Luxury Housing: Does Anyone Really Wear White Gloves?

Posted by Jonathan Miller - Monday, June 4, 2012, 3:05 PM

This weekend’s New York Times Real Estate article by Vivian Toy about a “white glove” co-op listing got me wondering…do doorman actually wear them? Seems like an incredibly dated uniform requirement that speaks to a prestige symbol of another era.

While I recall seeing whited gloved doorman somewhere during my appraisal travels, it was clearly rare and most importantly, didn’t stand out as a “tell-tale” sign that a building was prestigious. More about coincidence I suppose.

I used Google Street View to get a closer look to verify if the doorman actually wears white gloves, and sure enough, the doorman is wearing white gloves.

Next subject of obsolete descriptions: the “silk stocking” district.