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The English language is about to change. No more “iron hand in the velvet glove”; from now on it’s “the iron hand in the Ethel glove”.
The new Ethel garden gloves for women are a sleek and comfy combination of Spandex fabric with synthetic suede palms, fingers and fingertips. Designed for a narrow hand, they fit me snugly. When in doubt, size up.
Ethel gloves come in more than nine patterns. My Ethel Traditional gloves with a two-inch cuff are ‘Signature’: dark brown with orange accents that look oh-so-Hermès and make me feel like a Parisian gardener swanning down the Rue du Faubourg Sainte-Honoré. They don’t show the red Nevada County dirt either.
How do these compare to Atlas gloves? The stretchy nylon part of Ethel is a bit softer inside than Atlas, and the synthetic suede fingers of Ethel have a much more appealing feel and a tighter fit.
For a regular garden day like today (raking, picking volunteer mushrooms before the dog gets them, scooping up gooky persimmons that fell during the storm) I choose Ethel. A muddy job--I’d go with Atlas.
There’s another model in the Ethel line, the ultra-long-cuff Rose gloves. I’m sad to say they don’t work well in a rose bush. They’re fine on the way into the bush, but on the way out the thorns catch the gauntlet cuff. I hope these will be redesigned with the cuff made in synthetic suede. The current version works well with plants that have sharp edges but no thorns, like pampas grass. And my, they’re pretty.
Ethel gloves feel good, allow great dexterity and are fun to wear. I know they’ll give me that extra boost to get out in the garden on those mornings when I’m wavering. They machine wash and drip dry with no trouble at all.
Ethel Traditional gloves come in so many fabric patterns and it’s hard to pick just one. At least I know what to ask for as presents. Hustle on down to your garden center and buy some for the gardener on your shopping list or visit the fun Ethel website.
I received two complimentary pairs of gloves from Ethel Gloves, for trial and review. Actually they look nice together, so they are complementary as well.
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