Glove making a refined art.
Glovemaking has been intertwined with human culture since the days of the caveman. The first gloves resembled crudemittens. As the years passed, glove making became more of a refined art. Articulated fingers were stitched in to provide more dexterity and ease of movement. Whilst makers' guilds once dominated in a society obsessed with a covered hand, today very few remain. Fewer still are the patterns available forhand-made gloves. Machine sewn and hand-finished gloves are mostly what you'll find in the market.
The Ancient Art Of Glove Making
Small opera gloves.
Ladies in the 19th century adored opera gloves. One peculiarity is that they tried to fit their hands into gloves a size too small! This forced one's hand to rest in a half cupped position - perfect for greeting, but not for kissing. If you have ever attempted to don a glove you are too big for, you realise what a task these women undertook!Buttonhookand powdered alum provided some lubrication, but still, before an opera, determined women would sit for hours, coaxing their hands down into tight gloves.Opera length glovescontinued to be popular through to the mid 20th century.
The Victorian�s favouredcrochetedorfine kid leathervarieties, often with button backs. Deep embroidered cloth or leathergauntletshapes were also favourites.
White or Cream gloves favoured in the 1950s
Rouched chiffongloves were popular in the 1940s, early 50s. Gloves were worn everywhere in the 1950s and completed a woman's grooming. Without gloves she was not properly accessorised. Clean gloves were also the hallmark of a lady and white or cream were the most favoured gloves. Gloves worn in so many colours were usually made of cotton as this was more affordable than leather gloves or the newer nylon and they could be washed very easily. Even so many women owned a special pair of leather gloves. You can see from the picture right, why they were sometimes referred to as 1950s Gauntlet Gloves.
Dents and Pittardswere popular glove names, but women could also make their own gloves using aMcCall'spattern.
Glove Revival in the 1980s
The formality of wearing gloves even continued into the sixties with interesting cut out peephole variations in the popular stretch nylon and designed almost like agolfingglove. By the 1970s gloves were more used functionally for keeping the hands warm than for any other reason.
There was a bit of a Revival of gloves as a fashion statement whenMadonnaand other pop idols wore lacey fingerless ones in the 1980s.
Madonna Loved Her Gloves In The Eighties
Insulation from the heat or cold, protection from scratches and cuts, bold or subtle fashion statements, gloves have had many purposes through history and continue to be a wholly integral part of many jobs today. Conversely, there has been a sharp decline in the use of gloves afashion accessoryover the past several decades. Fewer girls attend their proms with gloves. Fashion is a fickle thing, and only time will tell the future of the glove.
FAQs
You can often date a 1940s pair of gloves if they are stretchy by looking closely at the fabric. The early gloves from the '30s and '40s will have tiny ridges across the fabric, rather than the dense nylon of later date.
What is the history of gloves in fashion? ›
While the existence of weather-proofing mittens predates medieval Europe, gloves started to come to the forefront of fashion between the 12th and 16th centuries in Europe and the British Isles. Early gloves were offered in two styles, three-fingered and five-fingered.
What were vintage gloves made of? ›
The gloves were also made of the dress fabric, silk or kid leather. The leather gloves necessitated the use of powder to draw them on, but oh are they soft! If we were going shopping, out to a movie or out to lunch, gloves were generally at the wrist or a few inches above the wrist.
What was the glove etiquette in the 1960s? ›
Women wore gloves everywhere and you weren't really considered appropriately dressed without them. Gloves usually matched what you were wearing and varied in fabric depending on the weather. Leather gloves were typical day gloves: white ones were kidskin and quite thin.
How to measure vintage gloves? ›
Glove measurements are determined by the circumference around the palm of the hand where the knuckles are. So dividing that in half, a size 7 glove should be about 3 1/2 in. across the palm - or 7 in. around.
How do you read glove numbers? ›
Put simply, the higher the number, the higher the level of protection. The letter in the fifth position corresponds to the gram score recorded with TDM test method. The rating scale from A to F will be awarded for each gloves test result, with A being the lower score and F being the highest score.
What decade were gloves popular? ›
Over-the-elbow gloves were first widely popular during the Regency/Napoleonic period (circa 1800–1825), and waned in popularity during the early and mid-Victorian periods (circa 1830–1870), but enjoyed their greatest vogue in the last two decades of the 19th century and the years of the 20th century prior to the start ...
Were gloves popular in the 1920s? ›
Gloves in the 20th Century
Gloves were used for warmth and protection from the elements. In addition, gloves became a staple of fashion in the 1920s and 1930s. Gloves were often made from soft leather and were worn to complement an outfit.
What are the oldest gloves? ›
Cave paintings suggest that humans wore simple mittens, possibly knitted, as far back as the Ice Age. But the oldest existing gloves, made sometime between 1343 and 1323 B.C., are a snappy linen pair that ties at the wrist, found in King Tutankhamun's Egyptian tomb in 1922.
What does a glove symbolize? ›
Often, gloves merely symbolize the HAND itself; usually, however, they signify high status, clean hands, white gloves as cleanliness and purity. They also conceal; they highlight the gestures of the HAND. Gloves embody power and protection, as well as nobility.
Gloves were usually made of white kid, but pale colours like pink and yellow were also worn. Short kid gloves continued to be fashionable for daytime wear during the 1850s and early 1860s. They were fastened at the wrist with two to four buttons.
How to wash vintage gloves? ›
Fill a sink or tub with lukewarm water and a pure, mild soap or soap flakes. Dip your hands in the water and give them a bit of a shake to loosen and dirty. Rinse them in luke warm water. Return them to the soapy water and give them another shake before rinsing them again under clean lukewarm water.
Why did people wear gloves in the 50s? ›
Gloves were worn everywhere in the 1950s and completed a woman's grooming. Without gloves she was not properly accessorised. Clean gloves were also the hallmark of a lady and white or cream were the most favoured gloves.
What is a fact about gloves? ›
DID YOU KNOW? That the word "glove" comes from the German Handschuh, meaning "hand-shoe"? That in the 12th century, the groom was given a glove as a sign that the bride was now to be his? In Sweden, the man gave his betrothed one of his gloves as a pledge to honouring the wedding vows.
Who was famous for wearing one glove? ›
Michael Jackson's iconic single white glove was more than a fashion statement; it was a strategic accessory that played a crucial role in concealing the effects of the skin condition known as vitiligo.
Did they wear gloves in the 1940s? ›
Rouched chiffon gloves were popular in the 1940s, early 50s.
What were gloves made of in the 1800s? ›
Besides the leather gloves, there were numerous types of gloves of the 1800s made from fabric or materials that included thread, cotton, silk, worsted weight, and knit materials. Thread gloves were sometimes made from unbleached yarn but were usually made from linen or cotton.
