'An Entirely Fictitious Importance'? Reconsidering the Significance of the Irish Glove Trade: A Study of Limerick Gloves, 1778–1840. (June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Foley, Liza
• Is Part Of: Costume. Volume 48:Number 2(2014)
• Page Start: 160
• Page End: 171
• Publication Date: 2014-06
• Subjects: Limerick gloves, -- Ireland's glove trade, -- eighteenth-century fashion, -- nineteenth-century fashion, -- walnut shell, -- fashion accessories; Costume -- Periodicals; Costume -- History -- Periodicals; 391
• DOI: 10.1179/0590887614Z.00000000048
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0590-8876

Abstract

Abstract : This essay reconsiders the significance of Ireland's glove trade through a study of the formerly celebrated Limerick gloves. Made from the aborted skins of unborn calves and sold encased in a walnut shell, these gloves are a fascinating example of Irish design. Yet, despite existing in numerous collections across England and Ireland, very little attention has been paid to the study of these artefacts. Tracing their position as a fashionable article of aristocratic dress, this essay demonstrates that Limerick gloves played an important role in both Irish and English dress history. It contends that, not only were the gloves instrumental in demonstrating aristocratic ideals of propriety and decorum, but they also impacted other regional glove manufacturing as a result of their desirability.