Note: Do not smell, or make someone else smell your glove in public.
Like sunglasses and coats, a pair of sport style ski-gloves will look out of place in many (read: most) situations. So while it’s good to have a pair of gore-tex mitts for the slopes, reach for a less technical looking pair for when you’re in town. For sizing, not all gloves come in the standard S, M, L, XL. Plenty are sized by the circumference of the wearer’s hand. More specifically, around the part where your hand’s knuckles are. If you don’t have a tailor’s measuring tape, take a piece of printer paper and wrap the shorter end (8.5″) around that part of your hand. That should give you a ballpark idea.
Quilted Leather: Ralph Lauren Racing Gloves – $69.99 ($88)
Polo RL puts out a slightly different version of their quilted racing moto glove every year, and for good reason. They sorta hit all the points that need to be hit. They’re lined but not puffy, the quilted tops give them some texture, the wrist snap is a nice extra detail, and they work both with a topcoat and a suit, or a casual jacket and jeans. Not the cheapest gloves out there, but can dip into the high $50s when there’s an extra 25% off sale. Meanwhile, there’s a much cheaper option available over at Loehmann’s.
Suede: Scotch + Soda Suede Teddy Lined Gloves – $55.00 ($79)
Hard not to like suede when it comes to standing out quietly. A matte texture that just visually looks warm, suede leans more casual but can easily be worn with a suit and topcoat. Button snap at the wrist on these. Terrific shade of brown.
Mixed Leather: Joseph Abboud Black Leather w/ Suede Trim Gloves – $35.00 ($85)
Doesn’t work on blazers, but it does work on gloves. Almost entirely smooth black leather, with suede inserts at the edges. It’s the most basic of all gloves, with those triple lines on the top, but changed just a bit. Bluefly prices can fluctuate wildly, so these’ll probably move around in price.
Tweed/Wool Tops: Merona Herringbone Smart Touch Gloves – $21.99
Currently part of Target’s buy one get one half off sale. Sadly, it doesn’t work on buy one glove, get the other glove half off, since these things get sold in pairs. Faux leather here, with a wool blend top. Higher Quality version available over at Nordstrom for $69.50. Ouch.
Quilted Tops: Dartmoor Canvas Quilted/Leather Palm Gloves – $50.00
Nice looking texture to the canvas tops. Leather on the palms and undersides of the fingers. Color blocking for your hands, so keep the coat dead simple if you go with these. Also available in a brown/bordeaux. 50/50 wool cashmere lining. Via Gilt, which has a brutal return policy.
The non-traditional driver: Orvis Lambskin Driving Gloves – $69.00
Oft-mentioned here but a drum worth beating. Had these for the last year and they’re starting to pick up a real nice Patina. While they’re unlined, they’ll keep your hands warm unless it’s bitter out. Unlike a traditional driver which has a ton of ventilation (and thus, can get pretty chilly), these have enough perforating for airflow, but enough coverage to keep the wind off your skin. And, they do provide good grip for driving. Really well built too.
The Traditional Driver: Dents – $80.00
AKA the well dressed serial killer. Less glove… more money? All those holes have the same purpose of the holes on a rally style watchstrap. Keeps your hands from getting clammy as you’re skidding through the turns. Not very warm. Can look fantastic, or, a little too fashion-y. Less showy alternatives over at Nordstrom for $69.50.
The Warm Shearling: Aston Leather Top-Stitched Gloves – $67.96 w/ ALTURKEY3
Not bad for a pair of Made in the USA, Shearling, toasty gloves. That code gets you 20% off anything at Sierra Trading Post, but hang out for one of their often distributed through social media channels 30 – 35% off codes. That’ll drop em to $55 – $60.
The Dirt Cheap Option: Stafford Herringbone & Leather – $11.99 w/ CYBRXTND
Ah yes… leather palms and the bones of herring on the top. No? That’s not… ? Ah, I see. Well at least the palms are “leather”. Gotta love JCP marking these down to fifteen bucks, then taking an extra 20% off. Might be a little tough to find in store.
The “Single Digits or Below” Behemoths: Beaver Fur Choppers – $243
Got a pal who built a cabin with his brother and dad out in the middle of nowhere. Snow is plentiful from October – March. It snows so much that to plow the snow, they use an old tractor that’s had a front-end loader bucket welded to the front of it (complete with functioning hydraulics). The Dad of this family picked it (the bucket) up at a farm auction or something, looked at the tractor, and made it work. These three are basically the A-Team. This is the hand-wear choice for that family. Good enough for them, good enough for anyone. Made in Bemidji, MN by Fur Armor.
Your turn guys… what’s your go to pair of daily-wear gloves this time of year? Leave it all in the comments section. Stay warm.
Joseph A Banks has Lambskin leather/96% cashmere 4% wool lined gloves for $31 and the Thinsulate lined one for $24. Might be a good alternative?
http://www.josbank.com/menswear/shop/SubCategory_11001_10050_9204500
I’m always looking for great gloves, but sadly I like none of those. Mixed media and quilting are both the uggs to me, suede sort of defeats the purpose of a glove that is going to be worn in wet weather they’ll look nice right up until the first time you get them wet. I might get a week if I baby them, but again that sort of defeats the purpose of a winter glove. The driving gloves are fine for driving, but are not even remotely warm maybe they’re useful in winter in warmer climates, but anywhere where winter temps actually dip significantly below freezing, they are not winter gloves. The perforations are there to make them COOL, not warm. The Aston gloves look pretty good, but I personally do not like the way the seams are finished on the fingers. It makes them look and feel bulky and unfinished.
I started a thread about it and got some great suggestions. I particularly like Chester Jeffries, and my tried and true German Surplus gloves. http://threads.dappered.com/showthread.php/11872-Nice-looking-fitted-leather-winter-glove-that-is-also-built-to-last
I got two pairs of these last year from Chester Jefferies. Deer skin, cashmere lined and hand made in the UK! The extra details and quality is outstanding! The leather is buttery soft but since it’s deer skin, it’s also nice a thick. The cashmere lining keeps my hand very warm as well. I believe they are comparable to Dents but cost quite a bit less. World wide shipping is around $8 and the customer service is great, why not give them a try?
http://www.chesterjefferies.co.uk/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=169
Dark brown deerskin and merino wool, and made in America. Not the cheapest, but they’ll last forever. I’m 57 years old, and I wear a pair my father left me. http://geierglove.com/merinowool-lined-204es-ldw.html
Surprised you missed these….
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aeonattire/aeon-attire-finally-leather-gloves-as-smart-as-you/
I’m still looking for winter gloves, but for driving gloves I picked up (by coincidence) the same gloves Dexter apparently uses. They are police gloves, actually cheaper than the driving gloves listed here, and are hella-sexy.
I got the Marksman version because they cover the wrist a little more. You can search “Tough Gloves” on Amazon, and if they don’t have your color in your size you can go directly to the Tough Gloves website.
I’d link but I’m on an iPad and it doesn’t let me do that. So here’s a pic.
Anybody have experience w/ Lands End’s gloves? They’ve got a suede-topped pair for around $30 right now but I don’t know how soft/thin they are.
Got the Ralph Lauren ones over a year ago and I love them. I don’t use them a lot, but when it gets cold, i love wearing them into work on the drive in. Makes me feel so racer. I will say, their style is definitely UP. Meaning, the rest of what I’m wearing that day better be on point, otherwise it looks odd wearing such classy gloves with a slub outfit.
So if I typically find that gloves which fit in the hand have fingers that are too long, should I size down one and count on the leather to stretch?
Up to now I’ve been getting fingerless (and optionally intentionally shrinking wool gloves) to work around this.
Yow. Those are very, very handsome.
I bought the herringbone Stafford gloves, because, well, they were almost free. They look really fantastic – have gotten a bunch of compliments on them. The only weird bit is that they didn’t use a single piece of leather for the palm, so the fit can be a tiny bit funny – but not a huge issue. The big issue for me is the lining tore like the third time I wore them. Not a huge risk, but buyer beware: quality isn’t very good. That said, an awesome option for an extra pair or something you wouldn’t be afraid to ruin.
“AKA the well dressed serial killer.”
Hahahahaha! Actually LOLed on that one..
You need cadet fit….oh wait, that’s golf gloves.
I have the same problem – my knuckles are pretty beefy and my fingers are on the shorter side. In general, if a glove feels like it might stretch, it probably well. If it feels really snug / unforgiving, expect to wiggle less room out of it. It also is worth paying attention to the type of leather. Some (i.e goat) really don’t stretch at all. Cow can often be worked into a reasonable fit over time.
If you’re like me, you love the idea of driving gloves. I live in the northern Midwest, so they aren’t a winter option for folks like me. Banana Republic has a pair, but they are WAY overpriced at the moment. Fantastic looking, though. Tried a pair on in the store, and are still a little thin for the bitter cold–but will look and feel great otherwise.
http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=46459&vid=1&pid=686144012
Joe, have you had a chance to look at these from BR? http://brstyl.es/1gEgGVa
My suggestion is to search out a pair of gloves that still let you use a smartphone touch screen (usually the glove will say it has smart-touch or something similar).
I cannot overstate how much I appreciate being able to pull out my phone and use it while waiting in the cold for a train without having to take my glove off.
I love those herringbone gloves. Didn’t saw them in Canada, however.
I had the same experience. I went to the store to exchange them, since the the lining tore on the second wear, but I realized all the gloves they had were torn too, so I just returned it and got the less handsome target ones
I have a problem spending good money on something I might where for a month out of the year. I have a cheap pair of black leather gloves that do the trick, but if I wanted something really nice it would be hard to pass these up.
http://www.autodromo.com/products/stringback-driving-gloves
Very nice looking gloves. Which color is that? Dark Brown or Dark Tan?
Chaps leather gloves (Kohl’s). Great cheaper option and they have the touchscreen fingertips. These are $36 before additional discounts (currently 20%). I picked them up on clearance for $15 at the end of last season.
I second the Banana Republic driving gloves. I just received a pair of
the sequoias at 40% off and they look and feel fantastic. The inner
lining which extends to the wrist also make them a more practical option
for cold weather than traditional driving gloves. Another pleasant
surprise was that the lining of the gloves I received are actually 100%
wool, although for some strange reason, BR has it listed as 100%
polyester.
These are the dark brown! Total costs was around $80 for me, you have to wait a couple of weeks but well worth it!
Grabbed the suede Scotch & Soda gloves. Thanks for the tip!
If the glove does not fit…you must acquit!
I’m pretty sure the purpose of the holes in a driving glove were to provide more give around the knuckles from gripping the steering wheel. they came about when many cars had open cockpits and your hands got cold from the wind, so I doubt getting too warm was a problem.
I always look at the TJMax/Marshall’s/Ross stores for gloves. In my area they often have a good selection of basic leather gloves with various linings for under $15.
I always just hit a Wilson outlet when it’s warm. You can almost always find a cheap pair of good looking leather gloves for under $20. They aren’t spectacular but they do the job and they look good. I know some people think they give the serial killer look, but I’m usually in a dark suit, with a black topcoat and I think they look great with that combination.
I also had the same experience. I would avoid these at any cost.
My favorite Spinal Tap record is “Shark Soup”.
Great call, on both points.
Holy… why’d you have to go and post that… goodness.
A word of caution about the merona touch screen gloves. I tried several pairs on (different sizes), and they just didn’t work for me. The fingers just didn’t fit my finger in the right way to get any real traction on the screen. Having had that experience, I’d never order touch screen gloves online unless there were free returns.
I like the Joseph Abboud Basic gloves — sub $50, good leather, cashmere lined
http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Abboud-Smooth-Leather-Glove/dp/B007RJYG8O
I lost both pairs I had last year on a business trip, and replaced them recently from Amazon. Brown is slightly lighter color (medium rather than dark — but some saddle soap should darken them sufficiently for my taste; haven’t done that yet.) Point being, same reliable quality, good fit, and timeless fashion. Wish they didn’thave the diamond logo thing but otherwise no complaints.
Picked up the Merona one’s two weeks ago for a Thanksgiving trip to UT. Love ’em.
thirding the bad experience. ripped on the 2nd wear. avoid.
Yep, exactly those. I’ve got a pair of gloves and really don’t *need* a second (TX Gulf Coast) but I like the idea of a suede upper on gloves.
more options
http://www.hm.com/us/product/12400?article=12400-C
http://www.hm.com/us/product/15027?article=15027-A
what size are the RL and Loehman mediums? 8inches?
I was looking at a pair from LL Bean. Still close to $50. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/74736?productId=1237093&qs=3016887_mercent_google_pla&attrValue_0=Black&mr:trackingCode=171A9896-B0F0-E211-A497-90E2BA285E75&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=c&mr:adType=pla&mkwid=QzRxspRH_dc&pcrid=28597245897. Looks like they’re sold out right now
Also, I went with a wool version, but Nordstrom Rack recently had a bunch of leather gloves with the touchscreen option if you have a store by you.
Between the gloves and some of their watch they make some very sexy stuff.
Hey just an FYI, the Ralph Lauren Quilted Racing Gloves are now on sale for $52.49.
http://www.ralphlauren.com/product/index.jsp?productId=24140426&SiteId=th9ILo5LtqE-Qmg0QIBofZkqTjxMgsJj0w&utm_source=Affiliate&utm_medium=th9ILo5LtqE
Got the last Medium pair of Ralph Lauren gloves from Nordstrom’s and I love them. So warm! Should I be concerned about getting these wet? I’ve honestly never had leather gloves before.