How to Wear Gloves Properly

 

“During her early years as an etiquette writer, the late Emily Post advised women to put their gloves on before they stepped out of their homes. She later conceded that there were times when gloves were not necessary. Today, the rules are greatly relaxed, but gloves should be worn when going to a formal luncheon, dinner, reception or dance. They are de rigueur on the streets of large towns and cities. They should be worn to and from church.”—1962

Wardrobe Of Gloves Suggested

ALTHOUGH wildly colored or printed gloves crop up periodically in fashion, authorities on etiquette agree that they are rarely correct. The arbiters favor classic gloves in subdued shades. They wince when they are confronted with what one of them calls “weird” materials such as silver or gold lame, fancy embroidery, or costumes in which the hat, handbag, shoes and gloves are of a matching color. 

Gloves, these arbiters maintain, are part of the background. They should not be a focal point. As a result, a good glove wardrobe for street and evening wear often is organized around neutral colors — beige, gray, black, white, navy and brown.

During her early years as an etiquette writer, the late Emily Post advised women to put their gloves on before they stepped out of their homes. She later conceded that there were times when gloves were not necessary. Today, the rules are greatly relaxed, but gloves should be worn when going to a formal luncheon, dinner, reception or dance. They are de rigueur on the streets of large towns and cities. They should be worn to and from church.

Short Gloves Removed

Generally, gloves should be removed before a woman smokes, eats, drinks, puts on make-up or handles merchandise in a shop. Long, elbow-length gloves, often worn to formal dinners and dances, are treated differently. They may be left on for dancing, or unbuttoned at the wrist and the finger-ends tucked into the wrist opening, whenever a woman smokes or drinks. They should always be completely removed when a woman sits down to dinner.


Gloves are worn when a woman shakes hands, either as the hostess, or guests in the receiving line at a formal reception. It is suitable to wear bracelets over long gloves, but rings should be worn under, never over, any kind of gloves. Gloves are made in a variety of lengths. Two-button gloves are wrist length. Four-button are bracelet length. Eight-button come to the elbow. The longest gloves, worn with evening gowns, come within an inch or two of the shoulder.


Shorter lengths usually are worn with longer sleeves and vice versa. Very short gloves, which are young looking, are sometimes worn with sleeveless dresses in the summertime. Elbow-length gloves are often worn crushed, not full length, to fill the space between the hand and a longer sleeve. 

Color consultants favor gloves in a shade that is paler or darker than the clothes it with which they are to be worn. White gloves are the late-day gloves, except in some warm climates and in some cities in the summer. Black kid gloves start in the morning and go all the way through the evening. A general rule one fashion advisor advocates is polished leather gloves– kid or glacé– with tweeds, mohairs and lusterless fabrics. — The New York Times, 1962

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