What happened to gloves?

I don't understand it. In the early 20th century and especially the 50s, gloves were highly regarded by women as an important accessory to their ensembles and brought a great amount of sophistication to the outfit. Who could resist someone wearing beautiful white gloves, or seductive black leather gloves? They were worn almost all the time and it was considered improper to leave the house bare handed. Nowadays, gloves sit in the drawers until the coldest days of winter come around, and they're usually really tacky gloves: see-through knitted short black gloves which barely hang on the hands. Occasionally, I'll see a girl wearing some nice leather or satin gloves, but they are always short too, you never see opera gloves anymore. Even at the most formal of occasions like weddings or proms, so many girls barehanded. What happened to these wonderful accessories? What changed between the 50s to the present?