For women, they are one of the most seductive tools available. 19th century French novelist Honoré de Balzac wrote, “There are no little events with the heart. It magnifies everything; it places in the same scale the fall of an empire and the dropping of a woman's glove, and almost always the glove weighs more than the empire.” A woman wanting to attract the attention of a suitor would drop a glove ‘by accident’ when passing him, and his efforts to pick up the glove would be a perfect opportunity for her to engage his eyes or for him to strike up a conversation. The glove lying on the ground was the wordless expression of “Come hither, young man…”
Yet gloves also served as a central focus for social etiquette across various times throughout history, particularly related to the exact and polite moment of their removal. Should a lady remove her gloves when giving her hand to a man she first meets, on the street or on the dance floor? Certainly, gloves are never to be pulled off by the teeth – unless one is performing in a burlesque show, that is.
Traditionally, glove boutiques and perfume boutiques were one and the same. Former limits in leather tannery chemical treatments entailed that there was a subtle odour to leather gloves, hence the necessity of perfume to cover the smell. The perfume industry, however, branched off and expanded, to the say the very least. Still, in some more traditional shops in Paris and Italy, where there is perfume for sale, there are also gloves, as a nod to tradition.
In modern times, gloves are rarely a part of everyday attire, except for practical reasons in colder climates. For those who are fashion conscious, gloves are a detail that sets them apart. Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld has renewed the stature of the fingerless glove – for those who actually have to perform tasks with their covered hands – and, of late, traditional glove manufacturers such as the French Causse and Maison Fabre have collaborated with designers in the creation of dynamic designs for fashion play.
An accessory above par, gloves are more than just an extraneous detail, they are a social reference.
