This year has been the year of resurgences, everywhere you look, Nostalgia and Y2K have apparently summoned the fashion army and confirmed their seats on the fashion forefronts. The ghost of fashion’s trendiest trends’ past called and we couldn’t say no. While summer 2022 collections from some of the most sensational designers had us gawking at their surreal and elegant array of designs, we could not help but notice the accessories too; so when Dua Lipa posted a picture of her’s with a bicep bracelet, cue in Nicole Kidman and Aaliyah from the early 2000s for a quick recall, everything came rushing back. Who let the Nostalgia tap running?
The singer and lovingly dubbed Y2K queen who recently walked the Versace runway and attended the label’s party in joyous palettes of pink and green, Lipa posted a picture on Instagram sporting a bejeweled Blumarine arm cuff. While 3 million something likes from fans kept pouring in, we did some digging and spared you some time to flip through the history textbooks, ancient and fashion alike. The origins of cuffs are slapped all over mythological scripts, from the Greeks to the Mayans, the Indians to the Vikings and the Chinese, your modern ‘arm candy’ had symbolic and traditional beliefs and fast-forwarding centuries later, bicep cuffs have set a whole new style statement.
Hair clips and kitten heels aside, arm cuffs, arm candy, bicep bracelets, whatever your go-to jargon is, cuffings were the early 2000s rage. Traditional arm cuffs turned into bicep accessories became a sought-after trend picked out fresh from the red carpets. Stars like Nicole Kidman in mini backless dress paired with a leaf-like motif bracelet on the red carpet, Aaliyah showing off her regal paisley motif arm-cuff soon became a sensation.
Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur
A few years later, Rihanna gave the jewelry a fun twist and sported it with a beachwear look featuring a twisted bikini top and a crocheted skirt; unlike the traditional wear-it-with-a-dress routine.
Photo Credit: Bauer Griffin
Gigi Hadid, in 2015 sported a bohemian-like bicep bracelet with a bandana and a casual knitted dress. We also couldn’t help but encore Halsey at 2019 Met Gala for making the best out of bicep cuffs paired with a voluminous striking red skirt and a bralette, because why not?
A decade later, these bracelets have made more than a handful of cameos on the runways of S/S 22 collections and are likely to take the markets by storm. While some of them are plain arm cuffs, they can be used to accessorize your bare biceps as well. Prada pulled out a wide buckled variation of arm cuffs accentuating the satin attire, while Raf Simons lodged his skeleton cuff onto the biceps from his FW/21 collection. Tory Burch gave her whimsical collection a subtle bracelet highlight as well.
Photo credit: SS/22 Runway from Prada/Raf Simons/Tory Burch
Fendi decided to give ‘goddess dressing’ a cuff touch with their flared gowns. Their regal monogram carved bracelet even compensated for the sleeves in their sleeveless blazer set . Blumarine decided to finish off its delicate drapery with a bold bicep cuff too.
Photo Credit: SS/22 Runway from Fendi and Blumarine
With all of the signs pouring in and the cheat sheet to your next trending accessory; who’s to say that traditional pieces belong to cascading gowns and satinesqué attires or that arm cuffs belong to your forearms only when you can tailor it to your taste?
Words by Manica Pathak
Photo Credit: @dualipa
