Trope Idea Salvage Yard sandbox from the Hand-Hiding Sleeves TRS thread.
Long sleeves on properly fitted clothes can mark the wearer out as rich, since they can afford such an impressive outfit and they are unaffected by the impracticality of long sleeves because they rarely need to do any work with their hands.
Examples
- Bleach: Cyan Sung-Sun has extremely long sleeves that she always uses to cover her mouth and hide her weapon, making her sleeves a cross between the "high class" and "hidden weapons" variants. Traditionally, it was improper for a Japanese woman to show others the inside of her mouth, and the fact that she keeps her weapon hidden up her sleeve in a literal version of Silk Hiding Steel only reinforces the traditional-Japanese-woman vibe she gives off.
- Naruto: The Second Mizukage would fit in the High Class Sleeves subtrope. When his arms are resting alongside his body, or completely extended, his hands will be completely covered. However when he bends his elbows the hands will be visible.
- The ridiculously powerful witch Varete from Witch Hunter uses this trope with detached sleeves. They're "High Class Sleeves" mixed with "Loaded Sleeves" in that they tend to add to her regal and elegant bearing. While she doesn't hide any weapons in her sleeves, she has the ability to control any and all shadows, including the ones under her sleeves, so she's technically storing potential weapons there.
- During the Matchmaker sequence in Mulan, Mulan's outfit includes a top with very long sleeves, probably meant to be High-Class Sleeves to show off her family's standing. Mulan herself finds them a nuisance, and when she gets home she folds them back to her wrists.
- In The Phantom Menace, Queen Amidala of Naboo wears voluminous and obviously high quality robes with massive sleeves in order to match the expectation that one of her station should appear imposing and dignified. In later films, the gowns she wears as a senator are more practical, though just as gorgeous.
- Female Vorin fashion in The Stormlight Archive involves this as a religious imperative: Noble ladies are expected to hide a "safehand" (their left hand) in a pinned-up sleeve or glove (it is considered obscene to expose it), but they don't care about the right. They capitalize on this by hiding a "safepouch" in their pinned-up sleeve with similar taboos applied to the things stored inside.
- Rauru of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has large sleeves so long that they hide his hands. His robes give him an air of authority that puts him under the high class examples (and maybe the mysterious side of "sneaky").
- Hsiao-Lan, Lee Meijiu's child spy in Rose Guns Days is a mysterious Little Miss Badass who wears a rather elegant but slightly oversized attire, in which she hides small knives; she has her cute moments too. So yeah, she combines all five subtropes.
- Umineko: When They Cry: Beatrice and Virgilia's dresses on the other hand, feature the high class variant.
