Gloves! Gloves! Gloves! Everybody wears gloves at some point in their lives mostly during the winter months to keep their hands and fingers warm and cozy so they don't freeze. Though gloves have been around for quite sometime now not many people have really bothered to know details about gloves, when they originated and how many types of gloves there are etc.

It is believed that gloves existed during the time of Homer as in his works he has described Lacerates as wearing gloves while he walked on his stomach in the legend Odyssey. Even the Romans are said to have worn gloves. It was much later in the 13th Century that women began to wear gloves as a fashion statement. These gloves were made out of linen and silk and they were long enough to cover the hand till the elbow. It was worn mostly by ladies belonging to royalty.

In the 16th century Queen Elizabeth I began to wear gloves which were richly embroidered with jewels. Soon this became a part of the royal insignia of the emperors and Kings of Europe.

Gloves can be described as pieces of garment which cover the hands of a human being and these gloves have individual openings for each and every finger and thumb.

If there are no openings then the gloves are called fingerless gloves. These gloves have only one large opening know as gauntlet.

Another type of glove which does not have openings to cover each and every finger but still cover the entire hands are called mittens. Mittens are much warmer than gloves which are made of the same material and this is because the air inside manages to keep the hands warm and when fingers are in contact with one another they tend to increase the warmth.

Gloves are used by different people for different purposes. Fingerless gloves for instance are extremely useful for people who ride bikes. The church organists and cigarette smokers also benefit from using fingerless gloves. There are people who use fingerless gloves for playing the play station as it helps to prevent injuries.

Gloves are made using different types of material like cloth, knitted wool, leather which is common, rubber, latex, neoprene and even metal. Gloves which are made from Kevlar help to protect the wearer from getting cuts on the hands. The astronauts also wear gloves as part of the space suits.

The gloves used by the astronauts must be extremely tough to withhold all types of conditions and they should also ample protection in the different environmental conditions also permitting the astronauts to work with ease by giving greater sensitivity and flexibility.

Gloves are manufactured all over the world these days but the most expensive gloves which fashion women wear are made only in France while some are made in Canada too. New York is the place where the cheaper variety of hand gloves especially for men is made.

Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Gloves for Years. For More Information on Gloves, Visit His Site at GLOVES