Well, I didn’t get quite as much writing done this week as I’d planned. Still, I did hit the 11,000 word mark and had time to do a bit of research. My heroine in Virtue and Valor, Isobel Ferguson, goes through a great number of sheepskin gloves. She’s an amateur archaeologist and enjoys digging around in rocks, fossils, and caves. It gets her in a bit of trouble, but that’s for another post.
 |
| Leather and satin, embroidered with silk and metal thread, spangles and seed pearls |
During the Regency Era, a lady simply did not leave the house without wearing gloves, and she didn’t remove them except if she was going to eat.
I have to confess, I’d always thought they left them on, but think about eating a tasty tea cake and ending up with a stain. Simply not done! Gloves were expensive, so off they came before anything was popped into the mouth. 
It was quite scandalous for a gentleman to touch a lady without out his gloves on. No skin-to-skin contact allowed, you know.
The typical Regency lady would own quite an array of gloves: indoor fingerless gloves to stay warm, riding gloves, evening gloves (elbow length and almost always white) suede for archery, and lets not forget gardening and walking gloves. (I’m picturing gloves trotting along with their thumbs entwined!)
Gloves were frequently made of soft leather, silk, lace, or even crotcheted. Vangie in The Viscount’s Vow crocheted her own gloves.
While these examples of leather gloves are stunning, Isobel requires something a bit more practical . . . and much cheaper. So, she used sturdy boys’ gloves.
I remember wearing gloves as a little girl, and as I sit hear typing this, I can see a tiny pair of lace gloves draped on a curio cabinet that were my daughter’s when she was about two.
Did you ever wear gloves? Why do you think they went out of fashion?
Resources:
http://historyhoydens.blogspot.com/2010/09/gloves.html
http://donnahatch.com/gloves-through-history/
http://austenauthors.net/a-season-to-glove
