Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Glove/Glove length

LaMedicine

One Too Many
I just saw something elsewhere that bothered me a bit, so, I'm posting here.
If anyone knows, and I'm in the wrong, please correct me.

Gloves were an essential part of women's outfits up to at least the '50s, probably to the early '60s.
However, there were some pretty firm rules about what type of material, and also lengths that could be worn with which clothes.
The length of the gloves were governed by the length of the sleeves, or the lack of.
With day clothes and long to seventh-sleeve length jackets and dresses, wrist length gloves.
Half to short sleeves, either wrist length or halfway up your forearm.
With cocktail dresses with short sleeves, gloves that ended an inch or two below your elbows.
Elbow/above elbow length were for sleeveless/strapless evening dresses, sometimes cocktail dresses.

This was what I was taught from my mother.
Anyone know anything?
 

decodoll

Practically Family
Messages
816
Location
Saint Louis, MO
This is from the etiquette section on a website devoted to opera gloves:

The basic rule as to length of gloves may be defined as follows: the shorter the sleeve, the longer the glove. Opera gloves are, therefore, properly worn with sleeveless or short-sleeved dresses or strapless, sleeveless (with straps) or short-sleeved evening gowns.

alexissmith.jpg


gingerrogers.jpg


ingridbergman.jpg


lindadarnell.jpg
 

fuzzylizzie

One of the Regulars
Messages
172
Location
Beautiful WNC
Just to add that shortie gloves could be worn with long , wrist-length sleeves, but not 3/4 length sleeves. That length sleeve needed a longer glove so that the arm was completely covered. With a suit jacket, the gloves were worn under the sleeves. Gauntlets were best worn with completely long sleeves, over the top of the sleeves.

Little girls always wore shorties. I never really progressed past them, because by the time I was a teenager (1968) gloves were pretty much passe'.

Lizzie
 

LaMedicine

One Too Many
Thank You All

Thank you all, ladies, for your promt reply.
And, I hope you'll forgive my tardiness in giving you my thanks, I was swamped by work this week--unfortunately, as I usually am...

Decodoll, what lovely pictures!! Thank you for putting them up :cool:

The links are all fine references, too.
But, gloves smaller than your actual hand size? Ooh, in a way, it sounds rather gross. :rolleyes: It made me think of the bound feet that Chinese women fom respectable families had in the long gone days...Well, I do remember reading somewhere about trying to put on white kid gloves so tight one needed a couple of lady's maids to help pull them on...

I remember there were a couple of buttons on the wrist of the opera gloves I wore for my high school prom, but come to think of it, haven't seen anything of the kind for ages, now.

Now that Fall is in full force, and Winter is coming on, I'm going to go glove hunting, nothing like a lovely hat and a great pair of gloves to complete a lovely outfit ;)

Thank you all, again.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
109,150
Messages
3,075,157
Members
54,124
Latest member
usedxPielt
Top