| 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 I
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 google a search for 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 II
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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