Well, I figured out they are reffered to in the category evening gloves. They are supposedly fairly formal. In Japan they are also often worn for protecting the ideal irojiro (色白), or fair skin. Which is a sign of royalty and grace.
On a functional note, they are more usefull then full fingered gloves, as they allow more mobility. However, sleeved gloves have a tendency to crawl up, hence the single finger loop ensures everything stays in place.
I haven't quite put my finger on the correlation between the functional and symbolical meanings yet, but once I have it. It gonna be in the answ…