Armèlle

Elizabeth I might have been one of the first, the king of fashion, Karl Lagerfeld, adored them and today’s stylists have put their eyes on them. If we were to do research to know which are the accessories that throughout the history of fashion have remained incorporated to the looks, we could tell you that the `mittens’ are one of them. Roy C. Strong writes in his Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I: „In the 16th century gloves reached their greatest elaboration, when Queen Elizabeth I set the fashion for wearing them richly embroidered and jeweled, and for putting them on and taking them off during audiences, to draw attention to her beautiful hands.”   Since the time of Elizabeth I, the ladies of high society included mittens in their looks. We see this very well reflected in Kirsten Dunst’s starring role in Sofia Coppola’s ‘Marie Antoinette’.   Even more in our times, mittens have been a key piece for the outfits of artists such as Madonna. Gloves were already prized by the Persians and after the glove boom in fashion of the 50s and 60s, it was the king of fashion, Karl Lagerfeld, who revived them when he made fingerless gloves an essential element of his everyday life. Or more recently the sweet Emily who in this last season of Emily in Paris wore mittens with almost all her looks.   If you like creating a bold and chic look you definitely should include a nice pair of mittens.

„When you dress your hands with beautiful and carefully crafted gloves, you will notice this sort of feeling special, joyful and feminine, what you never want to miss again.“ (Armèlle) When to wear gloves? Gloves can be worn on many occasions; during the day on the streets when going to work, to a lunch, dinner or meeting and in the evening when meeting friends or at any event, a wedding or an official celebration. They can also be worn in the evening to visit a restaurant or in the theater. While travelling on a train or plane and not to forget driving a car (what is the origin of the so-called driving gloves). On formal occasions, there often exist formal rules which we recommend to respect as they are part of the event. Generally gloves can be worn by the guests as well as by the hostess during the reception ceremony. When shaking hands, don’t worry about your gloves, they don’t have to be taken off. It’s a nicer feeling shaking hands with gloves on your hands. How to combine gloves? There are so few limits for inspirations as fashion keeps on moving and we are free to choose our style. Gloves are wonderful with suits and dresses. Gloves give an elegant touch for even more sportive combinations, casual outfits or a classical jeans with blazer. Fingerless and embellished mittens can be combined similar to bracelets and perfectly be worn with rings. Mittens are always a good choice as they are finger free and you can handle all you want, including operating your mobil phone without the need to remove them. Mittens look well with all sleeve lengths. Long gloves fit to short sleeves and short gloves to longer sleeves. Beige and gentle colors always look elegant. Black gloves are easy to combine and colored gloves can be the beautiful highlight of your outfit. When to remove gloves? Fingerless gloves or mittens don’t have to be removed. They are statement accessories. Even during a coffee in a restaurant or during a meeting they don’t have to be removed in „the new 20s“. Remove is only necessary to protect them of dirt. Complete finger gloves instead should be removed when you go inside, as well while eating or drinking. When you remove your gloves, please place them directly in your bag, not on your lap where they easily might fell off. In order to protect fine gloves, it’s useful to have a small dust bag to keep them save in your bag.