Give or take the occasional spread in Cutting and Basting Quarterly, sleeves have been tremendously overlooked these past few decades. Until recently, they haven’t impinged on my consciousness for so much as a nano of a microsecond, and I’m paid to think about clothes night and day.

But, from occupying a space marginally less fascinating than tax returns, sleeves have suddenly got sexy. Or perhaps not suddenly. The first signs that sleeves were about to mount a sort of Sleeves Consciousness Movement came three years ago, when designers began ruffling, flouncing and pleating them – though that looked like a less-than-one-season trend, largely brought about by all of them going to see Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette on expenses.

In retrospect, it was the dawn of a revolution. These days, sleeves are no longer a detail; in many cases, they are the whole story. Take this selection: Temperley London’s butterfly-sleeved kaftan (above, £1,050, www.netaporter.com), Kookaï’s very long, very wide, very cuffed sleeved tunic jumper (£59, www.asos.com), Paul and Joe’s crimson cape-sleeved dress (£756, www.my-wardrobe.com), Celia Birtwell’s kimono-sleeved blue minidress (£75, www.topshop.com) and all those half-sleeved and envelope Marni lookalike winter coats. Then pity the poor fashion hack who once happily got by with a limited knowledge of sleeves (short, long, missing), but now requires an entire sleeve nomenclature. Not since Anne Boleyn set tongues wagging and heads a-rolling with her trailing sleeves (were they or were they not a wicked trick to conceal a sixth finger?) have they been such a talking point.

There has to be a reason for this, because fashion, for all its seeming frivolity, always has a motive. In fact, there are several. First, climate. A few years ago, short-sleeved and sleeveless coats seemed like the ultimate silliness. Yet because you can layer these sleeves (assuming they’re wide, which they are) over jumpers, blouses and even jackets, they’re practical for both mild and changeable winters. Second, jewellery. The return of the statement cuff, bangle and bracelet cannot have escaped the sentient. But they’re not much of a statement if you can’t see them. Cue shorter sleeves. Third: while the cult of thinness continues, the reality of maintaining thin arms remains a slog. This is where the half/bell/butterfly/slit/whatever sleeve comes into its own. Covering the upper part of the arm and leaving only the narrowest part exposed is an extremely flattering device. Meanwhile, the long, floaty kimono sleeve triumphs by being intensely impractical – the perfect garnish for the trophy girlfriend/wife.

Finally, given that high heels clearly aren’t going away just yet and hem lengths can be almost anywhere you want them to be, sleeves have become an important indicator of up-to-the-minute currency. You know what to do.

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