Here at MPB Inc., we are very pro-glove.
I'm not talking about the kind you wear to keep your fingers warm, though I have nothing against those. I'm talking the kind women donned to complete an elegant ensemble, to look well-dressed, and -- I suppose this was the main reason -- to keep their hands soft (or perhaps to disguise hands that weren't so soft).
Gloves also kept your hands germ-free, as well as protecting others from your germs, am I right?
I think we know why these kinds of gloves fell out of fashion. Germ-avoidance aside, they weren't very practical, they weren't terribly functional, and they were just another thing to have to clean. Still, there's something about a well-dressed woman in gloves...
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As you may already know, I have a large stock of vintage gloves, picked up whenever I could find them large enough and cheap enough. Cathy sometimes tries them on since she owns none of her own; she considers them a symbol of female oppression. Still, she gleefully picked out some favorites today in anticipation of her upcoming rayon floral dress photo shoot.
Would red gloves with a red dress be too....red?
I think we're leaning toward cream, to match her shoes. Unless she wears blue shoes, that is. . . It's complicated!
Readers, do you still wear gloves on occasion -- and if so, which ones?
Whatever happened to gloves? Were acrylic nail tips the nail (no pun intended) in the coffin?
Have a great day, everybody!
Since we are old school here at Casa de Hemmafru my children all have and will participate in social dancing school in 7th and 8th grade. I think in some parts of the country it is called cotillion? My daughters go off in their party dresses every Friday night in the fall to learn the two-step, rumba, waltz, and swing. All the girls are required to wear white wrist length gloves. The need for this requirement is obvious when they tumble out of the ballroom with very damp and dirty gloves after holding boys' hands all evening. I had to consult vintage housekeeping books to find out how to clean and care for our wonderful collection of vintage white gloves. My daughters and I are all very pro glove!
ReplyDeleteI love gloves. And hats. I think gloves died off sometime around the time after the mod 60s when shortie gloves were in fashion. I'm so ancient, I can remember glove counters with fitters who choose from the stock of gloves by looking at your hand, then picking one to fit. I have small hands and short thumbs. These days, I buy vintage, too, because most modern gloves are way too long in the thumb even though the rest of the fingers fit. And, no, I'm not deformed. You have some great ones! I esp like the white ones with the scalloped hem.
ReplyDeleteThe females in my family always wore gloves and hats. I know my mother did back in the 60's, but she was not a fan of gloves. My grandmother always wore gloves and a hat and always had a matching umbrella, not for the rain, but for the sun.
ReplyDeleteThey make it harder to use a touch screen phone :)
ReplyDeleteMy girly alter-ego likes gloves, though, but it's usually too warm here to consider them as part of her wardrobe.
Love the look. Hate the maintenance. I don't have enough formal occasions in my life to wear them anymore. Last time was over 50 years ago to a prom when I had short white gloves to which I pinned a tiny butterfly pin which I just found in an old button box the other day.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I wore gloves was to my eighth grade graduation in 1967. I think I agree with Bunnykins above, once the late sixties hit and everything was jeans and flannel shirts for 10 years, we never went back to gloves.
ReplyDeleteI think gloves were too keep your hands from looking like work hands. patrician over proleterian kind of thingy. Unless of course your Gilda and need them for an impromptu strip tease in which case they are di riguer. I think the red gloves look nice and they might give Cathy that Jane Wyman "Sirkian" glamour. Whatever she chooses, she will as usual be fashion forward and a muse to all who happen to witness.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 60s when I was in high school, you always wore long white gloves with your sleeveless formal dress to the prom or Christmas Formal. My mom and grandmother also wore short gloves when they dressed up, and especially when they went "downtown." I kind of miss those days.
ReplyDeleteI love gloves--I wish they would come back in style.
ReplyDeleteWow - those white gloves with the faggoting stitching are just amazing! I love gloves. I have several pairs of winter gloves. I'm not quite old enough to have worn daytime gloves, but I do remember the thrill of going to Gilchrist's in Boston as a little girl (5 or 6 years old) and buying an Easter hat and Easter white gloves.
ReplyDeleteAmerican workplaces used to have strict dress codes. I suppose a couple of companies got sued and now every day is casual Friday. Nothing is elegant anymore. I haven't been to a sit-down dinner party in several years. I miss the 1970s when I was a kid and there were things called 'special occasions' and you were expected to look your best. I remember my mom wearing long dark brown leather gloves. She also had pearl gray gloves with satin embroidered seams that she wore with a black/cream polka dot scarf. My dad wore rep ties and highly polished wingtips and even wore cologne.
ReplyDeleteThe grandmothers and their contemporaries wore gloves on most occasions (when they left the house, that is) well into the '70s. Mother gave up a little earlier, but always kept a pair in the purse in case she ran into one of the grandmothers (or their contemporaries).
ReplyDeleteUnless dressiness in general comes back, I'm afraid they're unlikely to stage a renaissance on their own - even hats seems likelier to have a comeback...
I recently wore gloves to a very swanky event, wearing a me-made-vintage dress of course.
ReplyDeletehttp://wesewretro.com/2014/06/rock-your-orange/
The gloves were a little impractical, as we were nibbling on hors d'oeuvres all evening, but constantly putting them on and taking them off again (like the ladies in movies, pulling each fingertip separately) made me feel very glamourous indeed.
Buy a long pair of gloves, over the elbow, with a buttoned opening at the wrist. Undo the opening and tuck the glove part into the arm part when you're eating. And, yes, my mum was stickler for knowing all the rules whether I got to practice them or not. She was raised stuffy and didn't see any reason why I shouldn't be.
DeleteBTW, you can wash unlined leather gloves in cool water, rinse in water with a bit of oil in it, lay flat, then pull to soften and put back into shape when they're dry. They won't shrink, but do look strange when they're dry but not pulled. Pulling them softens them back up. I always used to was my unlined light coloured leather gloves. Only unlined as the lining shrinks. Now, wonder if anyone knew that when OJ was on trial if the glove would have fit?
My workplace office is very chilly- maybe I should wear gloves to warm my numb fingers and wrists at the computer keyboard.
ReplyDeleteI attend cultural events in Chicago, like going to symphony. I feel like very few of us dress up even for these evenings. For pity's sake, the musicians are wearing tails (although some of the females have adopted a more casual evening look). As a child, the idea of dressing up for an event was in large part to show respect toward others. Our society needs more of that, so gloves are a good start!
ReplyDeleteI remember a relative of ours came to Las Vegas.
DeleteIn their minds they were thinking of the days of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin all dressed up in the tuxedos and beautifully coiffed women with elegant gowns playing at the casino. Instead they got jeans and sneakers. I told them they would be disappointed. Someone told me that people don't dress up much for the ballet or opera anymore. My daughter and I are going to see Wicked in October. It is a special occasion for us and we will make an effort to dress for it.
No effing way. Women have more important things to do with their time today than fiddle around with gloves. Let's not suggest that we go back to the "good" old days were everyone was under such extreme pressure to conform, especially women. Dress up if you like, but respect others' choice not to do the same!
ReplyDeleteOops! "Where!" Gloves got in the way of the keyboard.
DeleteHmm, not to keen on gloves aside from the cold weather version. They seem rather constraining.
ReplyDeleteSory, but I don't get the point. Gloves are part of everyday dress just as shoes are. At least in Vienna. My outfit today: black linen suit, white top, black shoes and vivid magenta gloves. For a magenta hat it is too windy today. Gloves are a normal part of dress and - in my opinion - have nothing to do with equal rights and stuff like that. Gloves are nothing to fiddle with. you put them on and that's it.
ReplyDeletecaterina
(sorry for my mistakes, my english is not too god)
I want to see a photo-- your ensemble sounds really lovely.
DeleteI am wearing a Hawaiian shirt and jeans to work today. Not so lovely, but there it is.
A glove tangent: I wonder why food workers wear gloves. I used to think it was to ensure the purity of the food they were selling me, but I was disabused of that notion when they blithely handled my money with the same gloved hands that assemble the sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that was supposed to happen!
Deletei am always horrified when that happens...which unfortunately is often...
Deletei'd love to wear gloves but can't find any beauties for my rather large paws. they feel akin to geisha footwear on me.
For me, gloves are like 1920s fashions - I love them in ads/illustrations and then I put one on my hand and it looks weird. Although I did wear some once to Thanksgiving in a very 1940s menswear inspired (ironically) outfit.
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of the whole glove accessory circle....(having grown up wearing them at dressy occasions, including our Sunday church visits). I have collected several patterns for gloves and plan to become proficient at making them pair because my hands are large (for a woman--9-inches plus long fingers)...and stylish ones are so hard to find in my size.
ReplyDeletePeter...do you have any interest in making some for yourself? You have never shyed away from an opportunity to learn something new....how about a sew-along??? I'm in!.....
Cynthia
I do own this:
Deletehttps://picasaweb.google.com/101177577152766699680/PeterSPatternStashWomensPatterns#5759928833545481250
I wore long gloves to my debut - here in Australia girls still make their formal debut and wear white dresses and usually elbow length white gloves to match. Very elegant.
ReplyDeleteI have a lovely selection of vintage gloves myself, and broke out a beautiful black lace pair for a recent family function, which was 50's themed. I had a vintage hat with lace trim to match, and a gorgeous eyelet wrap dress with a full skirt. I wish "dressing" in the sense of making oneself elegant would come back into fashion!!
Beware--glovemaking is totally addicting! The rest of your sewing will suffer.
ReplyDeleteI always thought gloves looked lovely on women with elegant hands and long slender fingers. They showed the gloves off well. I can't stuff my fat sausage fingers into gloves and would never do them justice.
ReplyDeletein love a pair of gloves! I wore them to prom, and I have a vintage white leather pair for winter, mainly I wear them because when im nervous I like to have something to do with my hand, and putting gloves on and off does the trick. and it makes me feel like im a heronine in a 1950s movie.
ReplyDeleteFrankie
www.knitwits-owls.blogspot.co.uk
Wow, Peter, you have an awesome collection of gloves. I wish this trend would come back. I like wearing gloves too. A while back I published a post on John Koch (Chicago). He teaching a class on glove making. Check out some of his designs here: http://themahoganystylist.blogspot.com/2012/02/gloves-new-exploration.html
ReplyDeleteWow -- those are some amazing gloves!
DeleteI think that gloves date back to Puritanism because it was seen as proper to keep a woman's hands covered so as to prevent men from directly touching a woman's skin while holding her hand and helping her in and out of a carriage, etc. If you watch "Pride and Prejduce" with Keira Knightley there's a scene where Mr. Darcy touches her hand with no glove and it's a rather big deal for that time period.
ReplyDeleteI believe gloves are a far older accessory. Portraits of women (and men) from the Renaissance often feature gloves but I believe they are mentioned in ancient texts. I've always thought gloves were of military and labor origins. I suppose these gloves were very different from the fashion accessory we think of today, possibly just a few straps of leather around the palm and of course the elbow-length steel plates worn by knights. I wonder about non-Western cultures. Are gloves a historically important accessory in, say, Japan?
ReplyDeleteI inherited some gloves from my mother - 11 years ago now. My favourite pair are sheer cream nylon with rows of tiny pearls gathering the cuffs. She would be horrified though to learn that I'm now using the wrist length black pair as part of my current Black Canary cosplay.
ReplyDeleteGloves are alive and well in my life ... fingerless. My office is so cold my fingers go numb. To solve that and still use a keyboard, I wear fingerless gloves that go halfway up my forearm. Beth S
ReplyDeleteMy generation didn't grow up with gloves, but I love the look. I wore white opera gloves to my prom, and now as a ballroom dancer I've been known to wear them to formal events. I couldn't believe what I had to go through to get them... Tried all the accessories and dept stores I could think of with no luck, then finally tried a David's Bridal where they took me on a wandering tour of the store and at last found their last pair on a forlorn looking display in the back!
ReplyDeleteI also want to add, my prom was, um, many years ago. The David's Bridal episode happened about a year and a half ago.
DeleteTry the flea market. There's one in Toronto I go to once in a while, the Sunday market downtown, that has stalls which sell textiles, including hankies and gloves. I got several pair of white kidskin gloves, including one over the elbow length for next to nothing because "no one wear them anymore." Mine are destined to become a repro antique fashion doll body.
DeleteI am puzzled. alone within walking distancve from my office I know half a dozen Shops specialized in gloves and scarfs... this is my favorite one: http://www.handschuhe-wien.at/
Deletecterina
I wore elbow length gloves to a convention of Jehovah's Witnesses once, I had horrible poison ivy on my forearms and it was wrapping and I had medicine on it that just made me and sticky mess, I used a pair of vintage white gloves to cover it up. My friends thought they were awesome and had no idea i was covering up icky arms ;)
ReplyDeleteI got myself a pair of pink leather gloves that make a nice tie-in between a beige cloche and a pair of deep dusty pink pumps. Although I only dared to wear them in winter (but they were great for that!)
ReplyDeleteIn an ideal world, I'd wear them a lot. But I don't live in my ideal world, so I don't. Maybe after the smallest one is in school. My mom used to tell me about going to visit her grandmother in New York and how her mom (my grandma) would take my mom to get a hat and gloves before they went to see grandma because in the old lady's mind, you weren't properly dressed without a hat and gloves if you were a lady. I have larger hands for a woman, so vintage gloves that are non-stretch are difficult for me to find. I once had a pair of brown leather ones with beautiful stitching on them but, alas, I wore them out.
ReplyDeleteIf only gloves had been the norm throughout my own youth and young adulthood, the skin on my hands wouldn't stay in place after you pinch it. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteExcept for a pair of ivory colored elbow length gloves which I once wore in a wedding (not my own), and which made me feel really glamorous--wow, just like a shorter, fatter Audrey Hepburn!--I haven't worn gloves as a fashion accessory since, oh about 1968. I was 7 years old and wore them with my Easter outfit. I actually like gloves, but don't know how practical they are in some respects on a day to day basis. On the other hand (ha ha), living in the Southwestern U.S., despite diligent sunscreen use, I do have a few small sunspots on the back of my hands. This, I think, is exactly one of the things gloves were meant to prevent.
ReplyDelete