Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
March 14, 1988
By Jan Buffington
Vigo County Historical Society
‘Fit like a glove’ meant very tightly
The romantic ideas of the Victorian age had women cramming themselves into clothing and shoes that were too small. They believed the signs of noble birth were dainty feet, waistlines and hands.
As a result, women distorted their figures in waist cinchers until their waistlines were between 13 and 18 inches. They struggled with shoes one or two sizes smaller than their feet and ended up with deformed feet. Women squeezed their arms and hands into tiny gloves until little mounds of flesh puffed out of the openings at the wrist or palm Some gloves were so tight that the women could hardly raise their arms to lift a door knocker.
Putting on gloves was quite an ordeal. Most gloves were made of kidskin leather and some had up to 100 tiny buttons. The most popular was the shoulder-length, 20-button style worn by actress Lillian Russell.
To don gloves for formal occasions, women would wash and dry their hands. Then they would dust their arms and hands with talcum powder or dab them with a weak solution of alum and water. To stretch the leather in the fingers of the gloves, they used glove stretchers which resembled old-fashioned curling irons. To actually get the glove on, they rested their elbows on small glove pillows and, with the help of maids, massaged their hands into the gloves.
The long process of buttoning all of those tiny buttons was next. Because the gloves were so tight, buttoning by hand was almost impossible, so the women or their maids used buttonhooks.
This necessary part of women’s “glove tool” collection was a small hook with a handle. The hook often was made of gold or silver but the handle was made from a variety of materials: gold, silver, agate, mother-of-pearl, bone, ivory, etc.
To use the buttonhook, women placed the hook through the button hole, grabbed a button in the hook, and pulled it through the hole. It took more than an hour for women to don their gloves in the privacy of their boudoirs before greeting escorts. To put on gloves in the presence of men was considered an act of “immodest intimacy.” Women wore their gloves all evening, only changing them if they appeared to be soiled. To have soiled gloves was a social disgrace.
At afternoon teas or less formal occasions, when the women wore longer sleeves, short gloves could be worn. They could be put on or removed in front of escorts, but only when necessary.
Having clean white gloves at all times was so important to Victorian ladies that they spent several hours trying on 30 to 40 pairs of gloves at glove emporiums or department stores. To avoid social embarrassment when traveling, women took several pairs of gloves for each outfit.
Buttonhooks began to be less necessary when the snap was invented in 1894, and completely died out when the zipped was invented. Even gloves faded from the fashion picture until a recent revival started by rock stars and soap-opera characters.
Today there is an International Buttonhook Society based in London and a buttonhook collectors’ newsletter called “The Boutonneur.” The Glove Museum in New York City has a wide array of gloves, glove makers’ tools, buttonhooks, glove stretchers, traveling glove boxes, repair kits, glove darners and many more items of historical glove memorabilia.
Two books on the subject are “Buttonhooks: Collecting and Price Guide, Volume I” by Cynthia L. Compton and “Antique Buttonhooks for Shoes, Gloves and Clothing” by Bertha Betensley.
This week’s treasure from the museum is an ornate silver buttonhook, donor unknown, and two pair of kidskin gloves.
The short gloves are white, with three tiny buttons, in size 6 1/2. They were donated by Mrs. Joseph P. McKibben. The shoulder-length formal gloves once were white. They also have three tiny buttons at the wrist and are size 6 1/2. The words “Herz’s, Terre Haute, Ind.” are stamped inside the opening. The gloves are from the estate of Alice Ijams Benbridge. They were donated by Alta Koch. They are on display in the Seamstress Shop.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.