It’s time for another Trendy Tuesday! Today let’s talk about how to wear dresses and tops with puffed sleeves, since it’s a huge trend for 2021.

Trying to figure out how to wear dresses or tops with puffed sleeves?

Dresses and tops with puffed sleeves are a huge trend for 2021, but they can feel a little intimidating!

So today for Trendy Tuesday,  I want to share a few simple tips to help you wear these kinds of tops well and with confidence.

If you missed my last Trendy Tuesday post about straight leg jeans (aka. mom jeans), check it out right here.

1. Choose tops and dresses that accentuate your waist

Creating BALANCE in your outfit is important, especially when it comes to statement pieces. I wrote a whole post about it HERE.

With puffed sleeves, you have a lot of volume in the arms of your dress or your top, so you want to balance out that fullness with fitted.

If everything was billowy and full, your figure would drown in fabric! So try creating contrast and balance with your puffed sleeves by accentuating your waist.

Here are examples:

• Choose a dress that cinches in at the narrowest part of your waist (either under your bust, at your natural waist, or wherever the narrowest part of your waist is).
• Or if you’re wearing a top with puffed sleeves, choose one that’s fitted at the waist, or tuck it into your skirt or pants!

2. Show some skin

Another easy way to create balance when so much of your arm is covered with lots of fabric is to show some skin.

Here are a few easy options:

• V-neck to show more of your neckline
• Square neckline – the wide square neckline is super trendy right now, and seeing lots of your neckline helps balance out the bigger sleeve coverage
• Crop top – I don’t personally wear crop tops, but showing a little stomach is super popular right now and is another way to show a bit of skin and balance out the full coverage sleeves
• Lower arms – push your sleeves up to show some lower arms
• Skirts or dresses – choose lengths that are midi or shorter so you see some leg line!
• Sandals – if your puffed sleeve top doesn’t show neckline or midriff, show some skin on your feet with sandals.

3. Balance out the fullness of the sleeves with fullness elsewhere

Let’s go back to the post on balance I wrote last year — a major principle of a balanced outfit is to balance the fullness with other fullness.

If you have big, puffed sleeves and everything else in your outfit is very fitted (skinny jeans and fitted bodice), the sleeves can feel disproportionately large.

Here are some ways to add fullness:

• flowy skirt (make sure you tuck in the top so you get the waist accentuation)
• cropped or full length wide leg jeans (half tuck or fully tuck your top into these)
• cropped or full length flared jeans (half tuck or fully tuck here too)
• boyfriend jeans (these typically have a looser fit that will balance — don’t forget to half tuck or tuck your top!)

4. Don’t layer jackets on top

This may seem obvious, but it must be mentioned that if you’re wearing puffed sleeves, I’d recommend not wearing a jacket over the top.

The extra fabric will create bulk under your jacket and smash your sleeves.

So if you’re wearing dresses or tops with puffed sleeves, make sure you won’t need a jacket or sweater wherever you’re going!

Here are all these principles in action:

all images found via pinterest

I hope that helps you put together great outfits with your puffed sleeved tops and dresses!

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• How to wear mom jeans/straight leg jeans

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