What do you wear with sleeveless dresses when you dont want your arms out?

[Ethela]

So many wonderful dresses are sleeveless - what sort of cardi looks best - style and colour if you dont want your arms out? I am short and broad shouldered.

I avoid anything sleeveless and strappy. I do like a shift dress and wear a cardigan with them if it gets cold. I either wear a cardigan of the same colour or a complementary one. So I have a yellow cardigan which I wear with my yellow dress and also wear it with a blue and yellow dress. I also tend to wear a white cardigan with a lot of dresses. I usually go for either a shrug type or one with a round neck which buttons down the front and not too long, waist length or hip length.
Practical as you can whip it on and off easily.

My mum really feels the cold and these look lovely. How warm are they and are they as soft as they look?

These might look nice:
https://www.next.co.uk/style/st287989/d14782#d14782
https://www.next.co.uk/style/st943309/t20368#t20368
https://www.next.co.uk/style/su118874/q48764#q48764
https://www.next.co.uk/style/st445959/670692#670692

I got a couple of sort of mesh sleeve things for under sleeveless dresses. Bit like like this below, but from Marks and Spencer (can’t find them on there now).
https://ginabacconi.com/products/mesh-sleeve-under-top-14803
Got a black one and a cream one and they are great.

Depends a bit on the dress and cut, but a shrugtype cardi if it suits the shape of me and the dress, a shirt or ... increasingly I have been investing in a range of different jackets and blazers so I can mix and match. H&M do a surprisingly good range for lots of different body shapes. And for summer I am building quite a nice collection of linen jackets and blazers too.

The dress is black, tailored, fit and flair for day wear so mesh sleeves wouldnt work - I think a neat tight cardi will have to be the answer - but its annoying to have to spend another £30-50 - hardly any dresses with sleeves to elbow (required for my pasty bingo wings).

In this weather I am wearing a cream v neck from M&S with bright summer dresses.

Not warm and they are expensive for the quality. There was another thread on here not so long ago which is worth searching up.

I’d either go with black or another neutral - camel/stone/mole tones are everywhere so if you find a shade that suits you (and works with other clothes you own!) that’s another option.

Have you already bought the dress or are you still looking for a black, fit & flare dress with sleeves?

I remember doing that in the 90’s.

Not bought it yet.

How about a pashmina?

Some of these black, fit & flare dresses have sleeves:
https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/women/womens-dresses/plain/black/fit-and-flare/

This. The only sleeveless dresses I own are pinafores.
Men don't wear sleeveless shirts.

https://www2.hm.com/en_gb/productpage.1293296001.html

H&M have a few different waisted cardigans I love mine - smarter than a 'normal' cardigan, less formal than a blazer.

I always wear oversized cardigans but I'm a bit of a grunger at heart.

Even more ridiculous when you live in Scotland. On me the under sleeves look as if I have a thermal vest on. With a fit and flair style I would go for either a boxy cardigan, a denim jacket or a short tweedy edge to edge jacket depending on how smart I was trying to be. If the dress was only navy and white or black and white I would wear something orange/rust/mustard/green. If the dress was multiple colours either black or navy depending on what toned best.

Please god no boleros

I have two of their short kimono and am currently eyeing up a third one. I have had people stop me in the street and ask me where they are from. (This is not my reason for buying them, but it does show that they are lovely garments.) I wear them over sleeveless dresses and also as an arm cover-up when I wear short-sleeved t-shirts with my linen trousers.

This is something I ponder on, you never see sleeveless shirts tho i guess a lot of men just go round bare cheseted on the rare days is it hot enough or they wear a vest and have no worries about how they lool! Lots of women young and not so young are really Self- concious about their arms, me included. There have been so many times I have seen a lovely dress and the lack of sleeves has put me off buying it. While I believe in wearing what you want i personally hate my upper arms and would not feel confident with them fully exposed, plus it is rarely hot enough in this country

I'm happy with my upper arms (apart from my skin's a bit crepey), but I don't like having that much skin on show, and I feel that the manufacturer was penny-pinching.
Men usually wear vests on hot days, I think, and short sleeved shirts are a bit casual.

Me too! I thought they were a bit old fashioned but my young adult DC are always stealing them. So maybe not?!

I don't buy anything sleeveless and I don't like the 'grown on ' sleeve which is no doubt cheaper to make than a set in sleeve but doesn't look as good. I dislike my upper arms and like a fairly long 'short' sleeve. Spirit of the Andes has pima cotton t-shirts with nice sleeves but they are expensive.

@Gardenservant , their t-shirts are great
Pima Cotton T-Shirts & Tops
Agree about the 'grown on' sleeves. Only looks nice on Audrey Hepburn types, and probably much easier and cheaper to make.