To determine whether you have long, average or short arms, look in a mirror and let your arm hang down to your side.  With your elbow at your waist, if you see your first knuckle aligning with your crotch, then you have an average arm length.

A wide cuff at the wrist helps to shorten the length of your arm.  If your arms are long then this is great but if they’re short, wide cuffs should be avoided.  Although most people can wear a long sleeve, the three-quarter sleeve looks much better on a woman with short arms but is unflattering on long arms, a woman with large hands and on any tall woman who wants to minimize her height.

For those with skinny arms textured jackets and bulky sweaters should be worn.  Slightly loose but not baggy sleeves create volume and if you can choose blouses and tops with pockets and details this will also help.  For the evening, blouses and jackets in substantial but not flimsy fabrics are a great choice.

If your arms are heavy and flabby then you should avoid long sleeves that are tight and clingy.  Stretch jersey and lycra are not for you.  Slightly padded shoulders are excellent to help to create balance at the shoulders of full arms.  Going sleeveless is not the best choice for chunky arms but if the occasion calls for it, consider draping a pashmina or scarf over your shoulders and arms.  This is great for evening wear if your sleeves are sheer and slightly loose.

Shirts and blouses that have bell sleeves are also great additions to your wardrobe if you want to disguise flabby arms since they are narrow at the top part of your arm and then get wider until they form a bell shape.  This style of blouse not only flatters your arms but looks great when teamed with trousers.  Blouses with vertical stripes also have a slimming effect since they give the illusion that the upper part of your arm is narrower than it really is.