Founded in 1923 by Joaquim Rodrigues Simões, an entrepreneur and a Lisbon City Hall councillor, Luvaria Ulisses is Lisbon’s only glove store, which makes for a unique experience when you’re shopping in Lisbon.

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According to the Luvaria Ulisses website, Simões had been granted some properties in Lisbon’s Chiado neighbourhood, and had reserved this property for his office. With the area becoming increasingly popular, Simões decided to use his office space for a store. That’s when he thought that this small space could be used to sell gloves.

Luvaria Ulisses is small. Very small.

We had walked past this tiny storefront dozens of times, but there was something about its size and sole item for sale (gloves) that made it seem a little too exclusive to simply walk into without an appointment or without knowing exactly what we were looking for. Plus, we thought, did we need a special occasion where we could wear these gloves? If so, there really wasn’t anything we could think of where we needed to buy these. That, and we had usually walked by when it had already closed.

Even though we don’t do a lot of shopping in Lisbon, on this most recent trip, Isabel really wanted us and our mom to have a pair of their gloves because of the history and uniqueness of this shop, and so we made a special point of going to Luvaria Ulisses.

Part of the charm of Luvaria Ulisses is its size. It’s small. Very small. But so are gloves, so once you’re inside, you realize that you don’t actually need a lot of room in which to wander in order to find your perfect pair of gloves. They will find you.

Worth the Line Up

It’s true that you might find yourself in a line in order to get inside the store, but the people working there are experts in sizing and in finding what people want in terms of design, so you might not have to wait for very long.

A unique experience shopping in Lisbon

When you do get inside the store, you will be asked to show your hands to the glove expert. This way, they are able to let you know what items they have that they think will fit you. They have a special way in which to fit you. This includes a wooden glove opener, spraying baby powder inside, and placing your elbow on a leather mat. All of this helps to better slide the glove into your hand.

You might find your perfect pair on your first try, or you might need to experiment. One thing is for sure: once you find the right pair, you will know. They will fit you perfectly and shape your hands beautifully. Also, these are handmade in Portugal and only the highest materials are used, making these gloves, not only beautiful, but durable.

Choose Your Colour, Pattern, and Style

Typically, they have a variety of colours and designs and they do custom orders. This is definitely a nice perk when shopping in Lisbon. Another nice thing is that they’re not too expensive. Custom orders might be considered expensive at over 80 Euros, they had beautiful, handmade gloves priced at 67 Euros.

There was a pair of leopard print leather gloves on display, but they didn’t have the size we needed. Luckily, they offered to custom make them, which we opted to do. The result was a beautiful pair of gloves to our desired measurements. We also bought a pair that was made from red leather and had a nice beige outline and tiny buttons.

While they didn’t have a ton of selection when we went, they had enough. We each bought a pair that we loved.

Have you ever been to Luvaria Ulisses? Are you planing on going? Let us know in the comments below.

-Isabel & Marilyn

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