When it comes to new trends on the runway or the red carpet, few things are as challenging as figuring out how to take something a bit experimental and work it into our own lives. Case in point: the current madness for wearing only one sleeve. Something that dramatic is the fashion equivalent of the girl with the curl in that old nursery rhyme: When it's good, it's very, very good, and when it's bad, it's horrid. Take a moment with us, and a few brave and occasionally misguided celebrities, to investigate the dos and don'ts of pulling off this tricky trend.

DO: Read the room. Solangé Knowles has the right idea. She's wearing her Sleeve to the VMAs, which is the perfect venue for something so trendy, youthful and -- let's be honest – potentially silly. Trot yours out to a party, yes. Avoid wearing it to, say, a funeral or the office. These things are fun because they're so transient, so don't indulge your trendy side anywhere you need to make a serious or lasting impression. Translation: Ladies, no mono-sleeved wedding dresses.



DON'T: Do it for the hell of it. Solangé also gets credit because her dress has a purpose. There is only one sleeve, because the other side has some interesting, eye-catching detail that counterbalances it. Conversely, Radha Mitchell appears to have taken a perfectly serviceable frock and attached the arm of one of her suits for no good reason, except perhaps that her left armpit is very shy.

Trendy for the sake of trendy is a problem. You can't treat your outfit like a cake mix -- just add Sleeve and stir. If you're taking a fashion risk, the statement you're making should make sense, as opposed to "I'd be happy to work on your audit, as soon as this one arm cools down."



DON'T: Give it a life of its own that's larger than yours. The only thing worse than Carrie Underwood's pillowcase of a dress is the fact that her one voluminous sleeve seems to be attached ... to her neck. Not only is the addition of the Sleeve doing absolutely nothing to fix what's wrong with the dress, but it begs the question, Which one is on the leash: the Sleeve, or Carrie herself? Please, do not let fashion enslave you as literally as Carrie seems to have done.



DO: Remember that a little goes a long way. Actress Rebecca Creskoff isn't wearing this dress, it's wearing her. That Sleeve has hijacked her entire look -- there is a reason they're called fashion victims, after all. Rebecca looks as though the left side of her dress is slowly inflating itself, with the goal of swallowing her whole.