Dear Simon,
I am seeking advice about gloves. Firstly what colour pairings do gloves go with? Is it possible to be adventurous or should one stick to brown and black? Also where could I find a very tight pair of leather gloves? Fingerless gloves for shooting do not agree with me and a very tight (for enhanced sensitivity) pair would be great.
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George,
The key to gloves is not to match them with anything, but as with any accessory, be aware of colours that go well together because of their relative formality or colour palette.
There is nothing wrong with brown or black, but black in particular is rather limiting. I would only wear black gloves with suits and other formal outfits when you are likely to be wearing black shoes. Dark brown is more flexible, as it would certainly go with any other more casual outfit, but chestnut is even better. And now we begin to get into our stride.
A tan glove has more potential for patination, which can wonderful personality to any leather product, and skins like peccary or carpincho provide softness and interesting texture in the same tan tones. Green, too, in paler variations, is more interesting than brown but within the same autumnal colour palette. I have a particularly lovely pair of green lambskin gloves from Bill Amberg that have proven to be surprisingly versatile.
The paler or darker – essentially, the less saturated – a glove is the more formal it can be. Hence yellow chamois is a classic formal glove and, though a little showy, can be a lovely alternative to black with suits.
You have a wide range of choices therefore, and are certainly not restricted to black and brown. If you are a lawyer and wear grey suits every day with black Oxfords, black gloves are probably a must. The managing partner may wear yellow chamois with the same outfits. Elsewhere, tan is probably the most versatile colour and dark browns or other dark colours the next.
Looking at the Dent’s site (the Heritage Collection is hand-sewn and stretched – see post here), the options include very dark browns, greys and greens alongside the standard colours. Lissom & Muster also stocks some good Chester Jefferies pairs.
Recommending some that are close fitting is difficult, as much depends on your hands. But you want to go for unlined gloves, and those with the seams turned out so the fit can be closer, particularly through the fingers. With any of the online heritage retailers, you’ll probably find that stock is low at the moment as this is the ‘off’ season. But you only have a few weeks to wait.
Simon
I have unusually shaped hands, and so spent ages tracking down decent bespoke gloves. I ended up ordering two pairs from Chester Jefferies, which I am very happy with.
http://www.chesterjefferies.co.uk/
I recall Sermoneta in Burlington Arcade having unlined leather gloves in various colours for a reasonable price, maybe you can pick up the range!
Damascus police gloves may fit the bill for shooting, they are available unlined and are a very snug fit (assuming you get the correct size). The leather is very thin so you have plenty of sensitivity.
Hello
What colour and type (material) of trousers best go with a dark navy blue pin stripped linen jacker, the jacket is a classic cut but for casual use, thank you Bernard
Pinstripes are very hard to wear as a separate jacket or trousers. Otherwise, all colours will be just as useful as with plain navy. Start with cream or tan
Hi Simon – I’m having a pair of gloves made (peccary with rabbit fur lining) and had asked the glove maker about quirks. His advice was that given the bulk of the lining, quirks would serve no purpose and should be reserved for unlined, silk or cashmere linings. Would you agree with this?
They would certainly have much less function, yes
Hi Simon, what are your thoughts on burgundy gloves in lieu of chestnut ones? I fall more under the class of an associate at a law firm, rather than the managing partner. My daily uniform is navy or gray slacks; black, brown, or burgundy Oxfords; and a black puffer jacket or navy overcoat, depending on the temperature. Could burgundy work–or would you say a chestnut-colored glove is better? As always, thank you for everything you do at P.S.!
With those colours, burgundy could be nice, yes.
Hi Simon, Would navy leather gloves go with brown and black shoes, or would you recommend brown gloves with brown shoes, and black with black? I was hoping to get a pair of gloves that would work with both colors of shoes. Thank you
If they’re dark brown shoes, then navy or black gloves should be fine. But in general, I’d say it’s worth having two pairs of gloves, one that is more casual/rural to go with browns, tans and more casual shoes, and another smart pair for black shoes, very dark brown and so on. Like a formal or business pair and a casual one
Hello, Simon! Hope you don’t mind me reviving an old article, but I have a question on a related topic so felt it would be best placed here. The question, in short, is: can gloves be altered and how easy is this? I bought an amazing pair of peccary gloves at a killer price, which are unlined and the seams are on the outside. However, me having a strange-shaped hand that is not very balanced in the sense that some fingers shorter than usual compared to other fingers, there are fit issues with some fingers. The palm fits perfect, as do most fingers, but a few on one hand and a few on the other have a lot of excess fabric. Would you recommend taking this ideally to the maker, or could any decent cobbler do this reasonably well? The gloves are great quality and very precise make (Vienna glove maker ‘Handschuhpeter’).
It’s a good question Johann. I don’t actually know, I’ve never looked into that. I’d imagine it wouldn’t be easy though, and would require much of making the glove from scratch – you’d certainly want to take it to a glove maker rather than another craftsman I think
Hi Simon, how versatile are medium brown/tan peccary gloves really? If I understood correctly your logic, one doesn’t necessarily have to wear black or very dark brown gloves with formal outfits. A formal outfit for me is something like a navy suit, oxfords and a coat like PS bridge coat; I dress less formally most of the time, and generally don’t have to follow any dress code rules, but do wear a suit sometimes.
I just agree that black/dark brown gloves are not that useful if you don’t wear suits and oxfords most of the time. But I’m not sure about versatility of tan, especially in such a highly textured material as peccary.
Yes I know what you mean. I think something like a dark brown leather crosses over formal and casual pretty well, and unless you have multiple pairs, that’s the place to start. You could always add tan later if you find you want more colour/interest
Thanks for the comment. Do you think both deerskin and calfskin are easy to bridge from casual to formal?
Yes