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.

leather glove with bow detail

You’ll find those fabulous driving gloves, this spring’s hot seller, right here.

Enjoy the holidays!

There’s a distinctly nautical flavour to Dents’ Spring / Summer Collections… I can almost taste those sea breezes from here

Some mixed feelings, maybe, as we see the bulldozers arrive at our old building in Fairfield Road – as the BBC has reported, demolition day is finally here.  Sally’s personal report, marking this important day in Dents’ history, with pictures and interviews, will follow…

In the meantime – it’s back to business, with Dents exhibiting at Moda at the NEC in Birmingham from August 14 to 16. You can see our spring / summer 2012 men’s collection on stand MA30, and women’s collection on M11

Finally, a note for those of you who can’t wait to fill your shopping trolleys – I hear Waitrose won’t be up and running until the New Year after all…

First the News of the World – now SHE.  This magazine, known to many people all their lives, is to close.

SHE has been through some hectic times, and was once described as the most “re-launched” magazine in Britain! But it has always been there, ever since its first edition appeared in the early 1950s.  Over the years it has changed format and style many times – from a feature and fashion title in the exciting 60s, to running explicit stories such as “Love Making Position of the Month” in the late 1980s. Then it changed again, and aimed at more traditional content material for 35-plus women with modern lifestyles.

Whatever its theme and format, it has been a well loved part of Britain’s magazine scene, still attracting a good readership of well over 140,000 a month.

Over the years the magazine has regularly featured Dents accessories and has been a great fan of our gloves, both formal and fun. We have worked with them on so many fashion stories – the idea below, featuring a collection of our bright leather gloves, started with a full jar of jelly beans, but we kept eating them, and a half empty jar just  didn’t have the same impact! The colourful balls worked just as well though, and made for an exciting fashion page.

All in all, it feels like the end of another era. Cosmopolitan Brides is also closing. But other titles are coming up, new electronic magazines are coming on line, and the future,  like our summer gloves, is very bright!

Goodbye top selling British newspaper News of the World – and I suppose it was fitting that in their very last fashion story they featured Dents gloves. Dents was already established as a leading global brand in 1843 when the newspaper issued its first edition. In the following 168 years a wide range of Dents accessories, from gloves to hats to bags and belts, have regularly been featured in their well read pages. In the last edition on Sunday, the newspaper chose to feature our cotton crochet gloves from the Dents 2011 Summer Collection. Like the last edition of the paper, these gloves have been huge sellers, especially in the new colour of ocean as well as the traditional black, navy, white and ecru. At only £12 they illustrate how Dents now cover the widest range of beautiful accessories for all pockets and all events. In the late swinging sixties, there was talk that gloves were on the way out as a fashion item; yet today they are stronger than ever. At the same time there was talk that the strength of the News of the World would last for decades and decades.  It is a funny old world.

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!

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?!  

Glastonbury fever, only 32 days to go… Oh, what to wear?

Did everyone know that we are only just down the road from Glastonbury? In fact many of you will come within half a mile of our factory shop – good news, as I for one cannot wait to start pulling together my festival look, and this season it’s all about the 70’s.

With bold patterns mixed with ditzy florals, retro shades, crochet tops and denim shorts, it all seems a bit of a mis-match, which is how I’m justifying throwing all my favourite pieces from the Dents collection together.

After much deliberation I have settled of this fab hat to cover my unruly hair…

teaming it with this cute little duffel handbag,  and with only four days to pay-day : ) …

I also have my eye on this little clutch. Naughty, I know, but with the legendary Paul Simon and U2 there, I feel like I should make the effort.

So, hey, the sun is out (well today anyway), and the heat is on, so I’m daring to bare in style.

Kelly -x-