What Is a Puff Sleeve?
The popularity of the puff sleeve has waxed and waned throughout the centuries. At certain points in history, puffed sleeves were deemed the height of femininity, while at others, they were considered overkill, and best kept on costumes. Often associated with Disney princesses and Shakespearean heroines, the puffed sleeve has undergone many transformations in size and shape over the years. During the late 1700s to early 1800s, the puff sleeve was a diminutive design often featured on dresses with empire waists, such as the Regency gown. From the 1820s to about 1840, the volume of the puff sleeve varied at different points along the arm, and was held up with elaborate materials such as hoops, stuffing, and whalebone. Some styles of puffed sleeves billowed most at the upper arm, while others billowed out at the elbow, or even puffed out from the shoulder and tapered all the way to the wrist – a style dubbed the “gigot sleeve.” At one point during the 1800s, the fullness of the puff sleev
