The London Lounge

One of the recurring features in the Esquire pictures from the 1930s are yellow chamois leather gloves. Yesterday in Pickett I inspected a pair and found them rather odd, lacking the refinement of a pair of elegant deerskin or pigskin gloves. They had a frizzy texture and seemed to mark very easily.

What was the origin of their usage in the 30s? Fashion or am I missing a dimension to chamois leather gloves? Is it simply that they offer greater water resistance? Also, why only yellow?

I think the yellow chamois glove goes back to the dandies of the early 19th century. I am sure others can elaborate. By the 1930s, it was considered a sign of dandyism and luxury. Like pigskin, the fact that they mark easily meant the man about town had to spend a lot of money to be turned out properly all the time. Unlike pigskin, chamois can be washed. It is a cumbersome process.

Budd carries these gloves.

TVD wrote:I think the yellow chamois glove goes back to the dandies of the early 19th century.

That is certainly true. I am reading Ian Kelly's recent book about Beau Brumell and the front cover features one of the rare portraits of Brummell wearing just these gloves.

Available today but veering over into foppishness I suspect.

Well, it can be carried off. Yellow is a beautiful, warm and versatile colour. Ideal to enliven waistcoats, trousers, gloves, ties. Care must be taken to avoid creating a fussy look. But a yellow accent in an otherwise sober ensemble can work miracles.

Dr Eduard Benes, the president of Czechoslovakia around the time of World War II was (in)famous for his yellow chamois gloves. It did not seem to harm his political career.

In the Esky pictures, in contrast to other leather gloves, yellow chamois gloves appear to have been worn quite large, almost a size or two bigger than other leather.