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The white gloves

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necrospawnlegend2474
New in Town
Posts: 1
Joined: March 11th, 2012 9:47 pm

The white gloves

Postby necrospawnlegend2474 » March 20th, 2012 6:19 am

I'm wondering about something, a Japanese girl recently married into my family and there was a big traditional Japanese wedding with all the trimmings.

Now her father (a very distinguished serious man) wore a suit, western style but with a pair of white gloves. I've seen these white gloves elsewhere in old photographs and was wondering if they have any special significance or whether it's just a case of being purely for formal dress. I understand Japanese people dress up a bit more than westerners for formal occasions.

Small detail I know, but I'm curious. I hope someone can shed light on the subject :D

tstim674267
New in Town
Posts: 7
Joined: July 10th, 2012 12:31 pm

Re: The white gloves

Postby tstim674267 » November 26th, 2012 12:07 pm

The white gloves are everywhere - bus drivers, security guards, train drivers, policemen, traffic officers..they all wear them - pretty much anyone who is working manually with their hands. You can buy white gloves in the 100 yen stores everywhere, so they are very common-place!

I'm not so sure about their use in formal wear though!

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community.japanese
Expert on Something
Posts: 2704
Joined: November 16th, 2012 8:54 am

Re: The white gloves

Postby community.japanese » November 27th, 2012 8:47 am

necrospawnlegend2474-san, tstim674267-san,
Kon'nichiwa!
Wearing white gloves is a part of proper fomal wearing, it seems. Guest are not asked to have gloves, of course.
Japanese people follow the "perfect manner" on such important occasions, and make sure everything is perfect.
Following such manners means also the respect, which is another very important culture we have :wink:

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

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