Origins of my sensual shoulder-high gloves

Believe it or not, gloves have been worn for upwards of three thousand years! Our very favorite (and very elegant) shoulder-high gloves appear to have appeared during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Queen Elizabeth I is known to have worn a pair of 18-inch long white leather gauntlet gloves with 2-inches of solid gold fringe at a ceremony in 1566. Coincidentally, my elbow high leather gauntlet gloves are available in present time for those of you who wish to try to simulate the royal gloves of the Queen.

A little over 100 years later, Queen Mary was painted wearing her own version of shoulder-high gloves...

My sensual shoulder high gloves first gained popularity as essential items of fashion around the era of Napolean I (late 1700s), but such gloves had already started to appear throughout Europe...

Speaking of Napolean, did you know that he himself was a glove wearer? As of 1806, Napolean was rumored to own about 240 pairs of gloves! He was a huge advocate of feminine fashion, and encouraged the Empress Josephine to always dress in the style of the times. As it turns out, however, the Empress was actually quite dissatisfied with her hands, and wore gloves to mask their "ugliness".

In the times of Napolean, gloves were surprisingly available in a wide variety of colors and were made from many different materials. Kidskin leather and cloth were quite popular - the particular glove style involved leaving the glove loose around the arm of the wearer so that they could be fashionably "scrunched" towards the wrist.

Sadly, in 1825, the popularity of my sensual shoulder high gloves would diminish, to make room for the long, fashionable sleeves of the early- and mid-Victorian periods. Even when women wore short sleeves, a short pair of every day glace gloves would be worn.