In the 19th century gloves were an indispensable accessory for women. They were worn for day and evening wear. Wealthy women owned many pairs suited to different occasions and carefully chosen to match particular outfits. Strict rules applied to the wearing of gloves. A woman would be considered undressed if she left the house ungloved and it was customary, for instance, to keep gloves on in church, at the theatre and at balls but to remove them before dining.

For the first half of the 19th century women's day gloves remained short. They were available in a wide range of colours and with a variety of novel additions. These white kid women's day gloves stitched with cream silk and laced with a cream silk cord, would have been one of the more acceptable novelties. The small fastening at the front of the wrist is accompanied by a back opening of metal eyelet holes through which the cord is threaded finishing in tassels which hung down while worn. This is purely decorative and it is in fact the criss-cross stitching, in black, which holds the fastening together. A slim, elegant hand was considered a sign of good breeding and women's gloves became ever closer fitting. The gloves shown in this image appear incredibly narrow by today's standards, the double fastening would have aided a tight fit and the points which decorate the back make the hand appear more slender. The scalloped edge, which would have barely been seen, provides another decorative element.