.
i was asked once, if i knew why ladies in court dress, are always wearing only the right glove, & carrying the left one paired-up w/ the always present fan?.
@ the that time, i didn't know the answer.
indeed, i found out only a year or two ago, and quite by chance.
---- some members ~ or perhaps, many members ~ may already know the reason...
it'is rather simple, actually:
(okay...maybe not.
at some point, it was considered impolite & serious breach of etiquette, to touch the royal skin w/ a glove on,, and since court functions required the royals to ""shake hands" when greeting guests (for ladies, it was more a genteel & very light clasp of the last four fingers (the thumb remained hovering in space) and this gesture was always done w/ the right hand).
the royal ladies simply began to remove the right glove before the function -- over time, it just became tradition (the practice retained it's practical side, as well). i believe it was part of Court Dress in every Court in Europe.
likewise, it was customary during any type of Court Presentation --- be it a first entrée into Society ~ capital 'S' ~ an "official" introduction of Subject to monarch or whatever -- ladies were required to make a deep curtsey & "shake" (and on occasion, kiss) the royal
hand, and again, it one simply did not clasp the royal hand with a glove.
and later, around the mid-1800s (i'm guessing) , the "no glove" rule had become traditional Court Etiquette for every lady, when wearing Court Dress.
i'm not positive, but i seem to recall someone telling me, it was different in the U.S.:
in America, ladies in Polite Society ~~ Society w/ a capital 'S' ~~ considered it bad form for their skin to touch, so when ladies greeted one-another, both hands remained gloved.
this could (perhaps?) be one of the reasons why Americans were considered vulgar & ill-mannered by many members of many a European Court....
so, yeah. that's why.
(as far as i know, anyway.)
.
