Antiquated Traditions We Must Resuscitate: Gloves
Opera Gloves
12 February 2023, San Diego, California, USA
Glove Week has been wonderful, it has been a catalyst to learn more about a seemingly mundane accessory and it is such a hoot to work gloves into one’s daily look. Glove Week has also reminded me that removing leather gloves is a sensation of which I never tire. Feels like pulling your hand out of a jar of Nivea Creme1. Also instantly helps me to feel elegant and poised.
Despite all the Glove Week treats, I am tired. It was supposed to be a very restful weekend filled with my playing polo, enjoying Wemple (husband) and cat (bff) Jasper, yet a professional emergency hits and bing, bang, boom you blink and your eyes are burning from 5+ blue light hours on a Saturday evening. *Lauren,
is no place for work, only levity!!* While up late working on Saturday evening I was calling on every tool in my tool shed to manage the bubbling stress, when finally I fell into an exhausted sleep.I awoke the next day feeling rested and spry enough to take on the world. After a quick morning stretch and chat with Jasper, I trotted over to my computer to edit this article and flicked on a movie in the background: Elizabethtown2. As the movie start started with Orlando Bloom’s adorable visage in a classic early 2000s loose fitting Armani suit, I was hooked. So hooked I stayed in my pajamas until 10am and kept forgetting to change the laundry over in the next room. Why is Elizabethtown not on everyone’s greatest hits list? While it is a chiefly sad plot with family, life/death and love at its core it is a crisp depiction of The Human Experience3, and to do that - to achieve a flick that is Wes Anderson meets Napoleon Dynamite with Bloom and Kirtsen Dunst leading us through a commentary on life - that deserves a little appreciation. Thank you, Elizabethtown, you helped me feel prepared for the coming week and seen, like all humans crave.
Check out this 2005 movie poster for Elizabethtown, it’s so nostalgic and the collage makes you want to scrapbook and call you bff on a landline
Elizabethtown reminded me of how I enjoy curating and writing
, it is the duality of achieving escapism while enjoying an activity that always ends in self-discovery - for me, this is the embodiment of productivity.ÂPost Elizabethtown, I immersed myself in Part III of Glove Week: Antiquated Trends We Must Resuscitate. Opera gloves.
I am effectively a psychic, as opera gloves never really went, they are, perhaps, the one form of glove that has hung on through the centuries like a bee clinging for life on your windshield as you rev to 75 mph on the freeway ramp - you forget about it but somehow when you exit 5 exits later those yellow and black stripes are still kicking.
When it comes to my glove collection, there are two viable options through which I will acquire opera gloves, or really gloves in general: The first, vintage. I am a fiend for vintage accessories and apparel, and because gloves are an accessory of bygone eras vintage ladies had better glove options than we do. The next, Cornelia James. I referenced this storied glove maker a few articles prior to today’s, as I wore a pair of Cornelia James Opera Gloves at my rehearsal dinner the day prior to getting married in December 2021. We’ll tuck into Cornelia James more soon *insert that emoji with the two large eyes*.
Before partaking in the deliciousness that is styling opera or evening gloves, a brief history:
It’s the 17th century and evening gloves have come to be worn by ladies to distinguish their wealth and social rank - still rings true about fashion, huh?Â
Opera gloves fall within the Family: evening gloves. This particular Family is made up of a species of gloves crafted for formal and semi-formal wear and distinguishable as gloves extending beyond the mid-forearm reaching up to the shoulder, with gloves extending beyond the elbow referred to as opera gloves. The evening glove being referred to as the ‘opera’ glove began after the 1600s when ladies of the middle and upper classes were increasingly expected to wear gloves, basically at all times while out of the house and in company. Through these evolving social times, formalities around dress became closely adhered to and during Victoria times strict social etiquette, including what was appropriate to wear to certain events or activities, ruled supreme. During this time, evening gloves became a necessity of attending, for example, the opera and as longer evening gloves would reach past a female’s elbow, they allowed for more revealing dress-wear, short sleeves and lower necklines, BUT your arms were covered so basically, like fractions that cancel one another out, you could don a sexier gown and still be in possession of your honor.
For Victorian women the mousquetaire4 glove was number one, long beyond the elbow typically crafted of silk or kidskin with buttons at the wrist which allow for the wearer to free her hand without completely removing her glove. Genius and moral thinking by our Victorian brothers and sisters.Â
Opera and evening gloves were well sighted across the Regency, Napoleonic, Victorian (NY’s Gilded Age) and Edwardian eras as well as in post-war Britain - they are an oft-donned accessory in Regency romance novels, film and television (@Bridgerton fans) as well as across art history from Tudor times onward.
For your enjoyment and the omen you needed to introduce opera gloves into your life, I have rounded up three visual art pieces that depict opera gloves or allude to the history behind them. I’ve also styled three pairs of evening gloves from my glove collection inspired by each.
Empress Josephine, Portrait
Up first, Empress Josephine, a portrait of the Empress in her Coronation ‘fit by François Gérard, 1807/1808.
Empress Josephine was a great proponent of glove wear during the Regency era. Her husband, the Emperor Napoleon, too, was obsessed with gloves, for himself and on ladies at court. In a year Josephine was said to have purchased over 900 dresses and 1,000 pairs of gloves. Lol and the French threw out Marie Antoinette for her over abundance?
From
, a bridal look featuring Cornelia James opera gloves, specifically Hermione, in duchess satin paired with a white taffeta and crystal embellished mini dress by Self-Portrait, topped off with a pair of Manolo Blahnik silk sling backs - oh and I’m wearing Sapphire and Emerald earrings from my wedding reception. She was an Empress after all.
Helen Williams, Photo
Next, Helen Williams, the glass ceiling shattering first black supermodel whose glorious countenance was seen across magazines, advertisements, photographs and in the work of couturier, Christian Dior. Williams broke barriers in the world of fashion and modeling from 1950 - 1970, and resides in New Jersey today.
I was inspired by both of these photographs. The first of Williams on the cover of Ebony Magazine in January of 1959 and the next, a vintage advert from Modess, a company that made a variety of feminine products5 - they really classed up their product line. Each photograph depicts a woman confident, relaxed and inviting you to enter the frame. Get it, Helen.
From , I give you: Ode to Helen.Â
Me, having the time of my life and inspired by Helen, sporting a pair of crystal, pale pink silk Manolo Blahnik sandals, a vintage silk tea dress, stacked pearl chokers with matching studs, and vintage kidskin gloves with floral embroidery. Betty Draper6, eat your heart out.
Madame X, Painting
Finally, Madame X by John Singer Sargent. She looks like she has just walked back into her foyer after an evening out, pulled off her opera gloves, and asked her Carson7 for a glass of something. Madame has secrets and a fabulous profile.
In 2019 at No Shop in San Francisco, California I acquired a black velvet vintage gown. Scroll to behold this acquisition. She reminds me of Madame each time I wear it. Her subtle sensuality and sheer pleats help me to feel like an heiress at a cards party in New York in the 1920s who has just slipped away from her chaperone. To emulate Madame, I paired this gown with a Judith Leiber evening bag and ostrich feather jacket. Chef’s kiss*
Next time, we will connect over Meet the Expert: Glove Week.
In Meet the Expert I sit down with an expert glove maker and will share their story, craft and additional glove styling inspiration.
Until then - Cheers,
LLW
p.s. Yes. Yes, I was having this Glove Week photo shoot instead of watching the Super Bowl.
My mother conditioned me to always have Nivea Creme in my purse, in my vanity, in my carry on..the best
A 2005 film starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon tap dances and it made me cry, just watch it
Our motto at Imperfects
Pair of opera gloves with buttons at the back of the wrist, strange name - but I have a pair and the button bit is fabulous you really can slip your hand out
Only in the 1950s would a model for a feminine product company be wearing couture
From Mad Men the 2007 hit drama series, Betty Draper is the main character’s (Jon Hamm) wife and later ex-wife. Played by January Jones, she’s a regulation hottie
Butler in Downton Abbey, a total G, if you have a Carson and he likes you it is equivalent to Having Washington on your side if you’re Alexander Hamilton
Reading Reference list:
https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/opera-gloves-2022-red-carpet-trend
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/opera-gloves-trend-shop
https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/the-history-of-the-opera-dress-code/#:~:text=Opera%20gloves&text=Wearing%20gloves%20was%20considered%20a,wedding%20dress%20or%20prom%20gown.
https://www.corneliajames.com/en-us/blogs/journal/why-do-people-wear-evening-gloves-a-brief-history
https://artuk.org/discover/stories/glamour-of-the-glove-a-brief-art-history
https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/napoleon/facts-and-figures/did-you-know.html