gloves

Anyone care to guess how many pairs of gloves I own? Or how many I go through in a year?

Answer: I own 20 ½ pairs! God, how did I get so many! I go through 4 – 6 pair a year.

This is what happens when you use your hands like feet. Some of them are failed experiments unfortunately. Like shoes, some just don’t work out. Some are good in hot weather, some in cold.

Here’s the breakdown:
1 pair oversized leather gardening gloves, which is what I used to wear in warm weather until I realized I could get lovely gloves with silk linings! That was in 2005 when we went to Italy. I’ll never look at gloves the same way again.

A digression: Our first stop was Milan, and on almost the first day I was taken in totally by a glove shop close to the hotel. It was October, but I am sure that shop is open year round, and they had gloves in every color and shape. I was in heaven. In the end I bought 8 pairs, including one purple one with cashmere inside for my sister. You could say I still have 6 pairs left, but only 3 are in good shape.

1 pair of black leather gloves that got wet in the rain so badly that they stretched out horribly, so those are my ‘rain gloves’.

1 pair of black leather gloves, that I used, for some reason that now escapes me, when I was out painting the side fence, so they are my ‘work gloves’.

4 pairs of over-the-wrist gloves. The black suede ones with a silk lining are so super fine, for dressy summer nights. The long black cashmere lined ones for winter. Guess how often I use those? Oh, once a year or so. There’s also a brown and orange long pair, with little zippers on top, very cute, but not so practical. I’ve decided that long gloves are generally too hot here in San Diego, even in winter. All of those are in good shape, from Italy. Then there’s a beautiful creamy tan long pair with cashmere, that I’m afraid to use! I am sure that 3 uses will leave dark smudges along the palms.

3 pairs of biking gloves, leather palms, mesh for top of hands, elastic wrists. The red pair I’m about to chuck out, it’s got Velcro on the wrist which always gets caught on things. But the other 2 pairs, both black, I hang onto for really hot summer days when wearing leather makes my hands sweat.

2 pairs of leather only, no lining, short gloves, both from Italy. One never had a lining, it was an experiment that didn’t work out. The leather sticks to your hands, and the gloves are really hard to get off. The other pair used to have a silk lining, but I wore them SO much that the lining wore out, and eventually I cut it out. I wore a hole through the leather at one thumb too, but I love those gloves so much I can’t bear to put them in the trash!

1 pair of rather ugly orange gloves with orange and pink trim that I got cheap one day when I think I was feeling desperate (pre Italy days). I should add them to the give away pile. They fit well though, and would be warm if I used them. They just don’t seem to go with my clothes. And for me to call something orange “ugly” means they are really bad.

2 pairs of cashmere lined short gloves, for colder weather. The black pair is still ok, the brick colored pair starting to wear. I’m going to need more like this next November.

And last, but not least, 5 pairs of silk lined short gloves for all the rest of the year. One is green, and I got it in Italy. The other 4 were found for me recently by a good friend of mine in Maryland – black, brown, red and teal. I’ve already worn the red ones to where the lining has a couple of holes.

Oh, and the ½ - is from a pair I bought in Argentina, black with a silver buckle, and a nylon lining. These perhaps were the most durable of all. I lost the other ½ in a local Vons store – I absolutely KNOW I lost it there – and it never showed up in their Lost and Found. I still check from time to time.

So, 20 pairs sounds like a lot, but it’s not as much as it seems. Especially since I wear out about 4 pairs a year if not more, and because I lose about 2 gloves a year too. Most of the time I lose the Right hand glove. I take off that glove to sign something, or to reach for something in a store, and put it on my lap or tuck it next to me. I forget about it, and then it’s gone.

I had been telling Jim that I had to go to Italy again, to buy more gloves, but my friend in Maryland saved the day. It’s hard to find gloves in San Diego! Even winter gloves aren’t in the stores long.

So, after 30 years I finally know what I need in gloves – has to be leather for traction, lined with cashmere in winter, silk or nylon in summer, short length just at the wrist preferably without elastic there size 7 ½ most of the time – though it’s a good idea to try on gloves when you can. All kinds of colors, though I use the black, brown and red most. Some for dressing up are nice, likewise some for Santa Anas, but those I could live without. And keep the old ones for messy days.

The reason for all this analysis? Today I bought myself a “glove box”. It’s just a CD box really, but it’s for holding several pairs of gloves out by my desk, so that when I’m getting ready to go out, I can just pull something out. I keep most of my gloves in the bedroom, so in the morning as I get dressed I pick a pair. Or I forget to pick a pair, and find myself running back later. My glove box is happily holding 5 pr now, red, black and brown silk lined, one biking pair, and the ones for rainy days (being optimistic!) and my thumb splint. It’s good.