Gloves
I have fallen in love this winter – with leather gloves. As a cyclist, of course I use gloves throughout the cold months, but so far it used to be woollen mittens mostly, with only one pair of too-large leather gloves in a garish red. This year I have discovered leather gloves that fit, and that are beautiful.
It all started during in sales in January. I happened across a pair of gloves, much reduced in price, which I knew would fit perfectly with the dark teal coat I had gotten in autumn. Teal is not easy to match, so I just went and bought them on an impulse. Since then I have gotten into the habit of wearing them, and my, aren’t they lovely!
Then I remembered I had a forgotten cache of gloves. When my grandmother died eight years ago, and we cleaned out her apartment, I found several pairs of fine leather gloves in a drawer. I tried them on, they fit, and I thought it would be a pity to throw them out. So they spent the last few years in my wardrobe, and have recently seen the light again. My grandmother, being an elderly lady, preferred conservative colors: brown, black, dark blue, and dark red. New additions that I bought are in teal, plum, and purple.
Here is why I love wearing gloves:
- They make every outfit smarter.
- They keep your fingers nice and warm – not as warm and woolly mittens do, not even if the leather gloves are lined with wool, but warm enough except on the coldest day.
- They keep your fingers clean – I am not obsessive about cleanliness, but when you take the underground or the bus, and know you will get something to eat from a street vendor in half-an-hour’s time, you will feel better with gloves.
- They are deliciously old-fashioned. 60 years ago, no lady would have dreamt of going out without gloves. Now, I am not usually nostalgic of what women’s lives were in the past – I love wearing no corsets, and having my own bank account, among other things -, but sometimes it can be lovely to pick up a tiny idea from the past and integrate it into the present, and wearing gloves is a charming way of doing that.
Do you wear leather gloves? What do you like about them?
– Rike Horstmann
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Victoria S, your royal blue gloves sound ever so smart! I wear the teal ones I own with a red coat, and the plum-colored ones with a teal coat, so sometimes I go for contrast, too. But your post is encouraging me to go for even more striking colors!
Love leather gloves. When I’m not shoveling snow, or making snowmen, leather gloves are an ultra cool fashion accessory. I prefer funky colored gloves. My faves this year are a royal blue, 18″ pair of leather gloves I got at Chadwick’s last year on sale. They look super cute with my “dress” coat that is a tobacco brown wool. And I just bought a yellow wool pea coat, and with the blue gloves, it’s extra jazzy :-)
I also like to wear colored gloves with any coat. Try it, buy a pair of leather gloves in a color you would not normally buy, and wear them with ANY color coat or jacket you want. I’ll bet your winter is a lot brighter, warmer and shorter