Early last fall while Tony and I were savouring our marvelous holiday on
Vancouver Island, my lovely friend - and perpetually stylish fellow vintage blogger - Brittany from
Va Voom Vintage posted the following question on my personal Facebook page:
"I was just admiring some of your beautiful vacation photos and I thought I would love to see a post on tips for wearing vintage gloves! I have a lovely collection but I never wear them. I'm never sure what sleeve length looks best with glove lengths, glove etiquette, how to care for them and keep them clean, etc. I'd love some tips on how to wear them casually also. I always feel too dressy with gloves but your outfits look so relaxed and effortlessly stylish!"
I'm immensely touched that Brittany asked for some of my thoughts on this topic and that she sees me as a lovely example of someone who knows how to sport gloves successfully. Today, with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season behind at us once more, I finally have the time needed to properly devote myself to delving into this fantastic topic and addressing Brittany's points in helpful detail.
Over the years I've both worn vintage gloves in many (many!) of my outfit posts and also blogged about them in different entries such as
How to Size Vintage Gloves (which, according to my blog stats, has turned out to be one of my most popular posts ever) and
How I Store My Vintage Glove Collection, both of which I highly recommend you check out, if you haven't done so before (or want a quick refresher on either subject).
Having already written whole posts on those two subjects, I won't really dive into them here today again. Instead I'm going to cover the specific points that Brittany raised, because they are both excellent questions and topics that I haven't really gone into depth about here before (and it's high time that I did).
Gloves are, to my mind, one of the most elegant, stylish and becoming accessories ever invented. So crucial to most women's (and until the early twentieth century, many men's as well) wardrobes were gloves up until the 1960s, that I'd go far even to call them a garment unto themselves, not just an accessory.
Nearly all women and girls alike owned one or more pairs of gloves before the radical shift in ladies wear that we saw take place during the swinging sixties and funky seventies that would follow. Though gloves did make a bit of a resurgence in the 1980s (and not just fingerless styles
alla Madonna and Cyndi Lauper), an era that was very keen on reviving many elements of 1940s and 50s fashion for a spell, this once staple ingredient of a woman's wardrobe has never truly come back into full-fledged use again.
As society (in general) continues to prance down an ever more casual sartorial path in most instances, though dress gloves (aka, non-winter gloves) may have a small surge in popularity again every now and then (especially on the design cat walks), I'd be willing to bet you a steak dinner that they'll never become a key player in most ladies closets ever again. And, you know, I think that humanity loses something on the personal fashion front because of that.
Historically, gloves served both a practical and visually appealing purpose alike. In the Purell-on-every-street corner twenty-first century it can become easy to forget that the world was not always as clean and highly sanitized as it often is today. Prior to the turn of the last century in particular, the world was often dirty and smoggy in a way that few of us today experience. Clean water usually had to come from wells or rivers, not from the tap, and at the same time, we also lived and worked and went about our daily lives in buildings and homes that were frequently far more chilly than the central heated universe we know today.
Gloves kept hands clean and warm and showed that a woman knew the social decorum of dressing for a given occasion. Though cleanliness and warmth became less of a reason to sport gloves as the Edwardian era gave way to the 1920s and beyond, the latter point still rung true and most ladies did not consider their ensembles - baring those for very casual, beach or sporty settings - complete without a pair of gloves all year. This mindset remained in place until the early 1960s, at which point in fashion history where gloves began to be seen less and less frequently (much like ladies hats).
Mothers would have passed along their knowledge on wearing and buying gloves to their daughters, and for those young ladies who may not have had such guidance in their life, fashion magazine, home ec books on personal style, and society as a whole whole be there to help guide them on this front.
Though buying gloves may not have been meet with quite the same élan or thrill of shopping for a new hat, dress, suit or coat, they were still something that most women enjoyed purchasing and owned multiples of, so as to have the right pair for just about any occasion or ensemble that life threw their way.
Traditionally (and still to this day, objectively, but we're going to focus on vintage gloves in particular in today's post) gloves were available in a few relatively standard lengths. These included the following:
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Wrist length gloves (also known as "shorties"): The shortest style of glove, these hit at or slightly above the wrist bone and are very versatile.
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Gauntlet gloves: Characterized by a turn-up or cuff (be it subtle or dramatic) that often points outward (much like the sleeve styles on some 1950s dresses), gauntlet gloves often came part way up the forearm, though they could be wrist length as well. They were a popular style and remain a dramatic, beautiful way to add a stylish dose of mid-century pizzazz to any ensemble.
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Classic, bracelet or coat length gloves: Different names for the glove length that commonly measures in the range of 13 to 14 inches long and hit at the mid-way point, or a little above it, on the forearm. A very flattering and versatile length, this style was commonly seen in ruched gloves, which offered the wearer the ability to length or shorten her gloves by stretching or bunching the fabric (to a degree) to suit her sleeve length.
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Elbow length gloves: As their name suggests, this length of glove hits at, just below, or slightly above the wearer's elbow (as in the case of the sheer black pair on the right in the ad pictured below). They are usually the most dramatic length of glove seen during daytime wear in the mid-twentieth century and were often sported come evening time, especially in settings where opera length gloves may have been a touch too formal or impractical.
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Evening or opera gloves: Generally a more formal style of glove that hits above the elbow (and in extreme cases can reach all the way up to the underarms). During the Victorian era and early twentieth century, in particular, they often featured rows of small buttons (as did many gloves of all lengths in general), which could be fastened by hand or via the use of a specialized tool called a glove hook.
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Mousquetaire gloves: An old-fashioned style of formal evening gloves dating back to at least the sixteenth century that have a small number (often three) buttons at the wrist so that a lady can slide her hand out of them when needed, such as for eating, but have the rest of the glove remain in place (she then slides her hand back in, without needing to take her gloves on and off entirely to do so, once she’s done eating, smoking, etc).
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Other, less common styles of gloves include entirely fingerless styles that loop around one finger (often the middle finger or between the thumb and first finger, as in the marvelous crochet pair pictured below) with a small band of fabric and those with the fingertips removed but base of the fingers still intact. Generally speaking, unless your personal style veers towards the dramatic, goth, steampunk or Victorian side of things, you won't frequently wear such styles of gloves and may not need to own them at all (though they are fun to have all the same, especially for dramatic ensembles and costume parties).
For centuries gloves have come in a wide range of materials, with even more bursting onto the scene in the twentieth century thanks to the invention of various synthetic fabrics. One can commonly find vintage gloves in the following materials: leather (very much including buttery soft kid and doe leather), suede, faux suedes and leathers, silk, nylon, acetate, rayon, jersey, cotton (including crochet cotton), wool, and lace.
Silk gloves were still very much in use until the 1930s and continued to be seen on a less frequent basis after that point, but the need to ration silk during the war years meant that gloves were frequently made from available natural and synthetic fibers instead and many vintage gloves from the 1940s and 1950s that you'll come across today are suede, leather, nylon, rayon, satin, acetate, and cotton, in particular (of course, in theory, a pair of gloves could be made from virtually any material that could be sewn, knit or crochet, by those listed above are amongst the most common).
You may come to realize, especially after you've been wearing vintage gloves for a while that you have a preference for certain types of fabrics. I personally gravitate towards faux and real suede, nylon, jersey knit, sheer, and cotton gloves, as all of these styles frequently have a little bit of stretch to them, which is something that I find very becoming in how a pair of vintage gloves looks on my small hands with their relatively short fingers.
The season and weather (remember that rain and snow can be nightmares for genuine suede and leather, especially if it has not been weather treated, as well as for silk), the occasion and the rest of your outfit will help dictate both the type of fabric that your gloves should be made of and also their length and colour (when in doubt, black, white or cream gloves that hit at the wrist or mid-forearm in nearly any fabric, save for satin for day wear, is a safe choice).
In terms of partnering certain gloves with certain outfits, I would suggest keeping the following points in mind (they harken back to decades past and will help you create a cohesive look between your gloves the sleeves of your dress, blouse, jacket or coat):
-As a general rule, the shorter the sleeve,the longer the length of the glove can be. For example, an elegant sleeveless summer dress could be worn gloves up to the elbow, if desired. Opera gloves (especially those with buttons) are not usually worn during the daytime, save for if you're attending an extremely formal event, and even then, doing so has never been an overly common practise in the slightest.
{Isn't this an ingenious glove design? I would absolutely love to add a pair of Hands-Away gloves to my personally collection one day!}
-That said, when you're wearing sleeveless or short sleeve garments (by which I mean those that hit at or above the elbow), you can certainly wear gloves of any length you like. Look at your garment as a whole. Is it casual, semi-casual, formal, office appropriate? A pair of dark brown ruched elbow length gloves might overpower a delicate peach summer sundress. Where as a pair of ivory or mint green wrist or coat length gloves could be the very picture of taste and loveliness.
Conversely, if you're wearing a heavy navy blue tweed suit in January while window shopping outdoors, a pair of frilly cream lace or crochet gloves might seem oddly out of place and certainly not do much to keep your fingers warm. You'd be much better suited by slipping on a pair of wrist, coat or elbow length suede, leather, or thicker cotton gloves instead.
-There has always been a bit of debate amongst the stylish set (very much including magazine editors of the past) as to if it's in good taste to wear bracelets over top of gloves. I personally feel that if the gloves are a suitable length for your sleeves and your bracelets don't try to compete with them for attention on your wrists entirely, this look can be chic, charming and very pretty.
You may find though that if you're especially petite, the combination of both can risk overwhelming the visual lines of your arms. In which case, it may be best to stick to just one or the other or to wear a single, understated bracelet atop one glove (say a tennis bracelet or small carved bangle). It is, generally speaking, okay to wear bracelets above the top of the your gloves, especially if doing so fills a small gap between the hem of a sleeve and the top of the glove itself.
The same goes for rings. Typically, unless your wedding and/or engagement rings stand to rip or otherwise damage a glove, it's best to leave it/them on but forgo wearing other rings over or under your gloves (the lumps, bumps and lines they create and really throw off the sophisticated appearance of a gloved hand).
-Keep fabric in mind. As touched on in the second point in this list, fabrics need to work in tandem to ensure that gloves and your clothes look their best together. Generally speaking similar fabrics and fabric weights go well, but a subtle degree of contrast (say nylon gloves with a silk dress or crochet gloves with a cotton blouse) can be absolutely beautiful together. So long as one does not massively overshadow the other, you're on the right path.
-Sheer gloves are beautiful, especially if they have frills, ruffles, pleats or ruching on them, and certainly have a well deserved place in any glove wardrobe, but keep in mind that they tend to suit the warmer half of the year better, both due to the weather and because their daintiness often compliments spring and summer fashions and fabrics better than the sturdier styles of fall and winter, when fabrics like velvet, wool, tweed, denim, and corduroy are out in full force.
-Remember as well to keep your other garments, accessories, shoes and handbags in mind when selecting your gloves. You want them to compliment or tastefully standout from these items, but not to look comically out of place. A sense of harmony amongst all the elements of your outfit is one of the best ways to instantly be the most stylish women in any room and is, to my mind, a point that is often sorely lacking in contemporary fashion (where patterns, fabrics, lengths, textures and jewelry are mixed and matched with near reckless abandonment of the art of fine dressing).
-If you're wearing a jacket, blazer or coat, you will typically want the hem of your sleeve to to overlap with your gloves at least a little (or by the same token for your gloves to overlap with your sleeves. At times there can be something a touch jarring about a flash of bare skin between a jacket sleeve and a glove, save for with the most casual of styles (say a cotton bolero jacket and pair of crochet summer weight shorties).
When in doubt, opt for longer rather than shorter glove lengths. Your sleeves will cover them and if you remove your jacket and have a short sleeve garment below, they'll provide a bit of warmth and glamour at the same time.
-What about gloves worn with pants or shorts? As pants and shorts were newcomers to most women's wardrobes from the point of the 1930s onward, and then (until the 1960s) commonly worn only in very casual, rugged or sporty settings, or when a woman was entertaining in a hostess pants suit indoors, the rules of glove decorum weren't as tied to pants or shorts as they were to skirts and dresses.
I think that a tailored 1940s ladies pants suit can look lovely with shorties, as can a pair of wide leg 1930s or 40s trousers worn with an elegant blouse (and optionally a blazer and/or vest/waistcoat), but if the combo of gloves and pants doesn't float your boat, don't worry for a moment. The two, save for winter gloves worn for warmth, not for the sake of fashion, have not spent a lot of time together in the world of ladies wear over the decades.
It is also rather rare to find historical examples of women wearing shorts with gloves, simply because shorts have long been such a casual garment and thus gloves were not called for. I have seen at least a couple of modern vintage loving/wearing ladies combine the two, but it can be tricky and runs the risk of making people think that your sense of fashion is rather off kilter. If you do opt to pair the two, make sure they look incredible together and ideally stick with wrist or mid-forearm length gloves at the very most.
{Pants and shorts were intended to be very casual when they were first adopted by women, thus the rules and etiquette of wearing gloves that governed skirts, dresses and suits did not usually apply and the two were not commonly partnered at all. This pair of stylish young 1940s women, both of whom sport trousers here, for example did not wear gloves and they would seem out-of-place in the context of these easy going daywear styles.}
Due to the unfortunate fact that so few women wear (or even own!) gloves these days, sporting them in public is apt to draw attention and (hopefully positive) comments. Much as with vintage hats, it's easy to feel self-conscious about donning vintage gloves at first.
To help counterbalance these feelings, I suggest beginning with wrist or coat length gloves in light (white, cream, beige, pale grey, nude, the softest pastels, etc) and dark neutral hued gloves (such as black, brown and navy blue) first. Stick to classic fabrics like suede, kid leather, and cotton and opt for at least one other accessory or piece of jewelry in the same colour (or nearly so) to keep give your outfit a sense of cohesiveness and make your gloves appear to jump out at onlookers a little less.
Chances are, the longer you wear vintage gloves, the more you'll begin to feel at home in them and want to start building up your glove wardrobe and getting more adventurous with the styles, lengths and colours you sport.
For those just starting out on the vintage glove wearing front, or who already own but don't usually sport the pairs they possess, I would recommend that you ensure you're got
the right glove size, then proceed with building up a basic glove wardrobe that includes at least one dark and one light coloured pair of wrist, coat and/or gauntlet, and elbow (or nearly so) length gloves. These six or so pairs, especially if they're in various fabrics, sheens, weights, etc will provide you with a surprising number of stylish options.
There are very few outfits that can't work with either white or cream or conversely black, brown, dark grey or navy blue gloves (just as the same rings true for shoes and handbags in the same hues).
As with clothing, some glove fabrics hold up better than others. Intact vintage silk gloves are fairly hard to find these days for that very reason. Sheer and extra delicate fabrics are prone to runs and rips. Pale leathers and suedes stain easily, and synthetics often absorb dirt and stains and aren't quick to release them upon laundering, so it never hurts to try and think about where you'll be sporting your gloves and what you'll be doing them while they're on before you pick a pair at home.
When it comes time to launder my gloves (which I do often with those fabrics that can be safely washed - a camp that suede and leather do not usually fall into, however as this
1940s Women's Home Companion article shows, in some cases, it is possible to successfully do so), I always (fittingly, one might say :)) hand wash them in cold, luke warm, or warm (but never scalding hot) water with a very mild soap such as Woolite or Tide Free and Clear. In a pinch I have even shaved a few flaks off of a bar of Dove soap and successfully used that to get my gloves spic and span again.
Assuming your gloves are not made of an especially delicate fabric, gentle hand laundering followed by air (indoors or out) drying will help keep stains at bay and may prolong the life of your favourite pairs. Gloves can usually be mended to a degree. If a split or small hole occurs on a seam, the glove can usually be turned inside out and fixed with small stitches and thread in a matching hue.
A hole on the fingertips, palms or elsewhere can sometimes be darned, but they're apt to show and can detract from the beauty of your gloves, so if they do occur, it may mean that that pair has reached the end of its days (though in some cases, you could add embellishments, appliqués, trim or other notions to both the damaged glove and its mate to hid the hole, stain, etc).
Though most folks today will not be aware of traditional glove etiquette and thus oblivious to if you're violating it, as vintage loving ladies, it never hurts to observe the following classic
glove etiquette rules:
-Feel free to gloves when outdoors, shopping, driving, walking, and holding hands.
-It is entirely acceptable to leave your gloves on when indoors for most activities including at church, at a wedding (including during a receiving line), and while dancing.
-Remove your gloves while being seated for dinner, eating, smoking, applying make-up, playing cards or board games, or doing anything where there's a high risk that you'll stain/damage your gloves (in other words, don't peal carrots with white kid gloves on!).
-It is generally okay to leave your gloves on while drinking or if you're only eating a small, non-messy hors d'oeuvre.
-It is entirely acceptable to shake hands with your gloves on, with exceptions made for it you're meeting with the president, prime minister, or top ranking religious officials.
-Try to keep your gloves on during appropriate times. If you need to remove them, slip them into your purse or a coat pocket to cut down on the risk of accidentally losing one or both gloves. You can also purchase a handy little device called a glove clip that will help keep your gloves in place wherever you may happen to take them off (track down a vintage version, they're easy to find, especially online, as they tend to be more attractive than their plastic modern counterpoints).
-For detailed information of opera glove etiquette, be sure to check out
this post that I found on the website Gloria Glover Gloves that has oodles of great tips on that very subject.
When it comes to storing your vintage gloves,
my post on the subject (and some wonderful further suggestions in the comments on it) should really help steer you in the right direction. You may at times find deadstock/NOS (new old stock) gloves that are still in their original plastic bags. While it's a-okay to keep those bags in general (I have a few tucked away myself), it's recommended that you do not store your gloves themselves in them, if at all avoidable. Such bags are not archaically safe usually and may do more harm then good to your lovely vintage gloves in the long run.
As a general rule of thumb, I like to air out my gloves after I wear them and before I put them away. I find that draping them over a towel bar, a nightstand (I like to put a towel or cloth down first just in case there were any splinters or nicks in the wood that could damage the gloves), a (turned off!) lamb shade, a clothes drying rack, or vintage glove drying forms (thin pieces of sturdy plastic shaped like gloves that can be found on sites like eBay and Etsy, as well as some vintage and antique stores, in particular) are all good options on this front.
Airing out your gloves after you wear them will usually prolong the time you can go between washes and help them feel fresh and dry (if they've gotten damp or sweaty, I mean) the next time you slip them on.
In no small part because they were once such a major wardrobe staple for most women, there are (thankfully!) still lots of vintage gloves on the market today, many of which are both in good condition and reasonably priced. I stock vintage gloves in my
Etsy shop all the time and have found them to be one of my best sellers since I opened my doors there last May. In particular, I find that beautifully coloured gloves and leather pairs in good, stain-free (or nearly so) condition, as well as ruched and sheer styles are amongst my top vintage glove sellers.
Putting it all together, you'll quickly come to discover that wearing gloves is usually an absolute joy. You'll develop preferences for certain styles, fabrics, colours and even patterns (there are lots of fun and elegant patterned vintage gloves out there such as polka dots, flowers, and stripes) and begin to see how glove length and sleeve length work work best when they're not at total odds with one another other.
Of course, as much as the points in this post are helpful and are ones that I abide by myself usually, it's important to let your own personality and fashion sense shine through in your glove choices. Wearing gloves should never be a point of stress, worry or difficulty.
Experiment, take photos and assess how you think a given pair of gloves worked with a certain outfit. Ask a trusted friend or relative for their impute, chat with other vintage wearers and remember that if no one else in your town still wears glove, you have every right and reason to, if your heart so desires.
Gloves are, just as they have been for centuries now, a practical, stylish, elegant and very enjoyable item of clothing. They suit our beloved vintage looks to a tee and are truly at home in any yesteryear fashion loving lady's wardrobe.
{To learn more about a specific image in this post, please click on it to be taken to its online source.}
I hope that today's post has helped answer your wonderful questions, dear Brittany. If you, or anyone else, have follow up queries, by all means please keep them coming in the comments (or by email, if you'd prefer). As someone with a vintage glove collection numbering over 100 pairs, I'm no stranger to wearing these marvelous accessories and always love to chat more on the subject.
Have fun, treat yourself to a new pair of gloves, and please don't hesitate to share your favourite glove tips here anytime.
