Why the Gloves Must Be White

This is Smith.

You all know well the sight of a butler wearing white gloves. But why "white"? Not many, I should think, have thought this far.

The reason it must be white is plain. White is the colour that shows soiling at once.

<Soiling seen at a glance> — this matters above all. If the serving hand is soiled, so are the china and the food. The white glove is forever proving, to oneself and to the guest, that the hand is kept clean. Were the glove black, soiling could be hidden. And what can be hidden breeds a slackening of care.

<The work of the fingertips stands out> — white gloves show the movement of the hand clearly. The way an object is handled, the angle of offering, the placement of the hand added to a bow. All of it is emphasised by white, and no cheating will do. The white glove is, then, also a tool for imposing tension upon oneself.

<It draws a line of dignity> — and one more thing. The white glove draws a single crisp line into a room. Handling something bare-handed and handling it in white gloves leave an utterly different impression on the one who receives. This is not reasoning but a visible form of respect.

The white glove, then, is no ornament. It is proof of cleanliness, an admonition to oneself, and respect made visible. A mere glove — and yet a glove. Into every single tool of the butler, such reasoning is packed.

Let us meet again.