Shoulder-high gloves are typically between 19 and 23 inches in length, and will often include a small wrist opening that closes with buttons or a simple snap. Gloves would be either black, white, or ivory, and made from soft kidskin leather. Such gloves were known as "mousquetaires" in France! As it turns out, long leather gloves in the 17th century were originally designed for use by French musketeers. When these leather gloves first came into design, they were made in singles (or half-pairs) specifically for use in dueling and were designed to fit over a man's sleeve.
However, a design of gloves for women commanded a more feminine elegance and grace... mousquetaires were made longer (shoulder-high) and designed with the same refinement as those of Ines Gloves. The longest mousquetaires in history were made even longer so that the could wrinkle attractively when worn. This can be done with Ines' long gloves... try out these unique 17th century fashions!
~ 17th century kidskin past-elbow gloves appeared in the film Anna Karenina (1997)Prior to 1870, every day glace gloves were worn, as the sleeves of Victorian dresses in this era were typically full-length. Elbow-length sleeves (or perhaps even shorter) were worn in the evening. As such, the shoulder-high leather gloves made a grand appearance!
The wrinkled wear of mousequetaires is perhaps best shown by famed actress Sarah Bernhardt, who wore them in 1870 for one of her roles:
From here, the popularity of shoulder-high leather gloves exploded, with every woman wanting a pair of these fantastic gloves. These gloves made a huge impact on theatre audiences as well. Actress Lillian Russell, a popular American actress, was known for her extensive glove collection, with shoulder-high gloves often being her glove of choice for photographs:
In the Victoria era, it was considered absolutely essential for women to constantly wear their gloves, regardless of whether they're eating, drinking, socializing, or shaking hands. Gloves were this area were skintight... literally worn as a second skin. In fact, women often required assistance to remove their gloves! It was considered by many to be inappropriate for a women to be seen donning a pair of shoulder-high gloves in public - it would attract too much attention.
To get past this social problem, women would wear gloves with small wrist openings designed to fit their hand through when eating or drinking to avoid soiling their gloves. Clever!
Throughout the Victorian period, shoulder-high leather gloves were considered to represent the elegance of the era.
~ actress Kate Winslet wore my sensual past elbow gloves to dinner on the Titanic.
My sensual shoulder high leather gloves continue to represent the elegance and high class of the Edwardian period. In fact, gloves were worn whenever possible: to weddings, funerals, dinner parties, garden parties. If there was an occasion, gloves made an appearance. This tradition survived well into the 20th century.
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