I was recently in the Dents Factory shop on a Saturday and met Richard and Shobha Edgell – they had travelled from all the way Hertford.  I would like to think it was for the sole purpose of visiting our factory shop, but they were also visiting friends for lunch nearby.

They were very interested in our UK factory produced gloves and therefore, I invited them to see our glove museum. They were very impressed.

Richard is a classic car enthusiast (1951 mark VI Bentley) and bought several pairs of gloves, mainly with his car in mind.

Shobha bought peccary driving gloves and later told me that “wearing the gloves added to the driving experience.”  Shobha kindly sent me a lovely photograph of herself riding side saddle at Audley End – of course wearing our gloves!

It was great to meet both Richard and Shobha who as well as being car enthusiasts are also glove enthusiasts!

Deborah Dents Creative Director

 

In a recent Daily Telegraph article, Madonna was featured in a story about how women aged 50 plus are faring best in this recession, having landed the most jobs, and having set up the most businesses, according to a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development. Great news for our typical Dents customer then, who will have more spare change to invest in Dents pieces!

This economic group, dubbed the “Madonna Generation”, is not only upping its game in its determination to get a job, but also branching out into less stereotyped female jobs such as those in technical fields, or managerial roles…. One small step for mankind, one giant leap for feminism!

Or could it just be that this generation of strong women is the most demanding in what they expect from themselves? Nowadays, more and more women of a mature age seen in the press have the figure and youthful complexion of women 10 years their junior. Look at the likes of Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren (both of whom are over 60), and Michelle Pfeiffer. However, it’s not all just down to the way you look – often how you dress has as much, if not more, of an impact.

Madonna herself was shown in the Telegraph feature in a picture from her W.E. Premiere at the Odeon Kensington in January, wearing a stunning Dsquared dress with an equally beautiful Dolce & Gabbana cape – paired with a pair of red fingerless leather gloves! Just goes to show that what you wear can reflect the forward thinking person you are… I doubt we will see her Madjesty in a Marks & Spencer cardigan anytime soon. In fact, she is a lover of fingerless leather gloves, having worn a Chanel pair in a surprise appearance on stage in Miami in March.

To get your hands in a pair of similar gloves, take a look at our newest collection…

 

7-3040 available in Black/White and White/Black

 

7-3051 available in Black and White

7-3043 available in Berry, Lavender, Parchment, Pistachio, Rose, Toffee

And for the man in your life we also have these men’s gloves, 5-1009, available in Berry, Black, Damson, Forest, and Purple.

I came across this on the popular French men’s fashion blog Dandies…

Translation: driving gloves will allow you to firmly grip the steering wheel without fear of slipping because of sweat!

 

Our busy trade show season continues next week – we’re showing 2012 Men’s and Women’s Accessory Collections at Moda, at the NEC in Birmingham, UK, from 19 to 21 February. You’ll find our Men’s Collection at Stand MA30, and our Women’s Collection at Stand M11. We’re expecting a busy show, so contact us for an appointment.

We’re launching our 2012 Women’s glove Collection in the USA at Coterie, which runs from 21 to 23 February at the Javits Centre in New York City. We have some fabulous new styles to show you, and you’ll find us at Booth 5526, which we are sharing with our sister company, Corgi Hosiery. For appointments contact our US representatives Jim Seaman or Jan Mehalick, of A Kuehnert & Co., Inc., 845-781-8185

 

After the successful launch of our 2012 Glove Collection in Florence and New York, our next stop is MrKet, Las Vegas, at the Venetian Hotel, from 12 to 14 February. You’ll find us at booth 264. New this year are fantastic new colours in contrast stitching and luxurious cashmere linings, apple, purple, tangerine, yellow, to name a few, as well as a greatly expanded range of casual gloves.

For an appointment, contact our US representative, Jim McKenry, at 212.757.4664, email Jmckenry@birddoggroup.net

As featured on Mr Porter last week.

And we’d like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Dents handsewn deerskin driving gloves, selected as one of the Wall Street Journal‘s top 50 Holiday Gifts.

 

Hello Everyone!

My name is Fran Rebecca Walker, and you’ll see me around Dents social media keeping you up to date on our latest news and offers, so you will hopefully see many more blog posts from me! I wanted to let you all know that if we get up to 500 likes on our FB page, Dents will give 20% off all non-glove items from their website through an exclusive online discount code that will be posted on our Dents FB wall once we reach this target. It would be great to give you all this discount BEFORE Christmas time! For instance, who wouldn’t want a Dents bag or wallet for Christmas? So ask all your FB friends to like the Dents FB page and get involved! My personal faves, which are now scribbled down on my Christmas wish list are the Leather Crocodile Print bag in Cognac, £165.

and the Dents Large Leather Handbag in Teal £145

For my fiancé I really like the Men’s Faux Sheepskin Trapper Hat £26 . It will keep his ears nice and warm when he walks our dog during the Jan – March months that’s for sure!

And I’m going to have to buy my dad the Reversible Leather Belt also £26 in Navy and Tan or you can get it in Black and Brown as well! He needs a good belt like this for his golfing tournaments.

I only hope I can have the DENTS 20% discount before Xmas, so I can treat myself (and my family and friends)!

x Fran

wool lined two – tone peccary glove

by John Roberts

Dents is one of only a few glove manufacturers who are still able to create gloves using real peccary leather (a peccary is a mammal from South America that resembles a pig). The reason is that only a master cutter with unique skills and much experience can cut this wonderful leather. It also requires a hand machinist with dexterity and many years experience to sew it. Possibly, this is why peccary leather gloves are increasingly found in fewer and fewer of the world’s finest stores.

Peccary leather is unique in its strength and character. In time the leather will assume a golden bloom, and acquire its own distinctly unique colour.

Beware, there are many imitation peccaries around, but the soft, almost buttery feel of the real thing is impossible to duplicate!

Handsewn cashmere lined gloves in hairsheep leather

By John Roberts

1. Our leather buyer has almost 50 years experience in selecting only the softest and finest quality leathers for Dents hand made gloves.

2.  For over 230 years Dents has been designing and manufacturing leather gloves in England, for the world’s finest shops and department stores. The first pair was cut by Master Cutter, John Dent,  in the year 1777, in the city of Worcester. For the past 50 years, Dents gloves have been crafted in the old market town of Warminster, in the quintessential English county of Wiltshire.

3. Today, as in the past, Dents gloves are made using traditional methods handed down over the centuries. Little has changed from 1777 in the way we make gloves, apart from the introduction of electricity.

4.  Each pair is still bench cut, one at a time, relying on the skill and experience of the master cutter to shape the well fitting glove.

5.  Dents gloves are made with a completely separate glove lining to the outer leather shell, and the lining is then fitted into the glove, ensuring a much better fitting glove – this method of manufacture is called “glove in glove”, and is an added cost, but an essential part of the traditional glove maker’s craft.

6. There are 42  components to cut, assemble and sew together, to create one pair of Dents gloves.

7. In the manufacture of one pair of gloves, there are 32 separate operations to be performed by highly skilled craft people.

8. It takes time to make fine leather gloves – approximately 7 hours to cut and sew just one pair.

9. It takes up to six years to fully train a glove cutter, and four years to fully train a skilled glove sewer.

10. Today, when we use machinery, we use the same type of Singer sewing machines we have been using for over a hundred years, except that now they are driven by electricity, rather than by a foot pedal. The machines we use are no longer manufactured, and the skill of our mechanics is constantly tested in repairing and lengthening their useful life.