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The bicep bracelet is back. Time to get those babetastic arms out to play and dazzle them with some jewelry. This past fashion month, the upper arm candy has dotted the spring 2022 shows. In New York, the bicep bracelet came as two elegant yet strong silver spirals at Tory Burch. In Milan, the piece of jewelry got the saucy bellissimo touch at Blumarine, where it was created out of a swirl of rhinestones that read “Blumarine” as it encircled the arm. At Fendi, it came as a simple gilded geometric band with its F monogram. At Prada, the bicep bracelet came in thick bands with a buckle, both scrunched over shirts and on bare flesh. Raf Simons’s collection birthed a spindly version, a creepy little skeleton hand clutching the upper arm.
A bicep bracelet holds a special place in my heart—or rather arm. It’s a bold piece of jewelry; encircling the fleshy upper limb like the rings of Saturn. And that bicep area? It at first appears benign, like under the wrist, but it’s a tender hotspot, even erotic. When it is decorated, it reminds me of the accessorizing perfected by those taut babes of early ’00s music videos. A few months ago, knowing my obsession with upper arm jewelry, @bestoftrr aka Serena Morris sent me a blurry screenshot from “Beautiful ft. Pharrell Williams” (2003). There stretched out on the sands of Rio de Janeiro, soaking up the sun, is a trifecta of babes donning skimpy bikinis; one of whom is wearing a firm and flashy bicep bracelet. No one is worrying about how their arms look; it’s just straight fun. It’s total sartorial freedom.
Speaking of its early ’00s cameo, the bicep bracelet was all the rage during the noughties. Perhaps it was a tamer take on the era’s upper-arm tattoo craze. (Not everyone could pull off the crown of thorns that circled the arm of Pamela Anderson—though, she’s since removed it.) In lieu of anything permanent, bicep bracelets were seen on the likes of Aaliyah, Nicole Kidman, and Janet Jackson, who wore a regal bejeweled version.
Years later, it’s back, at least on the runway. It is only a matter of time before Dua Lipa, Bella Hadid, or Zoë Kravitz adorn their upper arms with them, but in the meantime, the accessory has been faintly flickering on our radars. Last summer, a thin bracelet was spotted on a freshly single Mary-Kate Olsen. The Row designer wore a silver bracelet that snaked up the arm along with a black tank and white jeans. (My colleague Steff Yotka refers to it as a “post-divorce bangle.”) Total freedom with a bohemian flair. At this year’s Met Gala, Troye Sivan wore a leather armband with his slinky black dress. The only issue? There aren’t so many bicep bracelets on the market, at least yet. In the meantime, you can do your own DIY version and shimmy a regular bracelet up your arm. It’s quite a flex.
