Nicola here. It’s the end of April and until a couple of days ago, I’ve been wearing gloves when I go out. Although we’ve had glorious sunny weather this week in the UK, there’s still a chill in the air and temperatures dropping near freezing overnight, so perhaps this isn’t too surprising. Plus, I’m definitely a fan of gloves and will wear them for as long as I can. My favourite pair are from a shop in Oxford and add a colourful splash to an outfit.
Gloves, like a lot of accessories, and things that interest me – their evolution, who wears them, what they can be used for, what they say about someone’s style. Like a lot of artifacts, they have a long history. Multiple pairs of linen gloves were found in Tutankhamen’s tomb. There are many references to gloves in writings of Ancient Greece and Rome as well, proving that our ancestors also appreciated the many good things about them. The writer Homer even makes reference to gardening gloves! Astonishingly, cave paintings suggest that mittens were worn in the Ice Age, which does seem sensible.
By the 10th century in England, priests were wearing gloves to perform religious rituals. Other types of gloves had also evolved –
people who worked at crafts and in the fields wore practical gloves that were thick and made of coarse materials. Soldiers wore leather gauntlets during combat, covering the hands and forearms for protection. The gauntlet was a glove that could also start a fight. If an argument arose between two knights, one could throw their armoured glove to the floor as a way of challenging the other to a duel. To accept the challenge the second would pick up the gauntlet. The well-known phrase, ‘throw down the gauntlet’ derives 
from this medieval practice. Up until 1821, the king or queen’s champion would challenge anyone who doubted the sovereign’s right to the UK throne. That’s a bit of tradition we’ve lost this side of the pond! From this, gloves came to be seen as symbols of monarchy in art. In the bottom left of this picture by William Dobson from 1645, the crossed gloves – which look at first glance like the dog’s paws – are included to symbolise loyalty to the crown.
Like all accessories, gloves as practical items started to develop a fashion and cultural side.
They became status symbols. Already by the 12th century, leather gloves that were finely crafted with lavish decoration were favoured by Royalty and aristocracy, who would also wear linen and silk gloves. The richer the embellishment the better; alongside embroidery and fringes, gloves could be adorned with jewellery too. They were also imported from abroad, which made them even more exclusive. (Picture is Charles I’s glove on display at Shaw House, Newbury.)
By the 16th century a lady would consider gloves to be an important part of her wardrobe. To ward off the unpleasant smells of the city or rural environment, as well as germs, they might be scented with oils or herbs and spices. English glovemakers started the domestic market at the end of the Tudor era and fashion was an integral part of glove design. In the 18th century, for example, sleeves became shorter so gloves became longer and even more highly adorned with decorative buttons.
Glovers were originally classified as fine leather workers or cordwainers. the name derived from Cordova in Spain, famous for its goatskin white leather. I have a number of cordwainers in my family tree from the 18th century onwards. Each village seems to have had at least one glover so demand must have been high for both work gloves and smarter ones.
Robust leather gloves were needed for sporting pursuits from the medieval era onwards. Hunting and hawking were a form of combat. Meanwhile the Napoleonic Wars of 1805–15 saw a surge in demand for military gloves. As we reached the 19th century, the use of gloves became even more widespread with the emergence of the white cotton ‘Berlin’ gloves worn by butlers and waiters, and mass-produced woollen gloves for the working classes.
Sometimes one development can lead to a remarkable surge in demand for an item and change to the economy. So it was with
glove production in Oxfordshire! There was a flourishing woollen industry in the county and centres of glove-making sprung up in a number of towns including Burford and Witney. However, when Blenheim Palace at Woodstock was completed in 1722, such was the demand for smart gloves from royal and aristocratic visitors that Woodstock overtook the other towns as the prime glove-making spot! There’s still a building called the Old Glove House in the town which is now a hotel.
By the 19th century, gloves had become so integral to etiquette that to remove one’s glove before greeting a social superior was considered a sign of respect (or a way of keeping people in their place, depending on your point of view). In 19th-century France and Britain, gloves were indispensable in high society. A proper gentleman or lady would not be seen in public without gloves, and their colour and material denoted one’s social standing. White gloves symbolized purity and refinement, while darker tones suggested formality. I remember my grandmother would never go out without her gloves in winter but declined to wear linen or silk ones in summer on the grounds that they got dirty too easily. She wanted to look nice but equally she was very practical!
Throughout history, gloves have been a useful necessity but a language of gestures signals has developed around them in much the same way as women used a fan. In the 18th and 19th centuries especially, they were used to convey subtle signals in flirtation, social interactions, and challenges. A woman could let her glove fall in front of a suitor to indicate interest, expecting him to pick it up. This happens a lot in Regency romances! Removing a glove slowly was seen as a flirtatious gesture, especially at balls and formal gatherings, a bit like a striptease! Slapping someone with a glove was apparently the successor to throwing down the gauntlet and a challenge to a duel. And, as we know from boxing, throwing a glove into the ring was a way of stating you were up to the competition. (Picture by Unknown author – from Le Musée absolu, Phaidon, 10-2012, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36172020)
I do like getting gloves as a gift and apparently this is a symbol of admiration, trust, or devotion. They used to be popular as courtship gifts, a tradition I think should definitely be brought back!
Do you like to wear gloves? Do you have some for practical use, or show or both? Has anyone ever courted you with a pair of gloves, or have you thrown down the gauntlet? Tell us your glove-related stories!
What a lovely informative post, Nicola! I don’t like wearing gloves but that’s probably because I was forced to when I was a child during long Swedish winters. We would wear cotton or woollen gloves inside two layers of thick knitted mittens and it was annoying! But necessary if you wanted to play in the snow 🙂 Even so, my fingers invariably got cold and I had to go indoors when I got to the point where I couldn’t feel them any longer. Nowadays I’m grateful for thermal gloves/mittens that truly keep you warm. And I do like wearing fingerless gloves for typing if I’m cold.
The Vikings had thick mittens in winter made with nalbinding, sort of like crochet but with a needle instead of a hook. They look practical and were hopefully quite warm. I think they might have had sheepskin mittens too, probably even better!
I love that the Vikings wore sheepskin mittens, Christina! That sounds very practical for the cold weather.
I think glove technology must have improved since we were children. I remember gloves that didn’t keep out the cold, and I was in northern England and didn’t even have to cope with a long Swedish winter. I can imagine that several layers of gloves would be cumbersome and not much fun!
I don’t care for wearing gloves – even when gardening. Or keeping my hands warm if I have a pocket I can shove my hands into. When I was a young child back in the 50s, women still wore gloves and hats, especially when dressed up. I can remember wearing them to church on Sunday – along with my best shoes and hat.
Watching shows like The Guilded Age I find the fashions almost as interesting as the story. But as lovely as they look, they also look extremely uncomfortable.
Yes, it’s always worth remembering that a lot of fashion may be beautiful but there’s a price to pay!
Like you I don’t like wearing gardening gloves, Mary, because they make me clumsy. I will do it for practical reasons but I still seem to get very dirty!
Growing up in the 50s and 60s we wore gloves on Sunday, as well as going to places like the theater.
Living in NYC, my mother wore gloves every day when she went to work. One advantage was that it kept her fingers clean when reading the newspaper while riding the subway.
I still have a few pairs of fine leather gloves rarely, if ever, worn, that I am reluctant to get rid of. Not sure why. But, if there was someone who would wear them, I would easily part with them.
I hadn’t thought of the benefits of wearing gloves when reading the paper, Alison, but I can see that would be really useful – unless they were white, of course!
In summer they were white! Needless to say, there were always gloves to be laundered as the print ink was always coming off the paper.
And thank you for an interesting, fun post.
Eek! That’s a lot of laundering needed!
What a wonderful post, Nicola! I wear leather gloves with a lining in cold weather and a knitted pair of fingerless gloves to read inside.
I recall fondly the glove scene in Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase.
Ah yes, the glove scene! A classic.
I am a real convert to fingerless gloves for typing and reading inside. I don’t particularly like the look of them but practicality outweighs that these days.
What interesting glove history, Nicola! I grew up in a northerly climate where winter gloves were almost mandatory. I’m still a great believer in wearing gloves in cold weather, but my current mode is to buy multiple pairs of identical cheap knit gloves at the dollar store> Pairs are stuffed in the pockets of all my winter jackets. In a tribute of my education as an industrial designer, I consider the gloves modular replacements: if i lose one of a pair of my knit winter gloves, I can replace it with an identical glove. Elegant it’s not, but very practical!
That is a very practical approach, Mary Jo, and I admire it. Whereas I spend ages hunting around for a particular pair of gloves I know I left in a pocket “somewhere”… I think I should follow your example!
This is such a lovely post, Nicola. The pictured gloves are beautiful. I only wear gloves for warmth. Thermal or leather. I bought a pair of men’s gloves in thermal because they were longer. They were more practical and were thick enough to stay on my small hands.
Thank you, Patricia! Yes, I love a nice pair of leather gloves. I too have small hands and can find it hard to keep the bigger sizes on.
Many years ago I used gloves for driving on cold mornings but now cars have heated steering wheels (and seats!) making them redundant. I still use gloves for gardening, thick for handling thorny plants and soft for weeding, to stop soil getting under finger nails. As a cricket enthusiast I also had a favourite pair of gloves for protecting hands when batting. Its surprising how many sports require gloves to protect the hands: cricket, boxing, soccer (goal keepers), motorcycling, hockey etc …. could be a separate blog!
Hi Quantum, yes the way in which different gloves have developed for different sports could be a very interesting blog topic. I’ve often wondered how batsmen manage with such huge gloves. Doesn’t it make batting rather unwieldy?
I still use driving gloves as I have neither a heated steering wheel or seat, but they aren’t that particular style I remember from my 1970s childhood, which were very fashionable at the time.
I only started wearing gloves about three Winters ago because of the cold and getting older I suppose. I don’t particularly like gloves. I hate feeling trussed up. I never wear scarves or hats either but hats don’t suit me anyway. I do have quite a few pairs of gardening gloves for practical reasons.
When I started my first job, age 15, that Christmas I bought my Dad a pair of leather gloves for the Winter as he had a long drive to work. I don’t think the man had ever worn gloves before!
When he died, forty one years ago, my Mother gave them to me. They were in almost pristine condition. I think he wore them going out the door to show me he was using them and taking them off as soon as he was outside 😄
I still have them!
Oh, bless him! That’s a lovely story about your Dad! I think some people simply aren’t glove people. I used never to wear hats or gloves but I like both now. I don’t wear scarves much, though, and admire people who can make them look stylish.
I love gloves and it’s a good thing since I have among other things CLL CHRONIC lymphomatic Leukemia so because of it my hands get easily irritated and itchy so I wear them when I do the dishes and in winter being French I Allway try to look chic even on my very small budget so my winter gloves are Allway extremely colorful and matching my winter many jackets that I buy at discount stores and trift store some of those jackets are over 20 years old and in perfect condition I even have two mink coats from my mother so every years before winter ( I live in NYC Brooklyn) were the winter are extremely long i go trough my collection of gloves throwing away the ones without it’s mate and buying any pairs on sale in the summer so I am Allway ready when the cold weather arrives . I didn’t wear them when I was a child because my father was a pilot for Pan American airways we moved too many times from different countries that gloves had a tendency to get lost so my childhood was mercifully gloves less.
How fabulous that you have colorful matching gloves, Christine. I sounds very chic indeed!
What a fun and interesting post, Nicola!
Growing up in the fifties and sixties we wore gloves for formal occasions like going into NYC, white cotton ones in the spring and summer and brown or black leather the rest of the year. I never liked wearing them and the only time i wear gloves now is when it is cold in the winter.(usually mittens to keep my hands warm)
I do like the image of slapping a face with a glove to show displeasure(women did that sometimes) or challenge to a duel. And throwing down the gauntlet is very dramatic.
I still thrill to the scene in the movie Ivanhoe when he throws down the gauntlet in Rebecca’s trial. Can,t get more dramatic than that!
I’m so glad you liked it, Jane. Like you, I do enjoy an good throwing down the gauntlet scene, like the one in Ivanhoe! I remember one from the Cadfael series, and an trying to think of some other favourites.
Thank you for such an interesting post 💗
Thank you, I’m glad you liked it!
I do remember during my childhood, my mother always had gloves and a hat to go with her outfits when we went to New York City. Going to “the City” was a dress-up occasion. I also had gloves to go with my dress-up outfits. Not like now when people will walk the streets in their slippers and pajama pants! I still have her old gloves. I especially love the raised seam ones, very stylish. I also have countless pairs of gardening gloves and winter gloves.
In upstate New York there is a town called Gloversville, which was once the center of the U.S. glove industry, According to Wikipedia, from 1890 to 1950, 90% of all gloves sold in the United States were made in Gloversville! Unfortunately, once the industry collapsed, the town became economically depressed.
Wow, I had not heard of Gloversville. I’ve just looked it up. I like that it was called Stump city before 1828!
Yes, the concept of the dress up outfit was very important in my mother’s day too, and for me as a child. Even now I joke that I can scrub up well if I try, although that doesn’t usually involve a hat and gloves!
When I was in high school, in the 1950s, we always had to wear hats and gloves on school outings. I can remember washing kid gloves—you put them on and washed them as if you were washing your hands. And after you took them off you blew into the fingers to shape them while they dried.
I did love my kid gloves. my hands looked so elegant in them!
I didn’t realise you could wash kid gloves, Lil. I’ve learned something new!