a short history of gloves in fashion, from tutankhamun to the met gala

gloves are one of the oldest accessories we have, and for most of their history they’ve meant far more than warm hands. they’ve signalled rank, carried scent, sealed courtships and completed outfits, and then, in a few short years in the 1960s, they almost disappeared. this is a short history of how gloves became fashion, why they fell out of it, and how they came back.

what are the oldest gloves?

perhaps the oldest known gloves are a linen pair found when tutankhamun’s tomb was excavated in 1922, dating to around 1341 to 1323 bc¹. they’re a reminder that gloves have been about more than practicality for a very long time.

when did gloves become fashionable in england?

by the middle ages glovemaking was an organised trade. the worshipful company of glovers of london made its first formal ordinances in 1349, which fixed the price of sheepskin gloves at a penny a pair and banned selling gloves by candlelight, because people could not tell whether they were of good or bad leather². the glovers merged with the pursers in 1498, joined the leathersellers in 1502, and won their own royal charter from charles i in 1638².

in tudor and stuart england gloves became precious objects. perfumed gloves were often given as presents and new year’s day gifts by aristocrats and courtiers: in 1576 the earl of oxford brought scented gloves back from italy and elizabeth i was pleased with their scent, and in 1603 she received twenty-three pairs at new year³. in the ditchley portrait of about 1592, now in the national portrait gallery, elizabeth carries a modest pair of gloves, which art uk suggests may draw attention to her lily-white hands⁴. even shakespeare grew up around gloves: his father john worked as a glover from the family house on henley street in stratford⁵.

what did gloves mean in the 1600s and 1700s?

status, mostly. in the early 1600s gauntlet gloves, with flared cuffs, were often heavily decorated with metal and silk thread; gloves were worn, or displayed on a hat or belt, and given as gifts between wealthy families, and shaking hands while wearing one was taboo¹. around 1700 embroidered gloves reached the elbow for women¹. portraits used gloves as a language: in pompeo batoni’s 1773 portrait of john smyth one glove is worn and the other held, a convention art uk says has several explanations, that the gloves were not for work, that a ring could be shown off, or that a bare hand could be offered as a mark of respect⁴.

how were gloves worn in the 1800s?

by men and women of fashion. gloves stayed highly fashionable for men and women well into the nineteenth century, and leeds museums and galleries suggests they were one of only a few gifts a man could give a woman who was not yet his wife¹. eugène delacroix’s portrait of louis-auguste schwiter, painted between 1826 and 1830 and now in the national gallery, shows its sitter in the dandyish style of the day, smooth leather gloves included⁴. over-the-elbow evening gloves were first widely fashionable in the regency period, and their greatest vogue ran from the 1880s to the first world war⁶, when evening gloves reached the upper arm¹.

when were gloves an essential part of an outfit?

for much of the twentieth century. between 1900 and 1930 women typically wore gloves outdoors by day, and in 1932 an article declared that “nothing finishes a costume so completely as gloves”⁷. during the second world war leather and silk went to the war effort, and women made do with pre-war leather gloves or practical cotton⁷. from the late 1940s to the late 1950s gloves helped complete a haute couture wardrobe, with designers such as christian dior dressing clients head to toe, gloves included⁷. the long glove became a screen icon too, on rita hayworth in gilda (1946) and marilyn monroe in gentlemen prefer blondes (1953)⁶.

who made gloves?

yeovil’s virtual museum keeps a glossary of the town’s gloving trade: table cutting, a hand-cutting method for a perfect fit to a given hand size, the outworkers, usually women and children, who sewed gloves at home, and the wooden stand called a donkey that held gloves for sewing⁸.

why did gloves go out of fashion?

the 1960s. by the middle of the decade gloves were worn only on very rare occasions, as the “youthquake” put individual expression ahead of sartorial propriety, and in 1969 the new york times observed that gloves were “threatening to become as extinct as hats, at least with young women”⁷. leeds museums and galleries puts it down to the counterculture, as young people rejected their parents’ style¹. from then on gloves were mostly seen as hand-warmers rather than a finishing touch⁷.

when did gloves come back?

in stages. long gloves had a haute couture revival in the late 2000s⁶. in february 2023 the princess of wales wore sleek black shoulder-length gloves with an alexander mcqueen gown at the baftas⁹, and by 2026 they were back in force: luxury london called opera gloves the accessories story of autumn/winter 2026¹⁰, and anne hathaway wore opera-length valentino gloves at the oscars¹¹. our pieces on glove trends for winter 2026 and celebrities in gloves pick up the story.

what does the history mean for wearing gloves now?

mostly that there are few rules left to break. the old etiquette, long gloves only at night and never a ring on top, has largely gone, and what remains is the reason gloves were loved in the first place: they draw attention to your hands and finish an outfit. wutong’s gloves come from that idea, in sheepskin nappa, suede and calf hair, with fringe, checks, stripes, spots and python print.