It’s a peculiar thing, but you need a lot of courage to withstand public opinion in regard to fashion.
If you wear something slightly unusual you must be prepared to put up with stares and unsolicited comments – sometimes even ridicule.
Many people are intolerant of anything that deviates too much from the common. Few would take a second look at a woman with purple hair, or crude tattoos, or thick black eye-make up. We’ve all seen those things many times.
But I get stared at every time I walk down a public street. This is not because I’m uncommonly beautiful, or uncommonly ugly. It’s because I wear gloves.
I’ve worn gloves outdoors for many, many years. I’m a pianist, and all pianists are careful of their hands. When I was a young piano student, I had a family friend who had to have carcinomas cut off his hands. He was fond of gardening and spent quite a lot of time in the sun.
I also like the outdoors, and I was determined that would not happen to me. I tried wearing sunscreen on my hands, but I wash my paws so frequently I was forever having to re-apply the cream, and it was making my hands so dry. So then I thought of wearing gloves. I had to search in second-hand shops for them, but I found some.
At first I felt self-conscious, but very soon the gloves just became part of my identity. I’ve always liked old-fashioned clothes anyway, so the gloves often seemed to complement my outfits, rather than distract from them.
My friends are used to this eccentric habit of mine. But ‘Why are you wearing those?’ is still the first question a new acquaintance asks me. It always makes me giggle to myself, as do the stares in the street. Those people probably think I’ve got dreadful scars to hide – or perhaps that I’m concealing elephantiasis underneath my white gloves.
It puzzles me too. Everyone in Australia is aware of the dangers of melanomas. More and more people are wearing hats. Why aren’t more people imitating our sensible forebears and wearing gloves?
Apart from the protection they offer, they look elegant. I think so anyway. I love matching gloves to my outfits. I wear leather gloves in winter and white or beige cotton gloves in summer.
And I don’t let the stares, or the occasional jibe bother me. After all, as Chanel said, “The most courageous act is to think for yourself.”
