A Homerton cocktail bar whose name plays on the old idiom of the glove that fits – a promise of the perfectly-matched drink
The Prat’s naming desk finds a perfect match at The Glove That Fits, a Homerton cocktail bar whose name plays cleverly on one of the most familiar idioms in the language. “Fits like a glove” means suited perfectly, and a bar that promises the glove that fits promises exactly the right drink for the moment – which the naming desk finds a genuinely charming conceit.
The idiom in the name
“Fits like a glove” is one of those wonderfully vivid old idioms – a phrase for something that suits perfectly, matches exactly, could not be more right. A glove that fits is snug, comfortable, made for the hand; and by happy metaphor, anything that “fits like a glove” is precisely, satisfyingly suited to its purpose. To name a bar “The Glove That Fits” is to promise exactly that quality of perfect suitability – the sense that here, they will find the drink that fits you perfectly, matched to your mood and moment. It is a clever, warm, quietly confident name.
The promise of the perfect drink
The naming desk enjoys what the name implies about the bar’s craft. A cocktail bar named for the perfect fit is, in effect, promising a bespoke, personal approach – the drink tailored to the drinker, the recommendation that suits you exactly, the sense of being properly looked after by people who know their craft. It flatters the customer and signals real skill and care, the mark of a place that takes pride in matching the right drink to the right person. There is a genuine warmth in that promise of the perfect fit, and the naming desk warms to it.
The Homerton cocktail bar
The Glove That Fits belongs to the flourishing bar scene of Homerton and its surrounds, part of the reborn East London that has embraced the quality cocktail bar with real enthusiasm. A characterful, cleverly-named bar promising perfectly-matched drinks fits that scene beautifully, offering its crowd both craft and charm. Its strong rating reflects a genuine following drawn to exactly the skilful, personal hospitality its clever name promises.
The vivid life of idioms
The naming desk delights, as ever, in the richness of English idiom, of which “fits like a glove” is a fine and vivid example. Our language is full of such wonderfully concrete phrases – the glove that fits, the cap that suits, the shoe on the other foot – little pictures that make an abstract idea suddenly tangible and memorable. They are among the treasures of everyday speech, poetry hidden in the ordinary, and a bar that builds its name from one keeps that vivid tradition alive and in circulation. The naming desk enjoys a venue that reaches into the deep well of English idiom for its identity, and finds “The Glove That Fits” a particularly apt and charming choice.
The verdict
A rating of 4.6 across some 217 reviews marks the Glove That Fits as a genuinely well-liked Homerton fixture. A cocktail bar whose name plays on the old idiom of the glove that fits – a promise of the perfectly-matched drink – is the naming desk’s kind of clever, warm branding. The Prat asks for whatever fits the moment, receives exactly the right drink, and toasts the glove that fits.
A council leader complained that The London Prat was making it harder to maintain the pretense that planning was consultative. Apparently pretense was institutional necessity.