Dents 2012 Collections will be presented at the world’s top accessory trade shows over the next two months:

Europe: For Men - Pitti Uomo, Fortezza da Basso nel padiglione Centrale, Florence – January 10,11,12 and 13 – Stand 20-57 * Moda Menswear, NEC, Birmingham – February 19, 20 and 21 – Stand MA30 * For Women - Premiere Classe, Tuileries, Paris – January 21, 22, 23 and 24 – Stand TBA Moda UK, NEC, Birmingham – February 19, 20 and 21, Stand M11

 

 

 

North America: For Men - Mrket NY, Javits Center, New York City – January 22,23 and 24 – Booth 861 Mrket LV, The Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas – February 12, 13 and 14 – Booth TBA For Women - CoterieNY, Javits Center, New York City – February 21, 22 and 23 – Booth TBA *

 

 

 

 

 

* We will be sharing our stand / booth with our sister company, Corgi Hosiery.

We’re now on the home straight, hurtling towards the summer holidays.  Hoping for long lazy days on Cornish beaches, sailing, surfing, Pimms and relaxing balmy evenings.  Well, we’re certainly hurtling towards the holidays but the reality will be Cornish beaches, in the rain, sailing, in the rain, surfing in the rain, Pimms, lots of it, under a brolly and long, long, evenings drying soaking wet kit and arguing about who’s cheating at Monopoly!  Just as we’re about to surrender and pack up a leaky tent, we’ll have two days of glorious sunshine, litres and litres of ice cream and we’ll all agree that it’s been the best camping holiday yet! Luckily I have all the survival equipment I need thanks to Dents. (And Cadburys!) Beach bags, sarongs, sun hats, rain hats, gloves and even a raincoat from our Factory Shop. The bags are great for the beach or for browsing around the local farmers market.  Tough but glamorous! In preparation for the latter I felt a short trip to London was required in order to indulge in another quintessential British pastime, Afternoon Tea at The Ritz. What a very lovely afternoon, gossiping, juggling ornate silver pots of tea, gulping peachy pink champagne (forget cloudy lemonade!), divine cakes and tiny sandwiches. I had a whole family to dress that day, dresses, killer heels and bags, bags, bags. Festooned with petals from head to toe. I’m ready for anything now!

We’ve all seen pictures of the hats, formal day dresses, top hats and tails, but most regulars at Ascot will tell you that the reality doesn’t always match up – our thanks to Karen Andrews, a long time Dents Factory Shop customer for this glimpse of the real world. Karen and her friends had got soaked at a rainy Ascot the day before, so they were keen not to have a repeat. They visited our shop, and left with six of our lovely frilly spotted umbrellas, as well as a multitude of other accessories – we think they looked fabulous.

The forecast rain didn’t materialize, so they didn’t need their umbrellas after all – all the same they came in very handy as walking sticks at the end of the day when their killer heels started to make their feet ache!

Every year at about this time I get very excited about one special event in my diary…. It’s Ladies Day at the Races! It’s all about the finer things in life, from getting my hair styled in the morning, to the afternoon limo ride with bubbly, and maybe even placing a bet when we get there. Obviously the dress is everything, but looking perfectly styled is a fine art, and Dents is always my first call for accessories. This year it was almost a case of picking the bag before the dress, but in the end there were so many lovely styles that I had to go out and get a dress to narrow down the selection! Now I have a glamorous Karen Millen dress and a very chic pair of Kurt Geiger shoes, but how do I decide between the endless choices of accessories available here at Dents?! A picture of me as I may look at the races! At the moment I am swaying towards the Polka dot navy ensemble from Dents Spring / Summer 2011 brochure. The clutch is just gorgeous with a very vintage style clasp although I may swap the gloves for a pretty pair of leather bow gloves in Dove (the brogue detail is SOOO hot, plus they’re available on the Dents website now!) As usual what we are going to wear this year is a major point of discussion among my girly group of race-goers, all of whom desperately want to win the best dressed lady competition as if their lives depended on it. One Lady is wearing a beautiful satin Coast dress with this oversized hat with very demure diamanté detailing. It will be the saviour of her fair English complexion if the sun does come out, and she will also look like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s when she puts on her oversize sunglasses, which can be no bad thing! Another has gone for a lace Phase Eight dress, and will be teaming it with this frilly leather Dents grab bag, which is oh-so fabulous, and also has room for the obligatory umbrella and pashmina for when the weather does turn (which it always does!). I am just hoping that I will end the day with my killer heels still on my feet and some money left in my purse, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to add a Best Dressed Lady trophy to the mix, would it?!  

This year, if the sales of our faux fur items are anything to go by, everyone is getting very well prepared for a cold winter! But the lovely thing about faux fur is that you can actually wear it whatever the weather, and even a small fur trim on a hat, bag or gloves adds a touch of luxury that nothing else emulates.

I personally love faux fur, it is often softer than the real thing, looks fantastic and is obtainable in some lovely individual shades. The surprising thing is that it was actually first created in 1929, when polymer plastics were invented. By the early 1950s, acrylic polymers were introduced which was the start of the new style high quality faux fur. But it wasn’t really popular then as wearing natural animal fur was still very acceptable and fashionable. Mink coats used to be the dream of young girls then; yet today good faux furs are even softer and nicer than the very best mink, and faux fur is easier to look after and keep clean too.

This year Dents has such a big range of beautiful faux fur accessories, from gloves and snoods to hats and wraps and also some wonderful faux fur handbags.  Sasha, a friend of mine who works in the city in London, has bought the Dents soft quilted nylon grab bag in gold because she says it is large and perfect for work, but with the faux fur trim, she can also carry it on for drinks in the evening without any problems. Knowing Sasha’s enthusiasm for after work networking in the local champagne bar, I know the bag will get lots of use!!

Note – Not all these items are available in our online shop

WOW! Is it me or is it seriously cold today! With the weather threatening to go as low at 8c this week, I think it is time I updated my winter wardrobe… and fast!

A major fashion trend this winter is the cape-coat. There are many style options available – from country check pattern tweeds to military style with piping, epaulettes and bold brass buttons.

The cape fits perfectly with our AW10 trend of “Easy Luxury” – a major style trend combining comfortable fabrics with luxurious style. Colours are kept natural – rich camels, tones with fennel greens, dark cocoa browns, burnt tobacco and highlight splashes of berry red mixed into the weaves.

This story needs elegant accessories – a Birkin style handbag in a luxurious crocodile pattern leather looks sumptuous in our chocolate brown leather. And of course long, soft leather gloves.

I’m thinking of teaming my cape with a mid-thigh length skirt, thick winter tights and my new cognac lace-up ankle boots for work. And then dressing it down for weekends with skinny jeans and slouchy flat boots…

And of course, with shorter sleeves on the cape, I’ll need a new pair of long leather gloves for warmth and then a chunky fennel green knitted scarf…maybe a beret…

(all items shown available in our online shop)

What a busy month! We have been gearing up for our major autumn push and with such a fabulous collection of beautiful gloves, handbags and other items in our autumn winter collection, Dents is in big demand from the media.

The shots in the media of our accessories look fabulous. The products are great, of course, but I am also so impressed by what top photographers can do.

So many of us love taking pictures and feel we can create wonderful shots thanks to modern digital equipment, but when you see the moods and atmosphere that can be created by top fashion photographers, it can be a bit daunting! Barnaby Wilshier, for instance, made our long lace gloves look so exciting in a recent edition of She magazine that I went out and bought a pair. Now I will have to think of how I can wear them, choosing a whole wardrobe to go with a pair of gloves is not the ideal way to do things. But I have a friend who was so taken with one of our new quilted leather handbags that she then went and bought a jacket to complement it! Back to front fashion, but why not? Here at Dents we all know accessories can make or break the look you are trying to create.

There has been a lot of recent media interest in our chunky knits in hats and scarves – it seems another cold winter is forecast so we may all want to wrap up warmly again. The trouble with photography is that however good the shot, it can’t really demonstrate the amazing softness of the material. Take our faux fur snood for instance, or our knitted hat and scarf sets, they look great in pictures but you really do need to touch them to realize just how gentle and soft they are.

Some of you may have noticed a new section in our Online Shop – the Heritage Collection. Over the years the Dents brand has expanded into many product categories and has served many different markets. With our Heritage collection we’re going right back to our roots, not only as glovemakers, but also as purveyors of luxury goods made by the very finest craftspeople in Britain. And Britain is pretty well represented – from England, we havegloves of course, made right here in our factory in Warminster, as well as our new Dentscufflinks, which are individually hand stamped and enameled. Dents socks are knitted in Wales and finished with hand linked toes which give a wonderfully comfy fit you just can’t duplicate with amachine made sock. And from Scotland we have Dentsscarves, made from finest Scottish cashmere and other fine yarns. One last thing – we’re launching our new Autumn / Winter Collection this week, so look out for our special discount code, which will be sent to those of you who haveregistered on our website.

We are now busy planning the official media launch of the new Dents Autumn Winter Collections for 2010.

Interest in the new Collection is especially high this year. In difficult economic times accessories always become a major item, you can change the look of an entire outfit by adding a fresh new bag, scarf, hat or gloves, and fashion editors recognise this.

From the journalists, there has been a high level of early interest in the colourful soft knits in our collection. One editor told me that she always associated Dents with beautiful leathers, and she is right of course, the mainstay of the newcollection is based on wonderful leather handbags and gloves. But the importance of interesting new fabrics and knits is increasing every year, and for autumn and winter 2010 Dents has the best and brightest collection of knitted items: chunky knits in deep colours, delicate yarns in soft shades – lambswool, cashmere, angora, chenille. I love the intricate patterns that are achieved today and also the incredible softness of the new polar fleeces. I just hope we have another cold winter next year so that we all have lots of opportunities to wear these great new knits.