A Modern Day Glove Revival
By Ashley Wong
Web design by Hugh Ferguson
Gloves In Pop Culture
In recent years, gloves have resurged as a popular red carpet accessory. Singer and actress Ariana Grande famously donned them at the 2020 Grammys just before the lockdown; she wore a Giambattista Valli silver-gray tulle gown with matching long, silky evening gloves. This classic pairing of evening gloves and gown garnered a lot of attention, leaving fashion lovers reminiscing on elegant formal events.
Photo credits of Amy Sussman / Getty Images
Next to famously wear gloves in late 2020 was singer-songwriter Harry Styles. Despite the warm weather of the Amalfi coast, Styles rocked gloves while filming his “Golden” music video. In the video, he paired white Gucci crochet driving gloves with a powder blue Gucci jacket. Wearing these delicate gloves, Styles pivoted the glove trend by taking a more casual approach to the dressy accessory.
This past summer, Gen-Z singer and trendsetter Olivia Rodrigo mixed evening gloves with casual wear in her “Good 4 U” music video. She juxtaposed edgy long, black leather Vex opera gloves with Mandy Moore’s baby blue high school cheer uniform from “The Princess Diaries” movie. This set off a massive rise in opera gloves in Gen-Z fashion, and has quickly become one of the hottest accessories for this Fall season. Rodrigo almost single-handedly transformed this high fashion accessory into trendy street wear, making them a staple across many young peoples’ wardrobes.
Photo credits of Harry Styles
Photo credits of Olivia Rodrigo
A Brief History
Although beautiful, these trendy gloves are not necessarily functional, so it may be perplexing why they have been intermittently popular throughout the past century. Gloves are no longer for sanitary purposes, nor are they to brace the cold weather. Rather, they serve to exude ultra-high fashion from the wearer. Here’s how gloves became a statement of fashion and wealth.
Photo credits of Vintage Dancer
1900 - 1910s
Gloves were worn by high society and middle-class women both casually and for formal occasions, as noted by Vintage Dancer. Silk, suede, or leather fitted casual gloves usually went up to the forearms, while formal evening gloves went up to a women’s mid-bicep. Another popular style at this time were gauntlet gloves—gloves with a folded-over cuff at the wrist.
Photo credits of Downton Abbey
1920s
The roaring 20s slowed down the use of regularly worn gloves; however, fashionable women still sported dainty lace or light cotton flapper gloves for formal daytime occasions. Later in the 1920s, with the Art Deco push, gloves became more expansive and intricate in their designs, as detailed by Wardrobe Shop.
Photo credits of Vintage Dancer
1940s
According to Wardrobe Shop, this WWII era made gloves a luxury item that only the wealthy could afford. Wealthy women continued to wear elbow-length gloves during the day and would scrunch them up for an effortless rushed look. At this time, wealthy women also famously started pairing evening gowns with long white evening gloves. With lower-class women entering the workforce, gloves were not only too expensive but became too impractical to wear—essentially, this meant gloves were (once again) reserved for high fashion.
Photo credits of Vogue Magazine
1950s
With the war over, women’s fashion became a center focus in society again. This, of course, included an emphasis on gloves! The ever-so fashionable Jackie Kenedy was known to sport formal mid fore-arm gloves on occasion, as noted by Vintage Dancer.
Photo credits of Vintage Dancer
1960s
In the ‘60s, gloves continued a light comeback to fashion, but with more attitude. According to Vintage Dancer, gloves were often synthetic and typically vibrant in color to match women’s dresses when they wanted to make a statement.
Photo credits of Parade
1980s
A new trend in gloves was arising, and it wasn’t just for formal wear. According to Dents, trendy, fingerless gloves were made popular by edgy celebrities like Billy Idol and Madonna. Here, Madonna is wearing a black lace shirt with matching black lace fingerless gloves.
Photo credits of Cosmopolitan
2000s - 2010s
In the late 2000s-2010s, gloves were mostly worn for warmth and practicality. However, seemingly defying this utilitarian approach was the re-entrance of fingerless gloves, as pointed out by Fashion in Time. Although not great for warmth, fingerless gloves did have a level of practicality when it came to having full dexterity for texting. While different styles of gloves became popular across different sectors of the media, for the most part, elegant gloves were still reserved for rare, formal occasions.
Today
Today, we are once again starting to see a rise in above-the-elbow gloves. The biggest draw to the revival of these beautiful long gloves is the possibility of elegance—think Audrey Hepburn. A desire for that aura of class and old money that comes from evening gloves could signify a modern day desire for older and simpler times (or just a resurgence of past trend cycles). Based on the history of gloves, this trend seems to circle back every few decades. With a year and half lost on comfy clothes and tie dye sweat suits, people are bursting at the seams to feel fancy and elegant again. Adding fancy gloves to “going-out” outfits is one way that many women today are trying to fulfill that goal.
However, gloves aren’t confined to one sector of fashion nowadays. All types of gloves seem to be coming back in full swing. Just look at Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, and Olivia Rodrigo all sporting different styles, equally as fashionably. From fingerless fishnet gloves thriving in the “alt” community to the edgy leather gloves for city girls, there’s an opportunity for everyone to try out gloves this season that suits their personal look.
