Glove
A
glove (
Middle English from
Old English glof) is a type of
garment which covers the
hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each
finger and the
thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "
fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each fingers are sometimes called
gauntlets. Gloves which cover the entire hand but do not have separate finger openings or sheaths are called
mittens. Mittens are warmer than gloves made of the same material because the extra air inside creates added insulation, and because fingers maintain their warmth better when they are touching.
|
A blue disposable nitrile glove, as worn for medical examination |
Gloves can serve to protect and comfort the hands of the wearer against cold or heat, physical damage by friction, abrasion or chemicals, and disease; or in turn to provide a guard for what a bare hand should not touch.
Latex,
nitrile rubber or
vinyl disposable gloves are often worn by
healthcare professionals as hygiene and contamination protection measures. Police officers often wear them to work in crime scenes to prevent destroying
evidence in the scene. Many criminals also wear these gloves to avoid leaving
fingerprints, which makes the crime investigation more difficult.
Fingerless gloves are useful for cold environments where
dexterity is required that gloves would restrict.
Cigarette smokers and
church organists often use fingerless gloves. Some gloves include a
gauntlet that extends partway up the arm.
Cycling gloves for road racing or touring are usually fingerless.
Gloves have been made of many materials including
cloth,
knitted or
felted
wool,
leather,
rubber,
latex,
neoprene and
metal (as in
chain mail). Modern gloves made of
kevlar protect the wearer from cuts. Gloves and gauntlets are also integral components of
pressure suits and
spacesuits such as the
Apollo/Skylab A7L which went to the moon. Spacesuit gloves must combine extreme toughness and environmental protection with a degree of sensitivity and flexibility if the astronaut is to do any manual work.
Today gloves are made around the world. Most expensive women's fashion gloves are still made in
France, with some made in
Canada. For cheaper male gloves
New York State, especially
Gloversville, New York is still a world centre of glove manufacturing. More and more glove manufacturing is being done in East Asia, however.
Gloves appear to be of great antiquity. According to some translations of
Homer's
The Odyssey,
Laërtes is described as wearing gloves while walking in his
garden so as to avoid the
brambles. (Other translations, however, insist that Laertes pulled his long sleeves over his hands.)
Herodotus, in
The History of Herodotus (
440 BC), tells how
Leotychides was incriminated by a glove (
gauntlet) full of
silver that he received as a bribe. Among the Romans also there are occasional references to the use of gloves. According to
Pliny the Younger (ca.
100), his uncle's shorthand writer wore gloves during the winter so as not to impede the elder
Pliny's work.
Gloves are also used for fashion, ceremonial, and religious purposes.
British and
European
Ladies in the
13th century began to wear gloves as fashion
ornaments. They were made of linen and silk and sometimes reached to the elbow. It was not until the
16th century that they reached their greatest elaboration, however, when
Queen Elizabeth I set the fashion for wearing them richly embroidered and jeweled.
Embroidered and jeweled gloves also formed part of the insignia of emperors and kings. Thus
Matthew of Paris, in recording the burial of
Henry II of England in
1189, mentions that be was buried in his coronation robes with a golden crown on his head and gloves on his hands. Gloves were also found on the hands of
King John when his tomb was opened in
1797 and on those of
King Edward I when his tomb was opened in
1774.
Pontifical gloves are
liturgical ornaments used primarily by the pope, the cardinals, and bishops. They may be worn only at the celebration of mass. The liturgical use of gloves has not been traced beyond the beginning of the
10th century, and their introduction may have been due to a simple desire to keep the hands clean for the holy mysteries, but others suggest that they were adopted as part of the increasing pomp with which the Carolingian bishops were surrounding themselves. From the Frankish kingdom the custom spread to Rome, where liturgical gloves are first heard of in the earlier half of the
11th century.
Latex gloves, ubiquitous in surgery and forensics, were developed by the
Australian
Ansell company.
Commercial and industrial
*
Barbed wire handler's gloves
*
Chainsaw gloves
* firemen's gauntlets
*
Medical gloves*
Welder's gloves
Sport and recreational
*
Archer's glove
*
Baseball glove or
catcher's mitt: in
baseball, the players in the field wear gloves to help them to catch the ball and prevent injury to their hands.
*
Billiards glove
*
Boxing glove: a specialized padded mitten
*
Cricket gloves
** The
wicket keeper wears large webbed gloves, similar to those used in baseball.
** The
batsmen wear gloves with heavy padding on the back, to protect the fingers from being struck with the ball.
*
Cycling gloves*
Driving gloves - often leather to improve grip on the
steering wheel.
* Eating glove
*
Falconer's glove
*
Football -
Goalkeeper's gloves
*
Fencing glove
*
Gardening glove
*
Ice hockey mitt
*
Riding gloves
*
Motorcycling gloves*
Scuba diving gloves :
** cotton gloves; good abrasion but no thermal protection
** wet gloves; made of neoprene and allowing water entry
** dry gloves; made of rubber with a latex wrist seal to prevent water entry
*
Yachting
*
Wired glove* Oven gloves - or Oven mitts, are used when cooking
* Washing glove: a tool for
washing the body (one's own, or of a
child, a
patient, a
lover).
* Wheelchair gloves - for users of manual
Wheelchairs
*
Power Glove - an alternate controller for use with the
Nintendo Entertainment SystemFashion gloves
*
wedding and
cotillion gloves
*
evening glovesThe wearing of gloves as a woman's fashion accessory fell out of favour in the latter decades of the 20th century, except that girls still wear gloves as part of "dressy" outfits, such as church on
Easter Sunday. Glove length was dictated by the time of day.
Ladies gloves for formal and semi-formal wear come in three lengths for women: wrist ('matinee' length), elbow, and
opera or full-length (over the elbow, reaching to the biceps).
The most expensive are full-length gloves custom-made of kid leather.Satin and stretch satin materials are extremely popular and there are mass-produced varieties well within the average budget.
Gentlemen only wear fashion gloves on the most
formal of occasions. This is somewhat subjective, as men also may wear "fashion" gloves outside of white tie occasions. Some find it to be in personal style, to protect their hands from allergens and germs, or to remove themselves from physical contact.
Winter gloves
*acrylic
*woolen
*leather
*
Pliny the Younger: Selected Letters*
The History of Herodotus by Herodotus, Volume VI, at classics.mit.edu
