Jumping on the Bandwagon; I'm having an Arm Party

Last Updated on July 18, 2026 by Jane

She might be part of the resurgence, and might have coined the phrase arm party but Manrepeller Leandra Medine isn't the first person to artfully pile on as many bracelets as she can onto her arm at one time.

Just think back to 1984 Madonna and jelly bracelets or to your camp years in the 90's with gymp or woven friendship bracelets.

But these days the armful of bracelets has gone upscale. Part glam, part rocker and a bit playful. Its been a huge fashion blogger trend in 2011 with bloggers like the aforementioned Manrepeller, Atlantic-Pacific and all sorts of other fashion darlings.

Its been picked up on in the mainstream with etsy artisans selling reinvented friendship bracelets made for layering, and fast fashion houses selling pre-packaged arm parties.

Personally I think the best layering is done yourself, mixing and matching things you didn't even know went together. It does help to have a theme, like the photo above which is all in silver, or the one below which is anchored by an oversized rose gold watch, vintage leucite and a cheap-y bangle from Joe.

Admittedly my arm parties are pretty tame compared to many I have been inspired by. I mean some of Leandra's finest seem to end up at her elbows. I might need to invite more bracelets over next time so I can have more of a rager than an afternoon tea.

Are you fond of the arm party trend? It's something that I have really only caught onto recently but I am really embracing it.

What are your favourite arm layering pieces?