We all know Gloves have been around since the antiquity. Even the famous Homer’s The Odyssey mentioned the use of gloves when Laertes wore them to avoid the brambles in his garden. In the History of Herodotus from 440BC, the story tells us how Leotychides was incriminated by a gauntlet full of silver pieces that he had received as a bribe. The list goes on, and the use of gloves is widely documented, dating back to the dawn of mankind.
If we talk about medieval history, uses of a glove were in chain-mail armor worn by soldiers and knights during the medieval ages. The gauntlets were a significant piece in any combat arsenal and were used to assist in defensive maneuvers against sharp and blunt instruments such as swords.
However, with the decline of archaic weaponry and the advent of firearms, the chances a soldier would have to fight sword-to-sword were becoming increasingly rare as time progressed, therefore leaving the metal gauntlets as showpieces on statues of knights as well as on the knights themselves.
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History After the 1000 Year
Also, members of royalty began to embroider the gloves with jewels and their crests. It is said that King Henry II was buried in 1189 wearing his coronation robe, a crown and his gloves on his hands. King John and King Edward I were also buried in a similar fashion.
Drawing off the support of kings and other nobles, the pope, bishops, and cardinals began to wear gloves called Pontifical gloves during the celebration of mass. Liturgical ornaments continued to be worn and protected the hands of their wearers for what was believed to be cleanliness well into the first half of the eleventh century.
Then, by the mid-thirteenth century, gloves became a fashion statement for women and therefore became highly ornamental. Made of silk or fine linen, they were forearm length, sometimes reaching and mildly covering the elbow. Initially believed to impart some modesty by covering her up, men took notice and felt they were being used for vain purposes and laws were enacted in the hopes of ceasing this so-called vain behavior.
In the sixteenth century, the gloves reached the pinnacle of popularity when Queen Elizabeth I began wearing ornate and embroidered gloves in front of guests and then proceeding to remove them to showcase her feminine hands.
One other reason and method for wearing such gloves was that they could easily be aromatized using perfume, which assisted in enhancing the smell of those who didn’t bathe on a regular basis. This was the norm in the sixteenth century as daily showering or bathing only became popular in recent times.
In the 1700’s, as short sleeves came about, women began to adopt long gloves again, although this time it was deemed acceptable. By the latter part of the 1800’s, men and women were now proudly wearing buttoned silk and velvet gloves with evening attire and suede gloves during the day. This continued to progress, and even today, men and women around the world will often wear elegant white or cream colored formal gloves to black tie and white tie affairs.
It wasn’t long after that when men began adopting gloves for new purposes. With steering wheels being made of wood, they created driving gloves to protect their hands from splinters. With sports, came the advent of protective wear, and when latex was developed in Australia, workers in various professions such as construction began wearing gloves to protect their hands while at work.
Gloves, whether noticed or not, have become an accessory and tool that most people at once point or another wear and we at PeccaryLeather.com have a vast variety for you. Check out the
Cielo gloves for women or the
Pomabamba gloves for men.
