Sleeve (O.
Eng. slieve, or
slyf, a word allied to
slip, cf.
Dutch sloof) is that part of a
garment which
covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips.
The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics
of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period.
Various survivals of the early forms of sleeve are still
found in the different types of academic or other
robes. Where the long hanging
sleeve is worn it has, as still in China and Japan, been
used as a pocket, whence has come the phrase to have
up one's sleeve, to have something concealed ready to
produce. There are many other proverbial and metaphorical
expressions associated with the sleeve, such as
to wear
one's heart upon one's sleeve, and
to laugh in one's
sleeve.
Types of sleeves
- Batwing sleeve, a long sleeve with a very deep armhole, tapering towards the wrist
- Bishop sleeve, a long sleeve, fuller at the bottom than the top, and gathered into a cuff (1940s)
- Cap sleeve, a very short sleeve not extending below armpit level
- Dolman sleeve, a long sleeve that is very wide at the top and narrow at the wrist
- Gigot sleeve or leg of mutton sleeve, a sleeve that is extremely wide over the upper arm and narrow from the elbow to the wrist
- Hanging sleeve, a sleeve that opens down the side or front, or at the elbow, to allow the arm to pass through (16th century)
- Juliette sleeve, a long, tight sleeve with a puff at the top, inspired by fashions of the Italian Renaissance and named after Shakespeare's tragic heroine
- Paned sleeve, a sleeve made in panes or panels, allowing a lining or shirt-sleeve to show through (16th and 17 centuries)
- Puffed or puff sleeve, a short, full sleeve gathered at the top and bottom, now most often seen on children's clothing
- Raglan sleeve, a sleeve that extends to the neckline
- Set-in sleeve, a sleeve sewn into an armhole (armscye)
- Two-piece sleeve, a sleeve cut in two pieces, inner and outer, to allow the sleeve to take a slight "L" shape to accommodate the natural bend at the elbow without wrinkling; used in tailored garments
References
Oxford English Dictionary
Picken, Mary Brooks: The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957.
