Glove Stories

A glove worn by Queen Elizabeth I and a pair of gloves worn in the Star Wars films are to go on show as part of a fascinating new display, Glove Stories, which will open at the Fashion Museum Bath on 2 March 2019 and run until 1 March 2020.

The display, featuring one of the best collections of gloves in the world, will showcase examples of historical gloves from the past 400 years, many of which have never been on show to the public before. Highlights of the exhibition include Queen Elizabeth I’s Coronation Glove, which is rarely seen on public display, and Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Glove: the original glove worn by Her Majesty the Queen during her coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey in June 1953. On display alongside will be an identical copy. This is the ‘spare’ made in case of accidents on the day. And this is the first time that the two single gloves have ever been displayed together.

Glove Stories shines a light on the British glove industry. At one time there were hundreds of glove makers across Britain, centred in the towns and villages of Somerset, Dorset and West Wiltshire. A key element of the Glove Collection of the Worshipful Company of Glovers of London is the Spence Collection, a grouping of over 100 single gloves and pairs of mainly 17th-century gloves, all carefully collected by artist Robert Spence. Spence donated his collection of gloves to the Worshipful Company in 1959.

The Worshipful Company of Glovers of London was formed in 1349 by glove makers in London who wished to protect the high standard of their craft and was granted its Royal Charter by King Charles I in 1638. The Livery collection is now cared for and housed at the Fashion Museum.

Find out more about this fascinating exhibition here. Until March 2020. Good news: the Fashion Museum is housed in the same building as the Selvedge Spring Fair, taking place on the 30 March 2019. Why not take a trip to Bath and combine both events? Click here for information and tickets for the fair.