Looking for Gloves Resource

Emma Boo

Emma Boo

Registered Guest
Hi
I was hoping somebody could point me in the right direction, I have a fair amount of gloves that needs dating and I was wondering is there a website or a resource that would help identify different types, fabric and ages of gloves. I have been checking online stores to compare but sometimes I cant find a much information.
Hope somebody can help, Thanks Emma :-)
 
Gloves can be hard to date as the styles don't change much, but a clue is the fabric, detailing and labelling.

For example, nylon gloves won't be pre '47, gauntlet style gloves are often '30s, kid leather cream and ivory opera length gloves are usually Victorian to 1920s but you do find them later. If they have a label, you can research the manufacturer and that can help. I had some that I thought were '30s but upon research found they were 1890s. I find that most of the brighter colours are from the '60s. In fact, I find most vintage gloves in general are '50s-60s so because I always err on the side of caution with my datings, will generally date them in these eras. If they're polyester, they're from the '80s or more recent.

Also look for hand embroidery, hand stitching, beading etc - the more hand work, the more likely they're to be old. As well, the older gloves tend to be narrow - I don't think I've ever had a pair of pre-WW2 gloves that an average modern wearer can wear.

That's about all I know about dating vintage gloves but if you're really interested, there are probably books somewhere. Many older gloves are amazing in their embellishments!
 
Thank you so much :-)

I didnt know nylon gloves were never pre 47, i think it might be better for me to sort them out by material first then look at styles to date them.

Most of my gloves dont have lables or stamps, would that be a indicator for dating? did they start labling at certain dates?

Most of the gloves come in bags but im realy wary of using the bags as identifers as maybe they just recyled them to keep them clean :-)

How small would older gloves be as most of mine i can fit in to, my hands are 6.5 and i have about 200 pairs, cant say no to gloves.

Oh i think i'll be having an afternoon playing with gloves today :-)
 
Vintage gloves generally come in sizes 5.5 - 7.5, corresponding to shoe size so you're a good size and most of them would fit you - but the older gloves can be as narrow as two inches wide. I find that many older kid leather gloves have stamp inside, the labels are more common in fabric gloves and they're a small slip sewn into the seam: have a look inside.

You can see some of my gloves here - this might help, although we don't seem to have photographed the stamps or labels. It's not an exact science, and usually an educated guess is made.
 
i have about 200 pairs
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You make me feel so much better as I have many but not that many. Just kidding. Wow...
Hats, gloves, just love them.
That was great information Nicole. Thank you.
 
You're welcome! I have more than 200 pairs too - I just love them, even though many are too small for modern hands. I even have about ten pairs of childrens gloves, including an opera length pair. They really make me wonder....
 
Thank you so much for the replies and the link, you have some lovely gloves :-)

Just been going though them and its seems most of them are Dent's, Cornelia James, Bon Phit, Prova and Fownes lable. it seems i have more questions than answers on some of them.
Im a bit confused on material and places of being made, a lot of them are empire made or classed as foreign, does this have a date window on when they was issued?
and what im assuming is kid skin, some of gloves have a stamp of Lavabile, i dont think this is a brand as i have a few with different manafactures lables but also includes this.

Thanks again for all your help :-)
 
Prova was the house label of British Home Stores (now BHS) - like St Michael was to Marks & Spencers. It was started in 1960, and was phased out some time during the 1970s, so you can assume your Prova gloves are in that time frame. See article here

A quick search reveals that lavabile means 'washable' in italian, which makes sense, that it's a care instruction.
 
Thank you so much, that helps me with a couple of pairs of gloves, one said Prova Regd and the other said Prova r (symbol) so im i right to assume the regd would be earlier in date?

navy and white ones are Prova Regd
DSCN8421.JPG

and the red pair are r symbol
DSCN8435.JPG

Lavabile just shows how new i am to vintage :-) at least now i know i have a fair few Italian Gloves, they are beautiful perferated and stiched leather.
 
one said Prova Regd and the other said Prova r (symbol) so im i right to assume the regd would be earlier in date?
Click to expand...
Yes, I think that's probably right. That's definitely so with St Michael labels. I have a 70s Prova dress that has ®. Cool gloves, especially the first pair - I've had some really nice items from Prova.
 
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