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
Bow Wow! Have you seen Tatler magazine this month? It is dedicated to our wonderful Queen, with a Diamond Jubilee Collector’s Edition and our Dents gloves are featured on page 62!
The gloves shown are our special Jubilee design made exclusively by us for sale in Selfridges as part of their British Big Bang exhibition celebrating all things British. The silk lined gloves with delicate golden embroidery are perfect memorabilia for this Diamond celebration.
The inspiration for these gloves came from similar ones in our museum which were made for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1897.
Continuing the Selfridges theme from our last post, this is from Sarah, our Museum curator:
As a present for Christmas in 1945, Mrs P.P Gait was given a pair of soft brown leather gloves. In November 1989, she donated them to our Museum, with a covering letter that explained that the gloves…
‘….are now nearly 45 years old. It says much for materials and workmanship of bygone days, when I tell you that I have never had to put a stitch in them, and that despite the fact that I have worn them for part of every winter since receiving them.’
Her gloves are brown leather with pique seams and 3 points (4 needle point). They are lined with chamois and have a turned top, with 2 rows of stitching.
What is most fascinating about these gloves is that on the inside of the left hand glove there is printed information: Dents D.B.M, Worcester Make, 6 ½ and on the inside of the right hand glove there is printed information: Selfridges, London.
Selfridges was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge and the store in London’s Oxford Street opened on 15 March 1909. It is the second largest shop in the UK, after Harrods. These gloves reveal evidence that some 36 years after Selfridges opening you could buy gloves made by Dents in the department store, just after WWII or perhaps they had been bought a few years earlier and been kept hidden away!
Sarah
Dents Museum Curator
Dents Museum contains gloves worn by many historical figures, including Lord Nelson, Queen Elizabeth I, Empress Josephine of France and Queen Victoria as well as many examples of gloves from the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. There is also a collection of antique specialised sewing machines, glove making tools, and a wealth of photographs and documents dating back to the 1890’s. We plan to showcase the Museum in a special section on our website, and also to present regular features on this blog of some interesting gloves in our collection.
Dents has loaned a number of gloves belonging to past kings and queens of England to Selfridges London flagship as part of the store’s Big British Bang exhibition, which is in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee and Olympics this year. The exhibit features a collection of royal gloves that have never been publicly displayed before, and runs from May 4 to June 17 at Selfridges ground floor concept store. This is from yesterday’s Mail Online:
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.
Pictures and text by Joanna in our Design Department
The Worshipful Company of Glovers of London visited Dents last Wednesday for their annual social engagement. This Livery Company was formed as long ago as 1349 by glove makers in London who wished to protect the high standard of their craft, and it now embraces the best qualities of a fine City institution with an active and enthusiastic membership of 260 individuals. The aims of the Livery are to promote the British glove trade, the wearing of gloves, and to raise money for charitable purposes.
The Master Glover, Keith Ebsworth, with Wardens and Dents Director, Deborah Moore.
Dents Chairman, Robert Yentob, welcomed the 50 Glovers.
The Glovers were given a tour of the new Dents facility This included the factory and the Dents Museum, where Museum Curator, Sarah Kenyon, showed the Glovers our extensive collection of historic gloves. The Glovers were also given a presentation on how Dents put together their new seasons’ collections, and a special PR presentation of recent TV coverage that Dents has featured in, including Flog it, Gok Wan’s Fashion Fix and Princess Anne’s Royal visit.
The Master, Keith Ebsworth, awarded Daphne Highfield a certificate for her 25 years of service in the glove industry.
Overall, it was a lovely day, apart from the awful rainy weather of course!
You’ll find those fabulous driving gloves, this spring’s hot seller, right here.
Enjoy the holidays!
We have been in contact with a new motoring magazine recently, called MOG Mag, which is associated with owners of the lovely old Morgan cars here in the UK, and this seems to have been just the start of a surge of interest in our new Collection of driving gloves for spring and summer 2012.
The great American site for women drivers, www.vroomgirls.com, recently took a shine to our new look gloves, featuring our two tone ladies driving glove. Obviously with the best cars, you have to have the best accessories, but in fact these gloves are great for all sorts of everyday occasions.
The colourways are terrific as well….they come in a range of designs and colourways including almond with black and my favourite, cornflower with putty (see below).
Just £48 and available at the Dents online shop.
The military family and the civil community of Warminster turned out last Friday to say farewell to the men and women of ”3 Yorks”, the 3rd Battatlion, The Yorkshire Regiment, which is deploying to Afghanistan.
Dents employees getting ready for the parade
The pictures above were taken by Joanna, Dents’ photographer. You can see more pictures of this emotional occasion, which attracted thousands of well wishers, at Warmnister Web, and some wonderful footage from the BBC here.
