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"A lady is known by her gloves and her shoes," Clarissa Dalloway famously declares in Mrs Dalloway. Indeed Virginia Woolf's opening chapter - as Clarissa searches for the perfect white gloves, "above the elbow", with pearl buttons - packs the punch of an emotional thriller.
Many of us mourn the loss of that age of elegance. The good news is gloves are this winter's must-have accessory. In freezing weather, gloves keep you warm. But more importantly it is said they stop the spread of germs.
The Victorians wore them obsessively to prevent typhoid infection. And with so many of us succumbing to the current flu epidemic in London, it won't do us any harm to return to a politer, more hygienic age.
Gloves have a long history in London. The Worshipful Company of Glovers has existed here since before 1349, though the wearing of them was largely functional back then. Only when Elizabeth I introduced them to fashionable society did the craze for gloves really take off. It lasted for the next 400 years, with styles ranging from bejewelled lace pairs to buttoned kid versions that stretched the full length of the arm.
In the Victorian era, they became very fitted and were considered an essential part of every woman's wardrobe. Shaking an ungloved hand was a definite no-no, only indulged in by the lower orders.
Today everyone from The Queen to Posh Spice is wearing them. On the Milan catwalks even the men were slinking around in semi-gauntlets. Chrisopher Bailey sent Burberry Prorsum models out in reptile skin gloves and gloves with extra long cuffs.
This winter you can't shop without picking up a pair - from leather gloves in M&S (a very reasonable £15) to woolly numbers from Gap.
If you've gone for the three-quarter coat-sleeve trend, you'll need longer gloves to keep your arms warm. Just look at the current Libery ad with a sexy model sporting above-the-elbow, python mits, a snip in the sale at £87.50, down from £160.
But then gloves have always been about seduction - Queen Elizabeth I loved taking them on and off to draw attention to her shapely hands. They were perfumed with scented oils and musk.
Popes and pontifs tried to keep them for themselves, but by the 13th-century gloves had begun to be worn by ladies as a fashion ornament. A guild of "bonnetiers" began producing less expensive designs in knit and wool.
This season's gloves don't have to be mumsy. How about some motorbike gauntlets to go with the biker boots trends? A riding glove brings out the equestrian in all of us. Or if you really want to create a stir go for Pucci's harlequin gloves with a faux-fur pompom at a stonking £195 - almost worth catching cold for.
Never mind the Lemsip this December. All of us need to mitten-up.
As Clarissa Dalloway declares: "A lady is known by her gloves and her shoes." Indeed, Virginia Woolf's opening chapter of Mrs Dalloway - where Clarissa searches for the perfect white gloves, "above the elbow", with pearl buttons - packs the punch of an emotional thriller.
Many of us mourn the loss of that age of elegance. The good news is that gloves are this winter's must-have accessory. In freezing weather, gloves keep you warm but, more importantly, it is said they stop the spread of germs.
The Victorians wore them obsessively to prevent typhoid infection. And with so many of us succumbing to the current flu epidemic it won't do us any harm to return to a politer, more hygienic age.
Gloves have a long history in London. The Worshipful Company of Glovers has existed here since before 1349, though the wearing of them was largely functional back then. Only when Elizabeth I introduced them to fashionable society did the craze for gloves really take off. It lasted for the next 400 years, with styles ranging from bejewelled lace to buttoned kid arm-length versions.
In the Victorian era they became very fitted and were considered an essential part of every woman's wardrobe. Shaking an ungloved hand was a definite no-no, only indulged in by the lower orders.
Today, everyone from the Queen to Posh Spice is wearing them. On the Milan catwalks even the men were slinking around in semi-gauntlets. Christopher Bailey sent Burberry Prorsum models out in reptile skin gloves and gloves with extra long cuffs. This winter you can't shop without picking up a pair - from leather gloves in M&S (a very reasonable £15) to woolly numbers from Gap.
If you've gone for the three-quarter coat-sleeve trend, you'll need longer gloves to keep your arms warm. Just look at the current Liberty ad with a sexy model sporting above-the-elbow, patterned mitts, a snip in the sale at £87.50, down from £160.
But then gloves have always been about seduction - Elizabeth I loved taking them on and off to draw attention to her shapely hands. They were perfumed with scented oils and musk.
Popes and pontiffs tried to keep them for themselves, but by the 13th century gloves had begun to be worn by ladies as a fashion ornament. A guild of "bonnetiers" began producing less expensive designs in knit and wool.
This season's gloves don't have to be mumsy. How about some motorbike gauntlets to go with the biker boots trend? A riding glove brings out the equestrian in all of us.
Or if you really want to create a stir go for Pucci's harlequin gloves with a faux-fur pompom at a stonking £195 - almost worth catching cold for.
Never mind the Lemsip this December: all of us need to mitten-up.
