These gloves guarantee your hands will see spring.
Unlike gloves designed for skiers, the gloves on this list emphasize style over function. They do, of course, keep you warm. That's the whole point. These strive to look polished paired with a knit beanie and some kind of overcoat. Unequipped with bells and whistles like reflective striping, cinched cuffs or artificial grip, options here favor leather, woolen or suede construction, save for the occasional polyester sherpa or nylon weave.
When the temperatures drop below freezing, it matters what you wear. And with no part of your body is this truer than your hands: They're often first to succumb to sub-zero temperatures. Sure, you'd freeze without your parka, but few strut out into the cold without a single layer on. Gloves, I'd guess, are what men skip most. So, get yourself a pair — ones equipped with tech-friendly fingertips included.
Just as with shopping for men’s denim or a classic flannel shirt – all cold-weather staples in their own right – it’s important to keep some crucial considerations top of mind. Particularly when on the hunt for the best men’s gloves, you don’t want to find out you’ve made a wrong move when it’s too late (as in, when the temperatures plummet and you desperately need to put on your gloves).
Before you can protect your digits in style this winter, you’ve got to know your glove size (yes, it’s a real thing). To find your glove size, measure your dominant hand using a tape measure: Wrap the tape measure around your palm below your knuckles (not including your thumb), rounding up to the nearest half-inch.
Some gloves are offered in numerical sizes, while others are offered at a more standard listing, like Small, Medium and so on – refer to the size guide for your gloves of choice to figure out your measurement and corresponding size.
Once you know your glove size, it’s all about fit. The operative word as to how the best men’s gloves should fit might be: Snug. Snug, but not too tight – you should be able to comfortably make a fist when wearing your gloves without too much room at the end of the gloves past your fingertips.
Think of your gloves, especially leather gloves (more on those in a moment) like an extension of, say, a leather jacket. The best leather gloves should fit like a leather jacket for your hands, funnily enough: Again, snug but not too tight. They should also ideally cover most of, if not all of, your wrist for maximum protection from the elements.
With those fit considerations out of the way, let’s get into the good stuff: The material your new favorite gloves are crafted from is just as important. Remember what we said about the best men’s gloves exuding the right balance of style and functionality? That’s where the material really shines through.
The best gloves for men can go anywhere you go in terms of style, yet some are inherently just a touch more refined. There are varieties of leather gloves you can easily wear with tailored pieces like a topcoat and a winter wool suit, for instance. These are often made from smooth, sleek, relatively thin and supple leather, often with a hint of shine (look at the gloves worn by James Bond in Skyfall).
If you find yourself dressing up often, leather gloves are a solid bet, as are smooth, rich suede gloves. Bear in mind that suede gloves are more expensive – as with, say, a finely crafted Italian suede jacket – and they’re also harder and more time-consuming to care for, given the fact that suede doesn’t perform well in winter snow or rain.
But there are also leather gloves – and gloves made out of ultra-warm materials like wool – that are a bit more rugged yet no less versatile. Some varieties of leather gloves are made with thicker, more textured leather (Hestra is a brand that excels in this category – again, more on them in a moment). Leather gloves are perhaps the most versatile, and some options even feature a waxed coating atop the leather to bolster their durability.
Wool gloves, like your trusty wool sweater, are the most well-suited for extreme cold, and if you select the right wool gloves, they’ll keep your digits warm without overdoing it.
