| Loretta Young in a Hideous Outfit But With Gloves |
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| Click on Picture for Flirting with Gloves and More! |
OLD-FASHIONED IMMODESTY
DEAR MISS MANNERS:
Having watched a delightful
movie with Loretta Young and Ronald Coleman, we were stumped by the young people asking why Miss Young were almost shoulder-length
white gloves when in evening dress. Those of my age saw nothing odd in it, but the young people, were truly curious
as to the reason for such attire. Certainly it was not for modesty, for the dresses were extremely low-cut.
We do not mean to imply
that your age is such that you would have worn such gloves but think that you probably will know the reason, if anyone does.
GENTLE READER:
Miss Manners is hurt that
you think she would not have worn such gloves. You never know when you will insult people, do you?
The reason for the gloves
is immodesty, a principle that young people brought up to run about half-naked, do not understand. The idea is
the lower the dress, the higher the gloves. Miss Young very properly did not want to put on an extremely
low-cut dress only to have people stare at her bare elbows.
(Judith Martin, Miss Manners (R) Guide
to Rearing Perfect Children, Penguin Books, 1985, page 262.)
EIGHTEEN-BUTTON GLOVES
Dear Miss Manners:
What are "Eighteen-button Gloves?"
Gentle Reader:
These are white gloves that come above the elbow and make
a riveting show when the wearer slowly peels them off before she can take a drink. They are called eighteen-button
gloves because they have three pearl buttons at each wrist.
DEAR MISS MANNERS:
Now doubtlessly this is a stupid question, and I am demonstrating
my unfitness for respectable society, but why doesn't a pair of eighteen-button gloves have eighteen buttons
on it, or even eighteen buttons a glove, for a grand total of thirty-six?
GENTLE READER:
Yes, indeed, this is a silly question, because everybody knows
that there are buttons and buttons, and white eighteen gloves have three small pearl buttons each at the musketeer (which
everybody knows is the opening at the wrist). There are indeed, eighteen buttons on each in length. That button
is a standard of measuring of approximately one inch. The aproximate part is because it is a French standard of measurement.
If you begin measuring at the base of the thumb, you will find
that four-button gloves end about the wrist, eight-button below the elbow, ten-button about the elbow, and twenty-six, the
longest, up to the arm pit. Naturally, this system only comes out right on French arms.
(Why carry on about gloves?! Easy.
Just watch this clip of Rita Hayworth as Gilda
in the 1946 movie of the same name . . . .
You'll never think of long goves
in the same way again!
DEAR MISS MANNERS:
SInce we are geared into high fashion now, what about the etiquette
of gloves? A lady with standards shouldn't take off her gloves when shaking hands, should she?
GENTLE READER:
Indeed not, unless she is a lady subjected to uncontrollable
bursts of enthusiasm for direct human contact, in which case Miss Manners prefers the naked handshake to the promiscouous
and noisy kissing of near-strangers. Truly unforgivable behaviour when wearing gloves consists of eating, drinking,
smoking and saying "Pardon my gloves."
Gentlemen remove their gloves when shaking hands.
Please do not expect Miss Manners to justify this discrepancy on any basis of logic, morality or equal opportunity.
(Judith Martin, Miss Manners(R) Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior,
Warmers Brothers, 1982, New York City, page 548.)
| Seamed Stockings |
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| Old-Fashioned But Still Effective! |
OLD-FASHIONED IMMODESTY
DEAR MISS MANNERS:
Have you seen the seamed
stockings? I'm crazy about them, but my mother remembers wearing them--she even remembers drawing lines down her legs
with eyebrow pencil during World War II when "nylons" were impossible to buy--and says it was a bore always to be straightening
the seams. I read in a fashion magazine that straightening the seams is sexy, but it doesn't say how to do it gracefully.
My mother says adjusting lingerie is not sexy, just sloppy looking.
GENTLE READER:
Your mother probably knew what
it was to have to straighten a girdle, and may you and future generations be spared from ever finding that out. Rearranging
one's stockings is an activity of recent origin for respectable women wishing to make themselves conspicuous, as something
was certainly needed to replace the dropped lace hankerchief. Here is the method for straightening seams of stockings:
Look shyly over one shoulder, while slowly extending the corresponding leg--remember to keep the posterior tucked
sideways and under--until reaching the heel. Then move the hand slowly back up along the line of the seam, undulating
it under the pretext of straightening the seam.
(Judith Martin, Miss Manners(R) Guide
to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Warner Books, 1982, New York City, page 545.)
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