 3/4 sleeves.

  13. Oh cap sleeves are my *favourite* style. Sexier than sleeveless, tight and shoulder-hugging and revealing shapely slender arms

  14. Thank you! I agree the cap sleeve is so unflattering. I find the shoulders and the horizontal line from the collar bone to shoulder one of the most flattering parts of a woman’s body. The bare skin frames the face, neck and visually minimises the lower body.

    Anyway to each his own but I always avoid the cap sleeve for this reason and it feels juvenile (as someone else mentioned best for little girls clothing).