The best glove makers in the world use old-fashioned sewing machines in East Sussex. This is the small Cornelia James empire, who have held a Royal Warrant since 1979. Our late Queen wore Cornelia James gloves and The Crown commissions them for their fictional version of the most famous dynasty on earth. You’ll see them in the first two series. The gloves are also worn by Catherine, Princess of Wales.
So who was Cornelia James? Her daughter Genevieve James picks up the thread.
“She arrived in England as a refugee with her leather and she started teaching Occupational Therapy to the soldiers. Then she realised she had to make a living so she started designing a whole range of leather gloves in all these brightly coloured skins she’d brought over. Suddenly she became quite well known, because at that time there was no money for clothing, but there was money to buy nice accessories.”
The fashion label has quite a client list. Apart from the Princess of Wales among her royal customers, Geneieve James counts Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, while big names from the music world Madonna, Lady Gaga and Rihanna also adore her gloves. Nicole Kidman ordered the accessory for her role in Moulin Rouge (she faxed over a photo of her hand for the bespoke pair) and Genevieve’s team even creates costume gloves for actors in hit TV shows The Crown and Downton Abbey.
Surprisingly though, her Majesty often sent her gloves back to Cornelia James for repair. Genevieve shared: “I think all the royal family do, which I think is excellent. They’re quite well aware of being fairly frugal with their clothing and occasionally we have an odd pair returned.”
Buying Gloves as a Present
If you are buying gloves for a woman and don’t know her glove size (or don’t want to ruin the surprise), her height can give a clue to their most likely glove size, according to Cornelia James
| Height | Most likely glove size |
| Under 5’1″ | 6½ |
| 5’1″ to 5’6″ | 7 |
| 5’7″ to 5’8″ | 7½ |
| 5’9″ to 5’11” | 8 |
| Above 6′ | 8½ |
Legendary British Gloves
Cornelia had studied art and design in Vienna and arrived in England as a refugee in 1939. After the war, Vogue magazine profiled her as “the colour Queen of England”. In November 1947 the marriage of Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten showcased the gloves perfectly. Norman Hartnell made the Princess’ wedding gown and ‘going-away’ outfit and he turned to Cornelia James for the rest.
The range is suitably royal. Mousquetaire gloves have a buttoned opening on the inside of the wrist of a long glove. As the Cornelia James website advises, its purpose is to allow the wearer to remove the hand from the glove whilst keeping the sleeve of the glove on the arm. The empty ‘hand’ of the glove is then neatly tucked up inside the sleeve. At a very formal banquet or dinner, it is ‘incorrect’ to wield knife and fork in a gloved hand and the mousquetaire opening offers a way around this social hurdle. It is also most helpful when a ring finger needs to be made available at a wedding.
This clip from the Cornelia James YouTube channel explains more.
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More on Genevieve James at Hello magazine
The Story Behind the Cornelia James Boxes
https://www.blog.gwd.ltd.uk/new-presentation-box-for-cornelia-james
Follow Cornelia James on Twitter – one of fashion’s favourite secret accounts (Rihanna and advertising image: @corneliajames)
