Dents is fielding a mass of media enquiries at the moment, both because of its move to new premises and also because of THE wedding. Only this morning a major national newspaper rang to ensure they had contact phone numbers that will be available for Friday during the wedding in case they spot some lovely Dents gloves, bags or hats and need some information about the design or materials.  We have been asked for information on all our past involvement with royalty (and this goes back over centuries),  what gloves our handsewers have been working on, plus we have been answering requests on etiquette, and even predictions on whether gloves will be generally worn at the wedding and, if so, what styles will be the most popular.

As if wedding are ever that easy – people have such individual taste and ideas, and this spring there is no one main colour that is dominating the new looks. We are looking forward to seeing a great variety of styles on Friday.

Our move to a new building is also attracting good media attention mainly because it underlines confidence in British manufacturing in what is a difficult time in the UK economy. Here at Dents though, we are much more excited about all the updated facilities in the brand new purpose built offices; things will be more efficient and a lot easier.  I know everyone is really looking forward to settling in.

All of us at Dents offer our heartfelt congratulations to Prince William and Kate Middleton and their families.

Bianna Golodryga, co-anchor of ABC News Good Morning America weekend edition

ABC News’ Bianna Golodryga and Nick Watt went to Selfridges, one of London’s top stores, to get some tips on what to wear for the Royal Wedding. When it came to gloves, there could only be one choice… it was great to see Dents on Good Morning America today  (if you don’t want to watch the whole segment, the part on Dents starts at minute 3.12 of the clip). An ABC fim crew visited our factory in Warminster, and those of you lucky enough to have seen the program will have caught glimpses of royal gloves from past weddings in our museum, as well as traditional glove handsewing in our factory.

You can read about Bianna and Nick’s day at Selfridges here. Selfridges’ stylist Sophie Hendley told Bianna that gloves for women were essential for a Royal Wedding. ABC went on to report that ” Dents gloves are the brand de jour, favored by the royal family, handstitched in Wiltshire for three centuries, and worn at many a royal wedding in bygone days”.

From Laura, Design Department…

Well, I’m getting married in September and with less than 3 months to go the pressure is starting to build! As well as my huge list of things to finish (favours, table decorations etc) I am frantically trying to sort out my Mother’s outfit – it’s so stressful!!

All of the stores are heading into sale season and I can’t decide if I want her to wear bright Spring Summer or hold on and buy richer jewel coloured Autumn Winter!

Of course she has to wear a hat and beautiful gloves (that is all sorted – I work for Dents)! So I just need to find her a fabulous outfit to wear! I really love our metallic bag from our Autumn 2010 collection and last weekend’s shopping trip involved carrying this bag into every available store to find an outfit to suit! I am currently working on Spring 2011 and metallic is big news – it just goes to show, everyone still likes bit of sparkle!

The Pewter sparkle of the bag works really well with bold summer colours but it would also make a fabulous highlight against richer darker colours. Mum (of course ) wants a larger bag (to carry the kitchen sink?) but I think this bag is perfect for her.

So help me, do I swoop in quickly and buy Spring or hold my nerve and wait for the delights of the Autumn wardrobe?

Laura x

From our media consultant Sally Smith

Winter weddings are wonderful and the one I went to on Saturday was just perfect.

The good thing about winter weddings is that you expect cold dark weather and dress accordingly.

The church was warm but not overheated, important when you know all the guests will be arriving in coats. Faux fur was everywhere, from coats and jackets to trims and handbags and added a real touch of glamour to the occasion. Fascinators have definitely taken over from hats, although interestingly quite a few of the teenage guests were wearing beautiful large hats and looked stunning. Gloves were everywhere, mainly longer line dark leather gloves.

A great touch on Saturday was that as everyone left the church, they were greeted with a glass of hot toddy, a warming welcome as the pictures were taken and people gathered around before heading off for the reception.

As with most weddings today, the service was followed by a reception that went on well into the evening. The winter coats and jackets covered a variety of evening wear, from quietly tailored dress and jackets to full blown sequinned party outfits. I think the biggest problem the wedding guests had was with bags.  You don’t really want to carry a tiny sequinned party bag at an afternoon church service; yet you also don’t want to spoil your evening outfit with a formal day bag.

Luckily with the selection of beautiful handbags around today, many of the guests had got it exactly right; with a medium size semi-formal bag that was perfect for both the church and the evening celebrations. I saw two guests carrying the same Dents handbag (medium sized satin frame bag with a jewel clasp) but luckily in different colourways; and one guest had been clever enough to choose the Dents reversible frame clutch bag which changes from croc printed PU to satin; she had chosen violet which matched her outfit and not only did she look terrific, but it turned out she was one of the best dancers of the evening.

Christmas used to be fun because of all the parties. Now, with the added popularity of winter weddings, December has turned into one of the top social months of the year.

Note – the bags referred to in this article are not available in our online shop, but may be found at House of Fraser and other fine stores.