Fashion

This Unlikely Archival Accessory Is Becoming a Huge Summer Trend Thanks to Celebrities

Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, and Julia Fox are driving the movement.

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Published on June 22, 2022 @ 11:00AM

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Ariana Grande Opera Gloves — Photo: Getty Images

If there's one thing celebs are going to do, it's turn the most impractical item possible into a must-have trend. Case in point: I spent the better part of my Monday evening phone scroll comparison-shopping for opera-length gloves with absolutely no opera-attire events on the horizon. Damn you, Dua Lipa!

In some perverse sense, an opera-glove summer was inevitable. Our current nostalgia-fueled trend warp keeps reaching ever further back, whether its most voracious consumers realize it or not — '90s silhouettes referencing those from the '70s, ones from the aughts pointing back to the '80s, and so on until we're all the way back in Victorian England wearing corsets and talking about "Regencycore." But the past-life regression into wardrobes of lore is no longer theoretical (or contained to the small screen). It's here, and it's quickly spreading.

Pop stars and party legends are the NASDAQ of fashion's unpredictable economies of clout, so the fact that Ariana Grande and Julia Fox have both been investing heavily in elbow-length-glove stock tells us everything we needed to know. Now, after months on red carpets, party pics, and music videos, the unlikely gloves are transcending into regular folks' shopping carts, with payment service Klarna reporting that searches for the query "opera gloves" has increased by over 4,500 percent since last year.

What all of these inspired shoppers plan to do with their freshly acquired mitts (save for abstain from using their smartphones, probably), remains to be seen. However, some of Klarna's other reported search spikes paint a full picture; sequin purses are up 1,509 percent, metallic eyeshadow is up 2,309 percent, and glitter heels are up 800 percent. Holistically, these evening-ready affectations amount to what TikTok has rather dubiously dubbed "Night Luxe," although as anyone who's read The Great Gatsby can tell you, it's just rehashed "Roaring '20s."

As these cultural shamans guide the zeitgeist down a path even further into the past, the time has come to ask yourself the questions I found myself faced with just last night: What on earth does one need a pair of opera gloves for? What do you even wear with opera gloves? Have celebs gone crazy? Have I gone crazy? Unfortunately, I need these, don't I?

It's impractical, it's nonsensical, but it's undeniably here and available at every possible decimal point. Shop the best opera gloves I found on my journey into the depths of the latest nostalgic celebrity trend gone mainstream, below.