About gloves

Until the 1960s, gloves were a requisite part of a woman’s wardrobe, worn in matching colours with one’s dress.  The place to go was Meyer’s Glove Shop, Imperial Arcade Sydney, a small traditional store which stocked every kind and colour of glove you might fantasise about. Or a good department store, such David Jones or Mark Foys.

Gloves suffered the same fate as hats and suspender belts around that time - they were jettisoned by Australian women, and indeed women all around the western world. Though suspenders never lose their appeal as a niche garment, or for dress-ups, they are not regarded as standard underwear any more. Hats are considered for special occasions. Gloves are not considered a necessity by the majority of women today.

The flight from formalism in dress was a profound social change in the 1960s, but in the process of rejecting the stuffy, strictly controlled dress code of the time, the important role of gloves as an accessory garment became largely forgotten.

I first started buying gloves in different colours from Mr Meyer in the late 1970s. There had been enough years of dress code deconstruction, and now the 80s was about to break with the advent of new romanticism. Dressing up in leather, lace, fluffy mohair, retro, in pastels and brights,  was what I was doing. I had two favourite pairs of gloves, a turquoise blue suede pair and a musk stick pink pair too. 

They were an investment at the time, certainly not cheap. I learned to gently wash them in a special glove shampoo and dry them flat on a dry towel. Coloured suede gloves are definitely not low maintenance.

All the years since then I have continuously had a glove collection, including a range of winter leather gloves, opera and elbow length gloves,  cotton, stretch, beaded and lace ones too. I used to wear them from the start of winter, but these days I start protecting my hands as soon as April, with some cotton or other light gloves. 

I get cold hands in winter and risk getting chilblains if I don’t keep my hands at an even temperature. 

Last Friday I was with KG for a night on the town, staying at the Hilton Hotel. The night at the Hilton was courtesy of winning a competition at my gym, Living Well Sydney. 

What to wear on a wet Friday afternoon to go into town? Old Chloe jeans, chiffon Collette Dinnigan blouse, beige Ferragamo pumps, a black leather jacket and some bling. Underneath, one of my favourite brassieres, Aubade French embroidered chiffon - absolutely gorgeous to wear! I was also not going to go out without a light pair of gloves.

I chose a lovely light pink crochet pair, just the right weight for the season.

Ladies please note

Ladies please note, gloves really do protect your hands from extremes of temperature and this in turns means they are less likely to be dry or have shaggy torn cuticles in winter.

If on a strict budget, a simple polyester glove can also save the day, and you can customise them by adding button trims or beading. It's better than nothing!