Fashion

the guide to bare arms

Anyone who has ever visited a church in the Vatican City or somewhere else in Rome knows the dress code and has perhaps even been denied entry because they didn’t fulfill the requirements. Women’s shoulders need to be covered and their pants or skirt needs to cover their knees. Low cut shirts, belly’s showing and bare backs are frowned upon but then again, these rules don’t only apply in Rome, but in any church. So if you’re going to be attending a wedding or visiting a church as a tourist, abide by them. There are a bunch of different reasonings for these rules, but what it comes down to is really just common sense. There are a lot of outfits you would never even consider wearing to the office, so don’t even dare to wear them to the house of God either.

”Low cut shirts, belly’s showing and bare backs are frowned upon.”

Something that has caught my eye is that I’ve been spotting more stylish ladies displaying bare arms, and they know exactly how to pull it off. Take the Dutch Queen Maxima and Michelle Obama as examples. They wear sleeveless dresses to official events and have never looked better. Although, besides these women, I still feel as though some people are rather careless and nonchalant when it comes to clothing that displays our full arm length.

So here are the do’s and don’ts to when and where you can and can’t rock bare arms:

Do’s:

At the beach during your vacation; that one place you won’t be running into people you know. Or in the park or your parents backyard. When you’ve got a day off, why not wear a shirt or dress with spaghetti straps? Another place where you can spot a lot of bare arms is on the red carpet, but then again, everyone worked hard to be able to pull it off (toned and tanned). Try finding a festive dress with sleeves, almost impossible right?

Don’ts:

At work? NO! Don’t do it. Even if you’ve got extremely toned arms and freshly shaved armpits, this part of your body remains a ‘fuzzy gray area’ so to speak. And just like a low cut shirt and short skirts, bare arms are not meant for the work floor. It’s a sign of politeness, modesty and respect.