A funny thing happened to our dress sleeves over the course of the pandemic — they ballooned, they volumized, and they swelled to cloud-like proportions. This fashion writer’s hypothesis is that puff-sleeve dresses are what happens when fairytale escape meets stay-at-home comfort. The nap dress surely takes a lot of credit for kicking off this unexpected trend, but those frocks were more suited for indoorsy, (err, lockdown-y) life. These newer puff-sleeve dress styles, however, are explicitly for being seen in. And there are so many options available right now, whether you're keen on the poofed-up tulle skirts or something more casual for daily wear.
Because this “big”-time trend is only about to blow up even further, and because people are itching to get out there again, we’ve rounded up the best puff-sleeve dresses that are sure to be the conversation starter at any social function. Broken down by dress length, occasion, and affordability, click on for the puff-sleeve dresses that rewrite the definition of "arm party."
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
Puff-Sleeve Mini Dresses
Mini dresses are for leggy moments, long strides, and hot nights — which may all be in your future (if they aren’t already in this post-vax world). Here are a few selects that are short in length but amped when it comes to sleeves.
Hill House The Athena Nap Dress, $, available at Hill House
SWF Puff Sleeve Mini Dress, $, available at Revolve
Madewell Quilted Puff-Sleeve Mini Dress in Sunflower Field, $, available at Madewell
Puff-Sleeve Midi Dresses
Puff-sleeved dresses channel extra-but-in-the-best-way energy. But if you want to take the extra down a notch, consider a longer hemline. A midi dress can help tone down the look from “total princesscore” to “princesscore, but acceptable at the farmer's market.”
Faithfull the Brand Falabelle tiered checked cotton-poplin midi dress, $, available at Net-A-Porter
ASOS EDITION puff sleeve volume midi dress, $, available at ASOS
Go long! Ahead are a few puff-sleeve maxi dresses that just skim the ground. And, to be sure, the tiered A-line skirts and thigh-high slits do allow for mobility.
NastyGal Shirred Puff Sleeve Maxi Slit Dress, $, available at NastyGal
PARTHEA Puff Sleeve High Split Floral Print Dress, $, available at SheIn
Staud Demi Short Puff-Sleeve Maxi Dress, $, available at Saks Fifth Avenue
Casual Puff-Sleeve Dresses
Puffy sleeves automatically make any outfit look polished, but sometimes you want a little flair without looking overly dressy. Enter: the casual puff-sleeve dress. These are dresses made from laid-back fabrics like cotton or linen, but still pack in the volume.
Forever That Girl Gathered Puff-Sleeve Mini Dress, $, available at Anthropologie
A New Day Women's Elbow Sleeve Eyelet Dress - A New Day™, $, available at Target
Zara PRINTED BALLOON SLEEVE DRESS, $, available at Zara
Vero Moda Lykke Puff Sleeve Floral Print Dress, $, available at Nordstrom
Extra Puffy Puff-Sleeve Dresses
Not to worry if you fear looking deflated — these next few puff-sleeve dresses are extra puffed and bubbled.
Ghospell Figurative floral puff sleeve mini dress, $, available at ASOS
& Other Stories Tiered Puff Sleeve Mini Dress, $, available at & Other Stories
Self Portrait Puff-sleeve checked taffeta mini dress, $, available at MatchesFashion
Farm Rio striped scarf maxi ruffled dress, $, available at Farm Rio
Fancy Puff-Sleeve Dresses
It was only a matter of time before formal puff-sleeve dresses made their way into the likes of weddings, cocktail hours, galas, and other fancy-time affairs.
Selkie The Ice Cream Gingham Parliament Dress, $, available at Selkie
ASOS DESIGN puff sleeve satin tea dress, $, available at ASOS
Brock Collection Puff Sleeve Poplin Midi Dress, $, available at Intermix
Amazon, a key source for affordable fashion finds, has a decent selection of puff-sleeve dresses. This one here is a bestseller — and the next couple styles get our stamp of approval as well.
Exlura Off Shoulder A-Line Vintage Mini Dress, $, available at Amazon
Dokotoo Puff Sleeve Chiffon Mini Dress, $, available at Amazon
R.Vivimos Puff Sleeve Off-Shoulder Boho Midi Dress, $, available at Amazon
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If you plan on hitting the beach or pool in the coming weeks, we recommend a few crucial essentials for your look: swimsuit, sunglasses, sandals, and a sun hat. Sure, a hat may seem like a superfluous accessory since you’ll also be slathering on the SPF, but here us out. It will not only add an additional layer of sun protection, it will also help keep you cool while the sun’s rays are their most brutal. Plus, beach hats have a way of really pulling a whole swimsuit look together — and we’ve got a whole selection of them below to prove our point.
These days, with so many trendy and affordable options at hand, it’s a great time to experiment with different hat styles. So we pulled together a guide to some of the best sun hats that are cute, comfortable, and packable in your beach bag: classic baseball caps for the athletic gals, straw hats for those who want to channel a European boating look, printed silk headscarves that your great grandmother would approve of, and many other perfect top-offs for your beach-ready noggin.
Straw Hats
Straw hats are the ultimate summer headpieces — they’re lightweight, quick-dry, and come in an array of fabulous silhouettes. Plus, the wide brim slouches ever-so-perfectly to keep your face shaded from the sun. If you’re limiting yourself to just one beach hat this summer, we recommend going with one made of good-ol’ straw.
Bucket Hats
We’re certainly not mad at seeing this throwback hat — inspired by the fishermen’s go-to topper — return for another moment in the sun. The bucket hats we’re seeing these days are wonderfully floppy, gender-neutral, tie-dyed, embroidered, and made to fit our adult-sized heads.
Visors
The visor is the ultimate lightweight beach hat. These breezy hats are best suited for sporting activities like frisbee and volleyball because the band keeps eyes shaded and soaks up sweat while still allowing for plenty of ventilation.
Head Scarves
For a more romantic beach look, opt for the fluttery silk headscarf or bandana. You can style it by tying it around your head like a babushka or headband, or use it to hold your ponytail together. For a complete day-to-night transition, tie it around your neck after the sunsets.
Baseball Caps
You can’t go wrong with a classic dad hat or baseball cap. These beach hats are super casual, super affordable, and super low maintenance — and add just a hint of effortless cool to any outfit.
Cooling Hats
Need an even sportier option? These breathable performance sun hats are specifically engineered to cool you down. A few impressive technical details: the sweatbands have a cooling lining, there are strategically placed mesh ventilation holes everywhere, and the UPF 50+ protective brims are made to resist ultraviolet rays.
Extra Wide Brim Sun Hats
If you’re simply not a “summer person” and prefer to go incognito all season long, we’ve got the perfect hat style for you: the oversized, extra-wide brim sun hat. A little ridiculous maybe? Sure. But, good luck to the sun — nothing’s getting past this ultimate statement beach hat.
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
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If you’ve been combing through street-style round-ups in search of an end-of-summer uniform to help your transition into fall, look no further than Katie Holmes’s latest getup. On Tuesday, the Dawson’s Creek alum was spotted in New York City, wearing baggy rust-colored trousers, her signature Gucci loafers, and a men’s button-down shirt — our go-to for breezy, yet put-together workwear during lockdown.
Holmes isn’t the only fashion icon opting for clothing that errs on the flowy side. This spring, Kendall Jenner was seen in New York wearing head-to-toe The Row, including a white button-down shirt and pleated khaki pants that she cinched at the waist with a leather belt. In June, supermodel Hailey Bieber followed suit, styling a stolen-from-the-boys Oxford shirt with New Balance dad sneakers and a baseball cap.
So, while tighter, more party-ready silhouettes have been on the rise in recent months, some among us aren’t ready to ditch their more spacious lockdown staples quite yet.
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The snack brand, along with Adidas, tapped Bad Bunny for a contest in which ten students in the U.S. and Puerto Rico will get a chance to win $50,000 to use toward their education. As part of the joint-created Deja tu Huella Estudiante Fund, students will submit how they’ve “made their mark,” and Bad Bunny himself will pick the winners. “I’ve brought music and entertainment to people, and it is the mark I want to leave. But more than that, I want to be remembered as someone genuine who always did everything with love,” Bad Bunny told Refinery29 Somos through a phone call.
Bad Bunny is a veteran of youth-oriented organizing, specifically through his Good Bunny Foundation that exists to help the advancement of Puerto Rican youth through financially backing art programs and sports initiatives. “The goal is to motivate others. ,” says Bad Bunny. “It feels good to be able to give back to people who do so much for me. The Latinx community. The Puerto Rican community. It’s always an honor to be a part of positive things going on.”
True to form, the fashion collaboration that was created to market this fund, is as brash as Bad Bunny’s own style. “We played with the Cheetos theme and the colors. It was something more fun and pressure free, we weren’t trying to fit into a trend or create one. We did it for fun and for the people.” The extremely limited-edition Adidas leisurewear collection, that you can only access with Cheeto-dust-covered fingers (really, truly, check out the instructions here) includes an animal print “Chester-orange” tracksuit and two jerseys inspired by Bad Bunny’s personal style and Chester’s orange colorway. The clothes are available to purchase on August 6.
In response to marrying his activism and his sponsorship deals, Bad Bunny explains that it’s all genuine. “I don’t do anything because I have to.When I have to give back and support my community, I do. I am a human being, if someone needs help, I step in. I’m just a human helping those who need help when I recognize that they do.”
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Putting a finger on why one thing goes viral on TikTok (here’s looking at you, frozen honey) and another doesn’t (aka everything I post) is next to impossible. But when it comes to fashion, a seemingly chaotic sphere that’s actually embedded with patterns and cycles, explanations are a little easier to come by.
A case study: ‘90s designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s mesh tops and dresses, suddenly the talk of TikTok. By July, #JeanPaulGaultier had accumulated 77.7 million views on the Gen-Z-driven platform, and 18-year-olds were shopping on 1stdibs the way my 18-year-old self once shopped at Zara. The young fashionheads of today are jumping at the chance to spend upward of $600 on a sheer tank top dress the way I once pounced on $29 slips.
Emilia Musacchia, a TikToker with 31,000 followers, posted a video in May, unboxing “her dream jacket”: a lemon yellow vintage Courrèges vinyl jacket. “Oh my god, I love it,” she exclaimed, giving the retro garment a tight squeeze in the process. And she wasn’t the only one. Her video was a drop in the river of TikTok content tied to the Parisian designer, with everything from history lessons and unboxings like Emilia’s popping up daily.
With each new vintage label spiking on the platform, the root cause for their popularity gets harder and harder to pinpoint. Gaultier, Courrèges, and Pucci all came from different eras, with their signature pieces celebrated at vastly different times. And yet they’re all rising at the exact same time. The only thing connecting the three brands is the love of Gen Z, the party responsible for catalyzing their return to fashion fame.
Why are a handful of 20th century fashion stalwarts enjoying a second wind? Olivia Haroutounian, a 22-year-old vintage seller who has over 13,000 followers on Tiktok, chalks it up to the power of the platform’s data engine, which broadcasts your video to 300 to 500 users based on your video’s hashtags, among other variables, according to a LinkedIn study. Those 300 to 500 viewers are then your judge and jury, deciding whether or not your video is a bust, based on likes, comments, shares, and if they watched it until the end. “Trends spread very quickly on TikTok because of how the algorithm works,” she says. It’s true: In some cases, a user who has close to zero followers or next to zero content can grow their following by thousands — even millions — in the span of one night, only by posting a single 15-second video. If that video were to revolve around a certain brand, it could easily become a viral sensation within a matter of hours. All it needs is the right hashtag and some digital love.
Kristen Breakell, a content strategist at market research firm Trendalytics, puts it down to the outsize role of vintage on TikTok. “A lot of the success of these particular brands — older, more heritage designer brands like Gaultier and Pucci — could definitely be attributed to the increase in popularity of vintage shopping, which, of course, Gen Z is the leader of,” Breakell tells Refinery29. According to Breakell, TikTokers take to the inherent uniqueness that comes with archival and vintage pieces that isn’t present when you buy fast fashion or even re-issued garments. “For one, they have this kind of timeless aspect to them because they are high quality,” she says of the garments’ appeal, “but it’s also that you know that you’re not going to see somebody walking down the street in the exact same thing.”
Still, the overall popularity of vintage among Gen Zers on TikTok doesn’t explain the growing popularity of three specific brands that experienced heydays in vastly different eras. According to Breakell, that has more to do with the trends synonymous with the labels than the time frames in which they each debuted. “It so happens that these brands’ signature styles really align with the current trends,” says Breakell. Take, for example, retro futurism, a term used to describe the sartorial legacy of brands like Courrèges and Pierre Cardin, which was a huge trend on the fall ‘21 runways (think: Marine Serre’s printed bodysuits, Paco Rabanne’s chainmail dresses, and even modern-day Courrèges’s mod minis and sets). Mesh naked dresses and vibrant, Mod prints like those designed by Gaultier and Pucci in the ‘90s and ‘60s, respectively, are also popular right now on social media, runways, and in street style. “It is a perfect storm,” Breakell says.
According to the strategist, the reasoning behind their current success goes back to the trend cycle, specifically, the fact that when we talk about the current popularity of ‘90s and early aughts trends — an era when Gaultier pieces thrived — we often forget that most of them were initially inspired by trends from the ‘60s and ‘70s — when Pucci and Courrèges experienced heydays. So, despite their vast difference in starting points, all three brands still fall under the Y2K umbrella that’s so popular on TikTok today.
Hard as it may be to imagine, Gaultier, Courrèges, and Pucci won’t always be the beloved vintage designers of TikTok. Another wave will come along soon enough, only to be wiped out by another. The only way to find out which heritage brand is next — that we should purchase in bulk before resale prices skyrocket — is to do what we already do best: Log on and scroll the night away.
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Lady Gaga’s summer has been full of memorable looks. From sky-high Pleaser boots to a straight-off-the-runway purple Valentino couture look, the House Of Gucci star knows how to keep her little monsters happy. Now, ahead of her Radio City Music Hall concert with Tony Bennett, the singer wore one of fall’s biggest trends: menswear-inspired suiting.
On Monday, Gaga stepped out on her way to rehearsals in a grey pinstripe suit, paired with black cat-eye sunglasses, a white handbag, and nude tall platforms.
Gaga has an inclination for dramatic fashion, making this take on everyday workwear (if you can manage the impossibly high heels on throughout your workday) a departure from her usual ensembles. Not to say that this is the first time that she’s donned suiting. Earlier this spring, she sported a white Max Mara suit and black tank top, while, in 2018, she appeared in an oversized khaki suit (sans shirt) at Elle’s Women In Hollywood event.
Other celebrities have also taken to the blazer-pants look ahead of the fall’s chilly temperatures. Dua Lipa donned a neon orange suit earlier this month (paired with a floss string bikini, no less), while Rihanna wore a leather blazer and sheer pants to her mom’s birthday in April.
If you’re already revamping your workwear wardrobe for pumpkin spice season, here are a few looks to consider.
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