the glove glossary: fourchettes, quirks, points and other words worth knowing

glovemaking has its own vocabulary, most of it centuries old and some of it wonderfully odd. you don’t need any of it to wear gloves well, but knowing a few words makes it much easier to judge a pair, read a product description, or understand why one glove fits better than another. here are the terms worth knowing, in plain english.

what is a trank?

the trank is the main piece of a glove: the palm, back and fingers¹. the dreamstress describes it as the back and front of the glove and the tops and bottoms of the fingers all cut in one, with only one side seam².

what are fourchettes on gloves?

fourchettes, from the french for “fork”, are the narrow strips between the fingers that hold the back and palm of the glove together, and most gloves have three³. each one forms the sides of two neighbouring fingers, and on a continuous-fourchette glove a single strip runs from the little finger across each fingertip to the next². they’re also called forks or forges³.

what are quirks?

quirks are small triangular or diamond-shaped pieces set at the base of the fingers, where they meet the palm, to give the fingers more room to move³. a seventeenth-century description calls them “the little square peeces at the bottom of the fingers”². with modern fabrics and supple leather the quirk is not much used³.

what are points on a glove?

points are the lines of stitching on the back of the hand. they were traditionally a way to give the hand more movement in a heavy leather glove³, and the dreamstress traces them to extensions of the finger pieces that helped shape the glove²; today they’re more a design detail than a necessity³.

what is a bolton thumb?

a bolton thumb is a more intricate thumb than the standard round one, incorporating a quirk for more movement and flexibility in leather or heavier fabric³; the thumb piece and its quirk are cut in one². the yeovil gloving glossary lists the english or bolton thumb alongside set-in, french and inserted keyhole thumbs¹.

what does button length mean?

button length is the traditional unit for measuring the arm of a glove. one button is about an inch, counted up the arm from where the thumb seam meets the wrist⁴. a wrist glove is one to three buttons, a bracelet glove five to eight, an elbow glove about twelve and an opera glove about sixteen⁴, and cornelia james notes that button lengths can climb as far as twenty-one inches, at the underarm³.

what is a mousquetaire glove?

a mousquetaire glove has a small opening of about three inches at the inner wrist, closed with small buttons or a bow, so you can slip your hand out and tuck it into the sleeve without taking the glove off³, which is how formal diners managed to eat while keeping long gloves on⁵.

what are long gloves called?

opera gloves or evening gloves, if they reach beyond the elbow, usually to the biceps⁶. gloves that stop at the elbow are elbow-length gloves. a gauntlet is something else again: a glove with a flared section at the wrist, which in the early 1600s was often heavily decorated with metal and silk thread⁷.

the a to z of glove words

why do these words matter?

because they tell you how a glove was thought about. a description that mentions fourchettes, quirks or a bolton thumb is telling you the maker cared about movement; a button length tells you exactly where a long glove will end; and knowing that nappa is a finish and suede a surface makes comparing pairs much easier. for how to use all this when buying, read our guide to women’s leather gloves.