We are all in the mood for a little OTT dress up right now and the latest Gen Z obsession really is the pinacle of black-tie garb.
Old school Hollywood opera gloves, of the sort worn by Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn, have made an unlikely but triumphant return as the Gen Z accessory du jour, with over 275,000 views of the hashtag on TikTok and a Google search increase of 84 per cent in the second half of 2021.
As ever, it’s a trend kickstarted by some fairly major celebrity action. Gigi Hadid accessorized her cream Prada Met Gala look back in September with black vinyl elbow-length gloves while Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney wore a white Miu Miu pair to the shows season two premiere.
Demi Moore, Charli Howard, Priyanka Chopra and Alexa Chung all rocked opera gloves to the British Fashion Awards back in November, while Dua Lipa wore her pink pair on New Year’s Eve with stacks of cocktail rings atop.
The longline gloves have got some silver screen loving too: Gaga accessorised a red satin dress with a simple black pair of opera gloves in House of Gucci, and SJP donned a sparkly Gucci pair to hit the podcast recording studio in And Just Like That.
And the recent catwalk shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris have just confirmed what TikTok already knew: opera gloves are not going anywhere for autumn 2022. Everyone from Proenza Shouler to Fendi, Moschino and Poster Girl featured the longline gloves as part of their collections.
Emilia Wickstead made the case for matching your gloves to your dress (whether in checkerboard print or baby pink), Fendi’s sage green and red cotton gloves oozed daytime appeal while Simone Rocha offered delicate pearl-encrusted iterations that are sure to be popular with brides.
The sheer sequinned minis that formed the eveningwear section of Matthieu Blazy’s debut AW22 collection for Bottega Veneta came with matching shimmering opera gloves, while Halpern’s silky gowns were toughened up with shoulder-length gloves in pastel pink and green leather.
“For me, there’s almost something so finishing to a look that a glove gives. I think it really makes a statement that you’re going out – you’re not hosting at home, you’re not entertaining in your personal space; you are going out, and that’s what this collection was about,” explains Michael Halpern. “Sort of a resurgence of the evening - and what’s more glamourous than putting on a glamourous glove? And then on top of that an opera-length glove in black and violet; it just kills it, it’s so mega.”
Kiko Kostadinov did them with mismatched fingers knitted in fuzzy tinsel wool while almost every look in the Richard Quinn AW22 show came with dramatic gloves in everything from floral lycra to shiny PVC.
“I find them to be so elegant, and I love that I can incorporate them in so many contexts throughout a collection which is always an interesting way to extend and finish an overall silhouette,” said the London-based designer. “Gloves built into gowns and ready-to-wear pieces have proved really popular, and interesting prints and embellishments always seem to go down well.”
So, what to shop? For outdoor ensembles Fendi and Prada’s Napa leather versions (£750 and £1250 respectively) are hard to out-chic, while purists might look to the Queen’s glovemaker Cornelia James for plain silk options (£225).
For party paws minimal waste label Styland has excellent feather trimmed fancies (£227) and Maison Margiela does an excellent silver sequinned pair (£950) for those willing to splurge.
Depop has seen an 85 per cent increase in searches for opera gloves compared to this time last year and most of the more affordable long gloves on ASOS, H&M and Boohoo are (somewhat tellingly) already sold out.
As we prepare for the return of Bridgerton season 2 and all the knock-on ‘Regencycore’ dressing that will no doubt ensue, now seems as good a time as any to fall in love with the glove.
