“Poor Lives”: How Bella Baxter’s Puffy Sleeves Influenced Fashion

Despite the fact that they have a slight phallic symbolism that doesn’t offend Yorgos Lanthimos, these costume elements seem to come partly from Elsa Schiaparelli’s universe and partly from the Victorian register reinterpreted in the modern age. Remember that at the time, bouffant size was a reflection of wealth and social position. In the 20’s^E

Over the century, it was the glories of Hollywood who embraced these attributes of nobility, developed and pushed to their limits by various couturiers such as Cristóbal Balenciaga and his iconic balloon sleeves.

Joan Crawford.

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It is worth noting that the dramatic nature of maxi sleeves has made a significant comeback on the catwalk in recent years. Daniel Rosebery’s hypnotic volumes at Schiaparelli or Thom Browne’s hyperbolic curves offer two choice illustrations. Maison Margiela’s latest 2024 haute couture collection by John Galliano offers another shining example.

But it is above all Simone Rocha who has made it the trademark of his collection. Its extreme balloon sleeves are the apotheosis of coquetry, shrouded in an aura of melancholy and sensuality. A feature as sensual as it is candid, completely in the vein of Bella Baxter.

Proof of their success, on the red carpet front, puffed sleeves are a hit. Let’s recall that Florence Pugh wore a stunning Valentino dress to the 2023 Oscars with sleeves that appeared to be made of foam. Or Cara Delevingne in a Karl Lagerfeld Couture shirt dress at the Met Gala. Or Serena Williams at the CFDA Awards last November, in a Thom Browne dress, with her oversized bouffants, twinkling with a thousand lights. A slideshow rich with echoes of the past, and promises of a bright future evokes an exhibition opening on January 24 at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York that deals precisely with Statement sleeves.

“The bust is the part most often in the camera’s frame, which means the messages have to pass between the waist and the head,” notes costume designer Holly Waddington. A rule that fully applies to our post-pandemic reality in which our work and our social relationships take place in the realm of webcams. A formula that can act as an antidote to the trend of wearing comfort. Because while sculptural sleeves seem at first glance to hinder movement, they have the advantage of protecting and accentuating projection in space. It is less about indicating one’s social position than one’s ability to move. Becoming, in turn, a kind of Bella Baxter.

Originally published by Vanity Fair Italy