How Opera Gloves Went Mainstream (Again)
How Opera Gloves Went Mainstream (Again)
Laura NeilsonWed, May 6, 2026 at 5:38 PM UTC
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How Opera Gloves Went Mainstream (Again)Getty Images
We know it well. It’s early morning on Fifth Avenue, circa 1961, and Audrey Hepburn—or rather Holly Golightly—steps out of a taxi wearing a black Givenchy gown, with long black opera gloves to match. While staring into a window at Tiffany’s, she gingerly removes a cup of coffee and a croissant from a paper bag, and, still gloved, proceeds to have breakfast. The indelible opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s made moviegoers swoon. Etiquette experts, maybe not.
Long-length gloves—typically extending past the wrist and sometimes to the elbow or above—have signaled elegance, propriety, and status since the Renaissance, when elaborately embroidered, perfumed gloves were prized luxury items favored in the court of Catherine de’ Medici. They have evolved into one of fashion’s most enduring symbols of status, ceremony, and glamour, often bound up with codes of femininity. And these days, from the runways to the red carpet, in pop culture and even on occasions that don’t necessarily call for formal dress, women are taking up gloved arms—and in more varied forms than convention once dictated.
Prada gloves ($1,470). Charvet pocket square ($120), 011-33-1-4260-3070. Larkspur & Hawk Bella bracelets (from $950) and Lily bracelet ($2,350).Photograph by David Schulze; Props styled by Kelsi Windmiller at Holly Corbett Represents
Prada’s spring collection, for instance, featured long gloves in shades of turquoise, lilac, and olive green coupled with an eclectic range of looks, from boilersuits to shift dresses. At Balenciaga, a dazzling magenta leather pair offset an otherwise all-black T-shirt and trousers ensemble. Schiaparelli, meanwhile, went for gauzy and polka-dotted, while Simone Rocha sequined her opera gloves—and made them fingerless. Then there was Anne Hathaway, who braved a Los Angeles heatwave on Oscar night in velvet Valentino couture, with gloves to match. She committed to the look all evening, so it’s unclear whether (or how) she partook of the snack boxes host Conan O’Brien had stashed under every guest’s seat. And at this week’s Met Gala, Sarah Paulson and Madonna served up some of the evening’s most dramatic looks, gloves included.
Crimson gloves accompanied a shocking pink dress on the Balenciaga runway. One tip from the show? Match your gloves to your bags. Maybe our grandmothers really did know a thing or two.Balenciaga
“If you’re going to eat, you must take the gloves off,” says Genevieve James, the second-generation creative director behind the British glovemaking label Cornelia James, a longtime wardrobe purveyor to members of the British royal family. More recently James has provided gloves for such period television series as Bridgerton, The Crown, and Downton Abbey, to which she largely credits fashion’s current lust for the style.
Jean Shafiroff, a humanitarian and author known in some circles as the “first lady of philanthropy”—she often attends several charity galas in a single week—removes her gloves and lays them in her lap after sitting down. “I wouldn’t put them back on between courses,” she says. “Keep them off for the duration of the meal.” Afterward, particularly if dancing is on the agenda, she will slip them on again.
Another Victorian custom that still applies: Women can keep their gloves on when greeting others and shaking hands (this rule does not apply to men). It’s a tradition that Lauren Kulchinsky Levison is happy to perpetuate. “I’m a germaphobe, so it’s really great,” says the stylist and jewelry curator, who officially became a glove convert six years ago and now has more than 30 pairs in her collection, including a beige embroidered leather set by Erdem.
Influencer Vicki Montanari outside of the Fall / Winter 2026 Prada show.Edward Berthelot - Getty Images
Speaking of, fashion’s trickle-down effect from runway to IRL is already happening. Designer Paula Rowan, whose leather gloves have appeared on the arms of Ariana Grande, Ruth Negga, and Lady Gaga (both onstage and in House of Gucci), has seen an uptick in orders for gloves in teal, magenta, and turquoise—colors once reserved mostly for editors styling magazine shoots. “People have this preconceived notion that a glove is just to keep your hand warm,” she says, “whereas I see it as an expression of oneself.”
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Series like Bridgerton may also be an influence beyond just fashion tropes. The show bears all the visual codes of traditional period drama—tailcoats, ballroom etiquette, rigid hierarchies—but it subverts them with contemporary sensibilities about sex, race, and female agency.
The stylist Deborah Afshani sees the trend as a sign of our collective desire to embrace more formality and ritual in unsettling times. When “it feels like society’s falling apart, why not bring back a little refinement? Putting on a glove instantly changes the mannerisms, the way a woman moves and uses her hands,” she says. And yet there is also an element of bravery required to wear them these days. “This is a woman who’s not apologizing.”
Meryl Streep at the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada 2 in New York in April 2026.Taylor Hill - Getty Images
Still, a few cardinal rules apply. Good posture is paramount. And clean gloves are a must, which makes white, once the standard for formal evening wear in Victorian and Edwardian society, a shade best avoided (apart from bridal needs). James, meanwhile, makes the case for investing in a custom set, as a proper fit is critical, especially for longer styles: “Tight enough not to fall down, but not so tight that they create a kind of squinch.”
As for wearing jewelry over gloves, the consensus is clear: Don’t. “Loading rings and bracelets over a glove feels a bit like costume to me,” Afshani says. Kulchinsky Levison views it more practically: “You have to eat, right? And you have to take the gloves off. It’s too much work.”
She does, however, flout the rules during cocktail hour. “Holding a flute of champagne while wearing gloves looks very pretty. I might be breaking a code, but, you know, you shouldn’t text at a party, either—and gloves stop you from doing that.”
Going Somewhere?
We say Old World glamour is welcome anywhere, but there are a few highlights this season that deserve special attention.
This story appears in the May 2026 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
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