Gilded Age Etiquette of Gloves and Fans

Etiquipedia has not found any other resource stating that women wore gloves when “taking tea” but it is possible the authors actually meant a literal definition of ‘taking the tea,’ and that the gloves were removed prior to ‘drinking’ said tea. Then again, the author may not take into consideration that history was littered with people exhibiting bad manners, just as they do today. This is just one example... Why bother removing one’s gloves for dinner, when one can just unbutton them at the wrists, tuck the ‘fingers’ under, and shove them back as the blithely unthinking character Michelle Pfeiffer played in the film, ‘Age of Innocence’ did? Plenty of women were said to have ignored the etiquette of the day, and used this method to get to their food more quickly at social events and suppers. It remains tacky, gauche and totally incorrect!

Women wore long, over-the-elbow gloves, for dinners. These were taken off at the dinner table and kept in one's lap while one ate. It was not easy taking off a tight fitting set of gloves and keeping them on one's lap when wearing a slick silk dress. 

Etiquette books warned against leaving the gloves on, and just folding back the portion that covered the hand. So this must have been a common expediency. 

A common sight at the end of dinner, when the women were ready to withdraw, was men down on their hands and knees picking up the gloves and fans that had fallen to the floor during the dinner.

When one took tea, one wore gloves, but one took off gloves to eat at that same tea. Women put on gloves to shake hands while men would remove their right glove to perform this honor.  A hostess would never wear gloves. — From Forgotten Elegance, 2001

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia