Happy Holidays

Posted on by The Glove Guru


We’re taking a short break from the Holiday Glove Rush. But WOW, the snow storms this year certainly made our glove life interesting.

Additionally, based on customer calls & e-mails, I’ve been informed by our customer service department that it looks like the USPS (US Postal Service) has let us (along with our customers) down this year falling behind by days. Not fun after working so hard. Maybe some delays are snow related but not in LA, Miami or the South.

Next week, I’ll share our top sellers for ’08 (since we are a customer centric business) and begin to talk about real issues in the Industrial Glove markets.

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Astronaut glove wins $200,000 NASA prize

Posted on by The Glove Guru

This is an interesting item for you high-tech Glovers out there like me.

High Fives go to Peter Homer, a Maine Engineer, who developed the new astronaut glove and he had no previous experience in glove R&D or manufacturing. He just may get my Glove Guru Award this year.

Following the money – NASA will be sponsoring another contest next year and raising the stakes. I guess I better buy a new lab notebook.

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For the Love of Gloves – Retail

Posted on by The Glove Guru

What you wear to keep your hands warm can also be the punctuation point to an entire outfit.

This is a fashion article about trends in gloves this season for our female Glovers by Susan Martin, Style Editor at the Buffalo News. It’s that time of year and a quick read. Click on the Title to go to the article.

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Cartier Gloves – Handle with Care

Posted on by The Glove Guru


Gloves usually top everyone’s Christmas list, except they’re also great for protecting those family heirlooms.


One of our largest customers, Cartier (yes, that Cartier, the renowned French jeweler and watchmaker), even has us make their own brand of gloves for use in their jewelry and watch showrooms and vaults. Cartier is one of many jewelers for whom we make custom Logo Gloves. Another notable customer is Tahiti Pearl Market. The list goes on.


My point: Cotton and nylon knit gloves protect your jewelry, silverware, fine china and crystal from finger prints, scratches, and destructive and corrosion causing body oils. No one takes pleasure in seeing smudges on fine jewelry in a showcase – so why would it be acceptable in your china closet? Gloves are also great for handling important photographs and other archival media.


As for you gentlemen reading this, please make sure to visit our customer’s web sites for those special gifts for your loved one. You still have time.

Photo: Cartier on 5th Avenue – New York City




Great Gifts under $5.00…

Posted on by The Glove Guru


I read a post this morning from the Taking Stock Blog (one of my favorites). Sue is our local Retail Guru and also writes a column for the News & Observer newspaper. She constantly has great tips on shopping (even nationwide stuff) and her post this morning made me remember that we qualify for her difficult challenge.

How about Great Gloves Gifts for under $5 and remember those Stocking Stuffers.

Here’s an under $5 favorite: Winter Magic Gloves

Under $10.00: Winter Knit Gloves

For those that want to splurge this year, how about some Fur Lined Chinchilla Gloves.

Thanks for the idea, Sue.

My Modest Milestones in Gloves

Posted on by The Glove Guru


A little trivia: Nearly all of my colleagues know that I’ve been involved with gloves for a very long time but, quietly, yesterday marked my 18th year in glove R&D and manufacturing. You can add a few years to that if I account for my association with gloves.

December the 22nd, commemorates our 12th year on the internet which started in 1996. To my knowledge, we were the first internet glove company at that time. It was all new (and lonely) back then but we did have some interesting companions. (See Internet 1996) To benchmark our internet origins, that’s 2 years before Google. (Google Beta 1998)


Today, according to Alexa, the web information company, we rank #1 “globally” in glove traffic out of 46,600,000 glove related sites. Cheers, from the Glove Guru


The Mystery of Naked Metisse Leather Solved!

Posted on by The Glove Guru

When the new line of luxurious leather gloves by Grandoe arrived a few days ago (tagged: Made from Naked Metisse Leather), I struggled to recount my 2 decades of glove experience to interpret the meaning. I even beckoned our warehouse manager, Alaqui, a Moroccan who speaks fluent French, thinking it was one of those fancy words inspired by the French romantics. No luck there either. Google and my Webster’s failed me, too.

I then resorted to humble myself and go back to the source. First, I sent an e-mail to my new glove friend, Mike D’Arcy, one of the Czars at Grandoe, and asked for the meaning. His reply was simple as if I (The Glove Guru) should have known, “Metisse is the finest leather available.” Hmmmm, Thanks a bunch, Mike, I said to myself.

Thinking there was no way we could convince any of our customers from CPW (that’s Central Park West in case you’re not into NYC acronyms) that Naked Metisse leathers were the finest for gloves, I had to call Mike.

Mystery Solved: When I asked Mike on the phone, he simply chuckled. Instantly, I felt foolish but I still had to know. The nerve of him, I thought. After a short pause, he said laughing; it’s a word we made up! “OK, fine, but what is it, Italian Nappa? European lambskin?”, I asked.

Incredibly, I soon learned that these fifth generation glove makers from Grandoe were onto something new to me; old to them. The leathers they use (for more than a century) are made from Ethiopian Highland Sheepskins, which are the finest leathers available and have an international reputation for use in gloves. Sheep raised there near the Equator provide a softer and finer grain ideal for luxurious fine fashion leather gloves.

Now that I solved the mystery of Naked Metisse Leathers, I wonder who is going to make it to Wikipedia first, Mike or me. I know I’ll beat him to Google due to this post. He still gets kudos for the word and the gloves.

Leather Glove Care

Posted on by The Glove Guru

It’s that time of year and in response to the frequent questions I receive about the care of leather gloves, I thought it would be helpful to mention my recommendations here. These apply more to fashion leather gloves than general work gloves. Fashion leather gloves are generally made from premium grade sheep or lambskins which are thinner and softer than cowhide which is commonly used in work gloves. No offense to you leathernecks, but I know how you care for your gloves.

Proper care of leather gloves and leather fur lined gloves will allow them to last for years. Besides using conventional leather conditioners, proper storage is one of the most important and overlooked issue.

  • When storing, keep your leather gloves in a well-ventilated dark, dry area. This will allow the leather to stay supple and avoid mold and mildew. Sunlight will dry out and age the leather.
  • Do not store leather or fur lined leather gloves in a sealed bag. It is best to wrap them (keeping them flat) in cloth if you need to contain them. Leather is a natural material and likes to breath. Laying them flat reduces creases which can become permanent.
  • Never heat your gloves by any means or method to dry them. Let them air dry. Drying leather gloves by heat will remove the natural oils and lanolin and age the leather making it hard and brittle.

You may want to consider using the new Glove Dogs which naturally dry and deodorize your gloves. I mentioned these in my December 7th post. I know it’s a product plug but they work.

Gloved Up: Would you wear this? Retail

Posted on by The Glove Guru

Fashion Gloves for those with an endless amount of disposable income.

I found this new site called the Fashion Guru which is very well designed and very in vogue on fashion trends. Even though we feature many modern Fashion Gloves, I’m sorry to inform you that we don’t currently sell any gloves like these. But you never know, the Fashion Guru may have just started a new glove fad.

Click on the image for a preview.

Click on the title and check them out. They have other items on gloves, too.