Handschoen van grijze suède, met kappen met een suède strik c. 1930 - 1940

Curator: What a delicate find. These gloves, crafted from grey suede, date back to sometime between 1930 and 1940 and originate from the Maison de Bonneterie. I am especially drawn to the suede ribbons and bows decorating the cuff. Editor: They project a sense of restrained elegance. The colour is interesting; not quite white, not fully grey – almost ghost-like in their muted tones. I find them subtly melancholic. Curator: Yes, the colour choice speaks volumes. It resists the starkness often associated with functional items, suggesting a degree of self-aware performance. Gloves were, and in many ways remain, intensely social objects, involved in elaborate rituals and displays. Editor: That bow detail also betrays the performative nature of fashion, especially the constraints of femininity. There’s this need to soften the hand—to render it not just functional but, frankly, pretty. Do they speak to ideals around social position? Curator: Certainly, access to such delicate accessories would indicate a specific level of societal access. I’d like to study more closely how an item like this functioned in maintaining class and gender boundaries of that era. The muted grey colour would imply perhaps a wearer less given to ostentation. Editor: Though, consider how this “restraint” itself performs a type of privilege. To possess such items and have it appear effortless. I think these objects invite us to analyze what feminine virtue meant in the pre-war era. Curator: Exactly! How objects create—and also, constrain—gender and class, revealing them both to be constructs. Editor: I suppose when I look at them, I think of the hidden histories these hands may have seen. Of subtle power plays. Curator: Indeed. I will keep this dialogue in mind when considering these objects from now on. Editor: Agreed. A seemingly simple object revealing quite complex societal currents.