what pepys bought his valentine

by the middle of february, gloves are at their most tired. they have been through six weeks of january, a few sleety mornings and at least one evening face down on a pub floor. the leather at the fingertips has gone shiny, a seam has opened at the thumb, and the woman wearing them has long since stopped noticing. it is still bitterly cold, and spring is a rumour.

which is exactly why leather gloves as a valentine’s gift are such a clever choice. they arrive when they are needed most, in what is often one of the coldest stretches of the british year. they are worn against the skin, every day, for the rest of the winter. and they carry a romantic tradition that is far older and more charming than a dozen red roses. the same logic applies to any birthday that falls between november and march, when a gift that is both beautiful and immediately useful is rarer than it should be.

an elizabethan custom

gloves were not always a woman’s accessory. as mark strauss writes in smithsonian magazine¹, before the elizabethan era gloves were worn almost exclusively by men. by the late 1500s that had changed, and gloves had become a customary valentine’s gift for women. a woman could ask a suitor for a pair to wear at easter; if she wore them on easter sunday, she was signalling that his attentions were welcome.

what is lovely about the custom is its patience. the gift was given in february and its answer came weeks later, in public, on her hands.

a century on, samuel pepys was still observing the season with gloves. on 18 february 1661 he went to the exchange with his wife and “mrs. martha batten, my valentine”, and, he records, “upon a payre of embroydered and six payre of plain white gloves i laid out 40s. upon her” (the diary of samuel pepys²). seven pairs is perhaps excessive. the instinct was right.

why gloves suit february so well

valentine’s day has a cliché problem. red roses, heart-shaped boxes and a restaurant with a set menu and too many candles can make even sincere feeling look generic. gloves sidestep all of it. their romance lies in the object itself, something that holds her hand when you cannot.

they also have a much longer life than the usual valentine’s present. flowers last a week. chocolates last an evening. a pair of fine leather gloves is worn on the walk to work tomorrow, on the cold platform in early march, and again next november, when the gift returns from the drawer and brings its story with it.

leather gloves as a valentine’s gift, or a birthday one

the occasion should shape the choice a little. a new relationship calls for restraint: black or a soft neutral, beautifully made, with one refined detail. a long relationship can carry more personality, such as a colour she loves or a more sculptural style. a winter birthday deserves a sense of celebration. winter birthdays often fall in the flat weeks after christmas, when everyone is tired and frugal, and a pair of gloves with real presence, such as a long cuff, a saturated colour or a fringe that moves at the wrist, turns an overlooked date into an occasion. wutong’s black fringed leather gloves were made for that kind of giving: discreet in colour, theatrical in motion.

for a mother or sister with a january or february birthday, choose a classic colour in exceptionally good leather, perhaps with a cashmere scarf in a related tone.

a note on red

red is the obvious valentine’s colour, and red leather gloves have a devoted following. if she already wears red, they can be a joyous choice. if she does not, deeper tones such as burgundy, oxblood or plum carry the same warmth with less insistence, and they sit more easily against camel, grey and navy coats. black remains the most romantic colour of all on a cold night, especially when the glove itself does something interesting.

choosing a pair she will wear past february

start with her coat, because that is what the gloves will be seen against every day. dark leather looks crisp against wool tailoring; a rich colour comes alive against camel, charcoal and navy.

then think about how she lives. if she cycles, a snug glove that stops at the wrist is the practical choice. if she walks to work, a slightly longer cuff tucks into the sleeve and stops the wind finding the gap. if she is forever on her phone, she may appreciate a slim, close-fitting glove that does not get in the way when she slips it off.

choose one detail and let it lead. a fringe, a braid, a contrast stitch, an unusual colour: any one of these makes a pair feel chosen. several at once make them compete with her coat.

for size, borrow a pair she already wears and check the label, or ask someone close to her. between two sizes, choose the snugger, as good leather eases a little with wear.

giving them on the day

give them in the morning, so she can wear them out. lay them flat in a shallow box with plain tissue and a hand-tied ribbon, and make a plan that uses them: a walk along the river, a gallery and a long lunch, a train somewhere cold. then write a single line on the card. “gloves were the elizabethan valentine’s gift. wear them at easter if the answer is yes.” she will either laugh or keep the card for ever, and quite possibly both.

wutong makes high-end leather gloves in colour and in black, including its signature black fringed pair, and february is as good a month to give them as december.