Once again, we are honored and proud to provide our distinct White Military Honor Guard Gloves and Parade Gloves for another important event in the United Kingdom and this one is more celebratory honoring the King Charles’ upcoming Coronation in the United Kingdom on May 6th.
It was only last September, when we were rushed to supply over 1,200 pairs of the same gloves for the Queen’s funeral events which was very somber but this time this royal event is more pompous and grander which is more uplifting and moving due to this rare historical occasion.
We have supplied our distinct gloves to many special events world-wide for over 25 years to many countries from Australia to the UAE including the UK and the many US Military units across the country.
Due to the large number of Honor Guard Gloves ordered, we anticipate that the Coronation is going to be a rather large royal ceremonial event.
As you can imagine, it is very exciting for us to see our gloves in action on the live news broadcasts and we are honored that the British Family Royal House of Windsor continues to choose our gloves due to our high quality and excellent service.
GO GLOVES is honored and proud to be an important supplier of gloves for the Queen’s Royal State funeral events.
This week we expedited several cases of our special White Gloves to England for the Queens funeral events. That would be over 1,200 pair in case you were curious.
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised since we have supplied gloves to various military dealers in the UK for years for their pageantry and parade uses. As most know, England is famous for their formal pomp and ceremony events and since we have the broadest selection of military dress gloves, we have a longstanding following for over 25 years now in the UK and the USA. In fact, we also supply gloves to the Funeral Honor Guards in Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C.
Coincidentally, I was about to create a post this week about selecting Military Dress Gloves, but I think I will wait since I may have some new images from the Queen’s State Funeral.
For over 25 years, GO Gloves has been famously known world-wide for our high-quality gloves. This not only includes our materials of choice, and the construction and design of our gloves, but also the fine features we include in each glove model.
This includes glove features like the “ergonomic” finger lengths, our precise sizing, the finger fourchettes on some models, ornamental seams on the back of various glove models, our special Beaded Palm gloves for better grip, our unique shirred “gathered” wrists which help hold the gloves on the hand, and our Keystone Thumbs.
These glove features, just to name a few, are good to know about ……and from time to time, I like to bring them to your attention.
I have no doubt that most of you have no clue what a Keystone Thumb is, which is expected, so I will inform you on this special glove feature so you can make wise decisions on your glove purchases in the future.
Keystone thumb feature: I am sorry to repeat myself about this glove feature since I have discussed this feature many times in the past, but it is essential. This glove feature may not seem to be particularly important or maybe taken for granted, but a Keystone Thumb feature is very important if you want the gloves to be comfortable, offer better dexterity, have a more natural fit and be more form fitting to your hand, and “ergonomically” fit the user. After all, this is what a high-quality glove is all about.
As an example, think of the comfort and dexterity required by marching band instrument members who must wear and use the gloves for exceptionally long periods of time. This includes the dexterity that is desired and required by musicians and everyone else who wears and uses gloves daily or occasionally. The same also applies to most all work gloves that must be used and worn daily.
Note: To identify a Keystone Thumb glove model, these are where the thumb piece is made separately and set into and sewn into the palm of the glove. Gloves without a Keystone Thumb are simply two pieces of fabric laid out and cut to the shape of the hand and sewn together. We often refer to these types of glove thumbs as Wing Thumbs or Straight Thumbs. Our hands are not designed this way and therefore, gloves without a keystone thumb are less comfortable, have an unnatural fit, and provide much less dexterity.
Gloves without a Keystone Thumb are also a sign of a lower quality and cheaply made glove. A Keystone Thumb is an essential feature in almost any glove except for Ambidextrous Gloves, Knit Gloves, or some rugged Heat Resistant Gloves and various industrial work gloves such as some Impact Resistant Gloves and Welding Gloves.
In conclusion, the fine glove features that we use in our gloves that I mention in my introduction, like a Keystone Thumb, certainly add to the costs in producing the gloves. However, our goal is to only provide the best quality gloves available. It is what we built our glove business upon since our beginnings and that will never change. It is what we are renowned for and why we have thousands of repeat gloves customers around the world.
“We leave the cheaply made gloves up to our competitors along with the complaints that come with them”.
As always, let me know if you have any questions or questions pertaining to any glove feature or a glove purchase that you may need assistance on. It is always nice to speak directly with our customers and I enjoy when they say, “I’m glad I called.”
Since 1996, we have provided a variety of Marching Band Gloves and Parade Gloves to a wide range of customers and today, we now offer (if you can imagine) over 40 different styles. These styles fulfill the needs for school bands, university marching bands, military, and honor guard units. Besides the marching band units, our models also serve to provide that parade look for banner carriers, cheerleaders, drill team units, and flag bearers.
We are also very honored and proud to be the official supplier to the Military Honor Guard Units at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. among others across the USA. The Honor Guard staff people have been our most loyal customers for many years and we thank you.
Important feature
Before I discuss our various marching band gloves and parade gloves, I feel the need to point out an especially important feature in our parade gloves which is frequently overlooked when you buy gloves.
Keystone thumb feature: I am sorry to repeat myself since I have discussed this feature many times in the past, but it is essential. This feature may not seem to be particularly important, but it is if you want the gloves to be comfortable, form fitting, and ergonomically fit the user. Think of the comfort and dexterity required by marching band instrument members who must wear and use the gloves for exceptionally long periods of time. This includes the dexterity that is needed and required by musicians.
Note: To identify a keystone thumb glove model, these are where the thumb piece is made separately and set into and sewn into the palm of the glove. Gloves without a keystone thumb are simply two pieces of fabric laid out and cut to the shape of the hand and sewn together. Our hands are not designed this way and therefore, gloves without a keystone thumb are less comfortable and provide less dexterity. Gloves without a keystone thumb are also a sign of a lower quality and cheaply made glove. This is an essential feature in almost any glove except for some rugged heat resistant and some industrial work gloves such as welding gloves.
Best seller: This is a question that is frequently asked, and I always ask, “What are you using them for first?” However, for general use, we always suggest our CP-250 White Parade Gloves and we also offer them in a CP-250-BKblack model version. These are 100% high quality cotton with ornamental stitching located the back of the gloves for a more ceremonial look. This model is also available in an Extra Long version which is the CP-250-12 Model.
Our CP-250 White Parade Gloves
Parade Glove Styles
Glove Lengths: We offer a glove style for every requirement. Our styles include our wrist length models to our extended cuff (Extra Long Cuff) which run between 10 to 12” in length. Many customers prefer the extended lengths if they wish to hide their skin for that sharp military style look.
Glove Grip: We also have models with micro-dotted palms in both lengths which offer superior grip.
Deluxe Grip Glove Model: This popular model is a more rugged version of our normal beaded grip gloves with reinforcements throughout the glove and denser beads on the palms and fingers. This model also has a reinforced thumb cotch for extended life of the glove. They also come with a Velcro wrist strap closure for a very snug fit. This model is available in a White (MC-517) or black color (MC-571-BK).
Glove Cuff Options: The most popular cuff option of choice is the slip-on version. Most of these models come with a shirred (gathered) wrist for a snug fit and to prevent the gloves from slipping off. Another option are models with a snap cuff. Although these gloves look sharp close up, I’m not a fan of these models since the snaps can break and can become useless over time. Many customers like the look of these gloves but I always try to encourage our customers to purchase gloves with a slip-on cuff. The exception here would be our “Deluxe Grip Glove” with the Velcro cuff closure reviewed above.
Cold Weather Glove Model: Another option is our Extended Length Fleece Lined White Honor Guard Glove models for use in cold weather conditions. However, we do not make a lined model in the wrist length gloves for obvious reasons. Our Lined Cold Weather Glove Model also comes with a standard plain palm and a dotted palm if more grip is required. Look for the CP-422 and the CP-422-PD models.
Colored Glove Models:
Most of our Cotton Parade Gloves come in both black and white color options. However, for over 25 years we have made and sold Flash Colored Gloves.
Our Flash Gloves, as they are commonly called, are made using high quality “stretch” polyester fabric since they are more universally sized (one size fits most) and not as size critical with dyed cotton versions. It should be noted that we make both Men’s Flash Gloves and Women’s Flash Gloves models.
Another advantage of using polyester is that polyester fibers, being a polymer, can be made in very vibrant colors and will not fade or lose their color like cotton. It should be noted that our polyester material looks and feels like cotton opposed to the shiny cheap polyester that used to be made into clothing in the 60’s.
Important Features in the colored gloves is to make sure the polyester is a soft stretchy material due to sizing issues and, again, make sure that they have a Keystone Thumb Feature as previously discussed above.
Three Colored Glove Models:
We offer our Flash Gloves in 3 models. The most popular are the solid color models which come in both Men’s and Women’s models. The other model is our Flash 2 Color Glove Model. The two-color models have a white top with a colored palm. The purpose of the two-color model is that the performers look like they are wearing traditional white gloves while marching which turns into a color as they do a dance routine showing their palms in unison. This is a nice visual element when you see a performance using the two-color models.
Colors: The Ladies Flash Gloves come in 8 vivid colors; the Men’s Flash gloves come in 5 popular colors; and the Two-Color Flash Gloves come in 9 colors.
In conclusion, I hope I have covered most of the important details regarding Band Gloves and Parade Gloves. You should also be able to see more specific details about each model in the product details by following the links provided.
I know that everyone like me enjoys watching live marching band performances and I hope that this season unlike last season due to the Covid Virus issues is exciting and lively once again.
If you have any questions or need any assistance with selecting a parade glove, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Stay safe with gloves and thank you for subscribing,
Ansell-Hawkeye Glove Company (formerly Hawkeye Glove) closed down last Thursday, May 31st.
Hawkeye Glove was a primary contractor of gloves for the US Military before Ansell acquired the company in 2008 at a reported price of 10.8 million. The closure affects 22 production workers at the Fort Dodge plant and it could affect many more once it closes its other production operations.
Management blamed the plant’s closure on Pentagon budget cuts but in theory this type of glove production which is based on cut-and-sewn gloves probably led to its demise. Ansell’s core production expertise is in dipped disposable gloves and condoms and Hawkeye’s expertise was in leather and cotton glove production.
For me, the writing was on the wall when they stopped making US made Marine Corp white dress gloves for us in 2009. It’s too bad they shuttered the business before letting us know.
And GO Gloves has managed to help with hard-to-find White Gloves for the last 15 years.
As a matter of fact, White Gloves were our first major glove line on our web site back in 1996. (To put that in perspective that was 2 years before Google’s beta version.) Today, our White Glove program remains our largest product line by far and we estimate that we are the largest supplier of white glove in North America.
Besides providing gloves to doormen (see article) around the world, we have many types of white glove styles for any occasion or event. For all age groups, too. Check them out for yourself.
Click on the title of this post to see the “New York Times” article on the Latest Doormen fashion.
Part of the initial verse from the oldest official song in the United States military seemed fitting to announce the arrival of the official white Military Dress Gloves of the US Military to our “hard to find” glove stock.
These military dress gloves are the official gloves purchased by DSCP (Department of Defense clothing supply unit) and made exclusively for the DOD in the USA. .
It took a little stiff arming to get my hands on these gloves even though I serve on the DOD Glove Technical Sub-Committee. Now they are an exclusive at GO Gloves and our military customers no longer have to settle for a second class dress glove. Even you die hard Dress Blue men and women warriors!
