  “Gloves as sweet as damask roses.” Shakespeare. Thus did the peddler advertise his wares in the days of good Queen Bess. While perfumed gloves were used in both France and Spain prior to this time, it was the evident partiality of her dress-loving majesty that brought about a veritable perfume craze. Housewives became learned in the distillation of sweet waters, and the preparation of all manner of sweet-smelling essences. Ladies vied with each other in a lavish employment of scent. “All apparel was perfumed; hair and shoes and fans gave out sweet-smelling savor, and all kinds of jewelry contained cavities filled with strong essences. Perfumed gloves were not the least conspicuous of these toilet accessories.” The ordinary method of perfuming the glove was to mix the substance or odor with oil, and rub it into the glove, or else to prepare a pomatum and smear it over the inner surface of the glove. Spain had now become famous for her embroidered and perfumed gloves, and thus the preference was shown for those of Spanish make, the fragrance of which was of a very enduring character. This love of luxury and ultra-refinement now reached an extreme pitch. As Shakespeare says: “The very winds were love-sick with perfume.” Into their bath the fair ladies threw musk, amber, aloes, myrrh, cedar leaves, lavender, mint, and other fragrant herbs and spices—everything was made to give forth an aromatic fragrance—an unbridled luxury that bid fair to outdo the fair dames of Rome. The use of perfumed gloves has never wholly died out. In France, and even in America, Russia leather gloves are worn to this day, for the sake of their aromatic quality. A Semi-Dress Glove. |
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