The Bolton thumb incorporates a peculiarity, making it a more intricate design than the typical “round thumb” found on many fabric gloves (see below). When the glove is made of leather or heavier fabrics, it allows for greater flexibility and mobility. All our sueded cotton gloves have a Bolton thumb.
The length of the glove’s arm, or sleeve, is expressed in terms of the button (or “bouton” in French). In the past, glove sleeves were traditionally buttoned, with the buttons spaced about an inch apart. Typically, button lengths begin at two buttons (the wrist) and can increase to 21 inches (the underarm).
A tiny, inner wrist opening of about three inches that makes it simple to take the wearer’s hand out of the glove The hand is still present and can be tucked inside the glove’s sleeve for eating or exchanging rings. The Mousquetaire is sealed with dainty buttons or bows. An elegant, versatile touch.
The trank is the main component of a glove, with only one side seam, the back and front of the glove, and the tops and bottoms of the fingers all cut in one piece. It’s shown in pretty pink in the photo above.
This type of glove may date back to at least the 13th century BC (although the glove mentioned in that pamphlet does not shows up on a search of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts collection database).
Because a fourchette is forked and allows the fingers to fork, it is derived from the French forked.
However, there is a type of glove known as a continuous fourchette glove in which one strip of fabric starts at the pinkie and runs up the side of the pinkie across the tip, down the side, up the next one, and so on until the end. Fourchettes are typically just the spaces between two fingers.
Just because these words are so illogical and precise makes me adore them. Who else would be aware that there are distinct words for the different parts of gloves, aside from glove makers and fashion historians?