A pair of unlined hairsheep gloves from a Worcester or Millau workshop should close over the hand on the first wear, then give by a fraction over the weeks that follow. Sizing leather gloves correctly comes down to that small margin. Glove sizes are still expressed in inches, taken as one measurement around the widest part of the palm, and half an inch either way separates a glove that moulds to the hand from one that wrinkles at the knuckles or strains at the seams. What follows covers how to measure, how to read a size chart, how a new pair should feel, and how the leather and the lining change the size you choose.
How Glove Sizes Are Measured in Inches
A glove size is the circumference of the hand in inches, measured around the widest part of the palm just below the knuckles, with the thumb left out. A hand that measures 7½ inches takes a size 7½ glove.
The method is nineteenth century in origin. The Grenoble glover Xavier Jouvin is credited with devising a system of sizing gloves by measuring the hand around its widest point in 1834, and the steel cutting dies that followed made it possible to produce gloves in consistent graded sizes. Before that, gloves were cut largely by eye. The numbered size on a label today still refers back to that single measurement.
Two conventions now sit side by side. Traditional glovemakers such as Dents, founded in Worcester in 1777, size in whole and half numbers, running from 6 to 8½ for women and 7½ to 11 for men. Fashion houses and casual styles more often use letters, S to XL, each of which groups two half sizes together. The numbered system is the more precise of the two, and the one to rely on whenever a close fit matters.
How to Measure for Leather Gloves at Home
To measure for leather gloves, wrap a soft tape around your dominant hand at its widest point, just below the knuckles and above the thumb, with the fingers together and the hand relaxed. Read the figure in inches and round down to the nearest half size.
Measure the hand you write with, since it is usually slightly larger than the other. A tailor’s tape gives the cleanest glove size measurement, though a strip of paper marked with a pen and laid against a ruler works just as well. Keep the tape flat against the skin without compressing it.
The whole sequence takes under a minute:
- Hold the dominant hand flat, fingers together and the thumb held slightly away from the palm.
- Start the tape at the web between the thumb and index finger and wrap it across the palm and around the back of the hand, just below the knuckles.
- Read the measurement where the tape meets. For a figure in centimetres, divide by 2.54 to convert to inches.
- Measure the length from the tip of the middle finger to the first crease at the wrist.
- Compare both figures with the size chart and note which one is larger.
Circumference sets the size for most makers. A few, including the Irish glove designer Paula Rowan, advise taking whichever of the two measurements is larger, which makes a real difference to anyone with long fingers and a narrow palm.
Leather Glove Size Chart for Women and Men
The leather glove size chart below converts a hand circumference into a numbered glove size and the letter size it most often corresponds to. Numbered sizes are consistent across makers; letter sizes vary, so treat those columns as a guide rather than a rule.
Read across from your measurement to find your leather glove size, then check the maker’s own chart before ordering, particularly for letter sizes.
| Hand circumference (in) | Hand circumference (cm) | Numbered glove size | Women’s letter size | Men’s letter size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 15.2 | 6 | S | Not standard |
| 6½ | 16.5 | 6½ | S | Not standard |
| 7 | 17.8 | 7 | M | Not standard |
| 7½ | 19.1 | 7½ | M | S |
| 8 | 20.3 | 8 | L | S |
| 8½ | 21.6 | 8½ | L | M |
| 9 | 22.9 | 9 | Not standard | M |
| 9½ | 24.1 | 9½ | Not standard | L |
| 10 | 25.4 | 10 | Not standard | XL |
| 10½ | 26.7 | 10½ | Not standard | XL |
Where a hand falls between two rows, the smaller numbered size is usually right for unlined leather. The section on linings explains when the opposite applies.
How Leather Gloves Should Fit When New
A new leather glove should feel snug across the palm and knuckles, with the fingertips reaching the ends without pressing into them. You should be able to close a full fist without the seams pulling.
The fist test is the most useful check in any fitting room. Close the hand slowly: the leather across the back should tighten evenly rather than bunching at the knuckles or straining at the base of the thumb, which is where a glove that is too small gives way first. Then open the hand and look at the fingers. A little air at the tips is normal. The glovemaker Schwartz & von Halen puts the limit at about a quarter of an inch, or 6 mm, beyond which the fingers are too long for you, even if the palm fits.
The wrist matters as much as the fingers when judging how leather gloves fit. It should close neatly without gaping, particularly on a short glove worn under a coat sleeve, where a loose cuff lets cold air in and breaks the line of the arm.
Signs a Leather Glove Is Too Small
A glove that is too small makes itself known quickly:
- fingertips pressing hard against the ends of the fingers
- difficulty closing the hand into a fist
- visible strain along the seams or at the fourchettes, the narrow gussets sewn between the fingers
- tingling or numbness after twenty minutes of wear
Leather will ease a little, but never enough to rescue a glove that is a full size too small.
Signs a Leather Glove Is Too Large
An oversized glove shows loose folds of leather across the palm, fingers that twist out of line, and empty tips that crease when you pick something up. It will also slide when gripping a steering wheel or a bag handle. A large glove is colder too, because the pocket of air around each finger cools faster than leather lying close to the skin.
How Much Leather Gloves Stretch by Skin Type
Most glove leathers ease slightly with wear, enough to settle around the knuckles and fingers but not enough to change the size. How much they give depends on the skin: hairsheep and deerskin give the most, goatskin and peccary the least.
Hairsheep comes from breeds raised for hair rather than wool, largely in East and West Africa, and its closely packed follicles produce a fine, strong and naturally stretchy leather. It is the traditional choice for close-fitting dress gloves, and for an unlined hairsheep pair the snugger of two sizes is almost always correct. Lambskin nappa is softer still, with moderate give. Deerskin is thicker yet supple, and moulds to the hand quickly.
Goatskin is more structured and stretches less over time. Peccary, from a wild relative of the pig found in Central and South America, is recognisable by pore marks grouped in threes and is prized for its durability; it softens with wear rather than stretching. For both, fit the glove as you intend to wear it. Suede, the napped side of the skin, follows the behaviour of the leather it is cut from.
Craft plays its part before a glove is ever worn. At Causse, the Millau glovemaker founded in 1892 and part of the Chanel Maisons d’Art since 2012, the cutter stretches and inspects each skin by hand before marking out the pieces, and some models pass through more than a hundred separate operations. Leather that is later allowed to dry out loses that give and cracks at the flex points of the fingers, so the cream-not-oil approach used to care for leather bags applies equally to gloves.
Sizing Silk, Cashmere and Fur-Lined Leather Gloves
A lining occupies space inside the glove, so the thicker it is, the more it changes the fit. Unlined and silk-lined gloves follow your measured size; cashmere-lined gloves usually do too, while a thick fur or shearling lining can call for half a size up.
Silk adds warmth with almost no bulk, which is why it lines most slim city and evening gloves; size these exactly as unlined pairs. Cashmere and cashmere-wool blends, the same noble fibres used by the best luxury knitwear brands, add a soft layer that most makers allow for when cutting the outer leather. A hand at the top of its size range may still prefer the half size above.
Rabbit fur, lambswool and shearling are a different matter. They take up noticeably more room, and a lining cannot stretch the way leather can, so the leather has to do all the giving. A fur-lined glove bought tight tends to stay tight. Always try a lined pair on the dominant hand, and close a fist before deciding.
Choosing Between Two Leather Glove Sizes
When a measurement falls between two sizes, choose the smaller one for unlined and silk-lined gloves in stretchy leathers, and the larger one for heavily lined gloves or firmer skins such as goatskin and peccary.
Finger length complicates the choice. If the palm fits but the fingers are too long, sizing down will tighten the palm without fixing the fingers. The better answer is a different cut: Dents offers shorter-finger styles for both women and men, and sells its gloves in slim, regular and casual fits, the last being the roomiest.
Knuckles are the other variable. A hand at the upper end of a size, with prominent knuckles, often suits the larger size, because the glove should go on without being forced. The same logic applies when choosing a leather glove size for a heavily lined pair: lean towards the larger.
Fit Differences in Driving, Evening and Opera Gloves
The style of glove changes the fit to aim for. Unlined driving gloves are worn closest for grip, city gloves sit snug to the wrist, and long evening gloves are sized by the hand but chosen by length, which is measured in buttons.
Traditional unlined driving gloves, with knuckle cut-outs and perforated backs, grip a steering wheel best when they fit closely. Casual knit-backed versions are cut more generously and often sold in letter sizes. A slim unlined city glove that finishes at the wrist bone sits cleanly beneath a tailored sleeve, the same attention to line that governs the power suit, and pairs naturally with a silk square knotted at the collar, one of the neater ways of styling a scarf with a winter coat.
Evening and opera gloves use the button as a unit of length. Historically a button meant one French inch, measured upwards from the base of the thumb, so a 16-button glove reaches above the elbow. The hand size stays the same as for a short glove, but check the circumference of the upper arm against the maker’s stated opening, since leather at the top of a long glove has little room to spare.
Sizing Leather Gloves Bought as a Gift
To size leather gloves for someone else without asking them to measure, borrow a pair they already wear comfortably, lay one glove flat, measure straight across the palm just below the fingers and double the figure. That gives an approximate hand circumference in inches.
Check the label first, since many gloves carry their numbered size inside the cuff. If there is none, the flat measurement gives a close starting point. When still in doubt, a cashmere-lined style or one sold in letter sizes is the more forgiving choice, and a stretchy leather such as hairsheep will accommodate half a size of uncertainty better than goatskin.
Why a Measured Fit Outlasts a Guessed One
A leather glove is one of the few accessories cut to a single bodily measurement, and it rewards the minute it takes to find that number. Measure the dominant hand below the knuckles, read it against the chart, then adjust for the leather and the lining rather than for how the glove feels in the first ten seconds.
A pair chosen this way starts snug, eases into the shape of the hand and keeps it through years of winters. A pair chosen by guesswork does neither, however fine the skin.
Common Questions About Leather Glove Sizing
Can leather gloves that are too tight be stretched?
Gloves that are slightly snug will ease naturally within a few wears, and a specialist glovemaker can stretch leather a little further. A glove a full size too small cannot be rescued, because forcing it strains the seams and thins the leather across the knuckles.
Are men’s and women’s glove sizes the same numbers?
Both use the same measurement, the hand’s circumference in inches, but the ranges differ: roughly 6 to 8½ for women and 7½ to 11 for men. Women’s gloves are also cut with narrower palms and slimmer fingers.
Do glove sizes vary between brands?
Numbered sizes should match between makers because they refer to the same measurement, but cuts differ, and a slim-fit 8 feels tighter than a regular 8. Letter sizes vary far more, so always read the individual maker’s chart.
Do leather gloves shrink if they get wet?
Leather can stiffen and tighten as it dries after a soaking. Blot the gloves, reshape them by hand while still damp, and let them dry flat at room temperature away from radiators, then condition lightly once dry.
