Arms race

Updating your style for spring is all in the arms. At Tibi's spring show, upper limbs were covered with ruched and cinched sleeves – the effect was almost Elizabethan, but the look was completely contemporary. Detailed sleeves are best paired with stripes, it seems, from J.W. Anderson's breezy button-down blouse to Preen By Thornton Bregazzi's bold ruled dress featuring gathers at the front and down the arms. Colombian designer Johanna Ortiz has long favoured a flouncy silhouette and her patterned bodysuit is a playful piece to pair with summery denim. But perhaps the trickiest use of sleeves comes in the form of Rosie Assoulin's take on a pinstriped dress – here the feature is actually trompe l'oeil. Arms fit through holes in the elbows, so the rest of the fabric drapes like a cape. Being up in arms has never looked so chic.