Uh, oh, my friend actually did a bit more research and came up with some confusing data. According to Mirror of Graces; or the English Lady's Costume, which is available online here (http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/DLDecArts/DLDecArts-idx?id=DLDecArts.MirrorGraces), "The bosom and shoulders of a very young and fair girl may be displayed without exciting much displeasure or disgust." This seems to indicate that a sleeveless dress might have more weight...but I'm really not sure what this information means.