Winter Wonderingland

The approach of winter seems to have brought up some style conundrums. How do I do 'layering' without looking like I've put on a few extra pounds? Can I wear these sandals with black opaque tights?  How do you carry a shoulder bag when you're wearing a cape?  And is wearing a hat worth it if it totally flattens your hair?  Last year I had a cute knitted teal-coloured beret which also made me look like I had a lobotomy scar when I took it off due to the elastic digging into my forehead.  But the things I've mainly been wondering about is all about gloves (yes, stuff Europe's collapsing economy and the uprisings in the Middle East, WHAT ABOUT THE GLOVES?)

The delectable Dita in fetish-style evening gloves

The ladylike Crawley sisters

Several trends this season, such as 'Ladylike' and 'Fetish' have gloves as an outfit-making accessory.  My beloved Downton Abbey's heroines wear gloves to all elegant events.  But nowadays, apart from keeping our hands warm when it gets brass monkeys outside, can gloves be worn all the time, like jewellery?  This week's LOOK Magazine suggests "swapping last season's stacked bangles for a pair of coloured leather gloves".  But are civilians like me wearing them indoors?  Can I sit at my computer at work in the elbow-length black gauntlets I've bought but not yet worn, without my colleagues asking me if I've got a bad case of eczema or channelling Dr No?   Could I go down the pub or out to dinner still wearing my gloves?  Thing is, it's not just a trend thing; I'm a big fan of their elegance.  I had a pair of Edwardian style crochet white gloves from the V&A shop which I wore to a wedding a few years ago (but came a cropper with some fake blood from my Halloween 'Murdered Victorian Prostitute' costume on their second outing), and I felt so refined and possibly even dainty.  I've worn long gloves to fancy dress events but the thing is, eating, holding a glass, going to the loo, finding stuff in my bag, and well, pretty much everything have all proved far less effective.  And don't even get me started on operating an iPhone's touch screen.  It seems that despite the attempt to bring chic accessories to everyday life, their inpracticality means they can only be used for special occasions.  Or if you're just really really cold.  Or playing football.  I'd really like to try to wear them more though, and am going to keep my eyes out for fellow fashionistas willing to take a risk.  And if it's good enough for glamorous icons like Lady Mary Crawley and Miss Piggy, it's worth it.

Me on a previous (rare) glove-wearing occasion

So I don't seem to have come up with any ground breaking theories or answers, but I got through a whole post without making any glove-based puns, which for me is a great achievement.  Believe me, this post came very close to being called 'What's Gloves Got To Do With It?'.  Ugh.