There’s an odd little bit of Selfridge’s between Ralph Lauren and the Kurt Geiger shoe emporium. It contains general accessories – hats, scarves and gloves – and stands out because it is the one part of the menswear floor not obviously split up into concessions. Perhaps the licenses are too small to deserve more floor space; perhaps Selfridge’s wants at least one area that feels more like a store, less like a branch.

This is the only place I had previously come across Dent’s gloves; not exactly auspicious. But since I’ve got to know more of Dent’s people and history over the past couple of months I’ve begun to feel it deserves a higher profile. It is part of the great British craft tradition as much as Northampton, Savile Row or tweed.

Let’s start with a potted history. Dent’s was founded in 1777 in Worcester. John Dent’s sons, John junior and William, served seven-year apprenticeships beginning at the age of 15. It was their partnership that made Dent’s famous around the world. In the nineteenth century the company expanded rapidly and had subsidiaries everywhere from Sydney to New York to Prague. In the twentieth century it made the gloves for both George VI and Elizabeth II on their coronations.



Next, the construction. Glove making never really underwent a mechanisation phase, unlike most industries in the nineteenth century. It was too small and fiddly to encourage mass manufacturing. So while most gloves today are made in Asia on a vast scale, original makers like Dent’s still use hand cutting and individual judgment to get the models right.

Much like bespoke tailoring, the glove cutter is the most important person in the process, as he cuts the shape by hand and ensures the shape and so the fit is correct. Like clicking in shoemaking, much of the skill lies in getting the best part of the leather and in arranging efficient use of the skin. The cutting is done around card patterns that date back to 1845 and come in 20 different sizes.

The sewing varies throughout the Dent’s range, with the most expensive involving far more handwork – that’s one reason, along with the materials, that the models vary from £27 to £225. And the range is one reason the company has remained in business so long, catering for everyone from a House of Fraser in the Midlands to Harrod’s in Kensington. The top, £225 gloves are made in peccary (a small pig found in South America, valued for its hard wearing), entirely handsewn and lined with cashmere. All the gloves, though, are cut individually by hand.

The gloves are also ironed on a long line of heated brass hands – an image that appeals to me for some reason. Similar models of hands are used to insert the linings, which are sewn separately first almost like a glove in themselves.

That’s more facts on glove making than you probably every wanted, but I do like exploring a different clothing industry and learning about its techniques. Expect even more unwanted detail when I travel down to Warminster (location of Dent’s current factory) to see the process myself later in the year.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

11 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
PRP

Great post Simon, I think I too first came upon them in that shady little corner of Selfridges. I have a nasty habit of leaving expensive pairs of Dents on the bus. Think that maybe I should go back to the toddlers’ method, of stringing them together through my coat.

Roger

It’s funny you’re posting about this. I came in from work a week or so ago and caught a BBC programme called ‘Flog it’ where they did a segment at the Dent’s factory.They followed the creation of a pair of hogskin gloves.

They said the machines used to stitch them (where they weren’t hand-sewn) were over 50 years old and in perfect working order.

Maybe you could capture your own experience on video for inclusion here?

Holger

Are they made in England? I read somewhere that most of the gloves are made in Italy or some other place abroad?

Holger

Paul van der Hart

I’m curious already! Looking forward to your report.

Matt

Roger

“They said the machines used to stitch them (where they weren’t hand-sewn) were over 50 years old and in perfect working order.”

Funnily enough I also caught the ‘Flog It’ program on the BBC and I’m pretty sure they said the Ladies gloves were machine sewn with the old machines as they give a bit of a more finished look but the gents gloves were still completely hand made and hand stitched.

I thought the factory looked brilliantly traditional and the people working there were great too. Envy is setting in with your visit there – cant wait to hear about it.

Matt

Anonymous

Simon

Whilst you’re in the area try and visit the other bastion of English glove making in the area – Chester Jefferies – they will do made to measure for a very modest charge.

Michael H

Anonymous

I have never been a fan of Dent’s gloves. Though I agree that Dent’s peccary gloves are quite impressive, names like Merola and Causse Gantier are more superior when it comes to peccary gloves. I truly appreciate Chester Jefferies’s business but what they sell as buffed hogskin gloves are not from peccary leather but from carphinco (capybara), which is actually a rodent and not a hog.

MLS

Hi Simon;

I need some advice. I recently bought a pair of unlined Dent Clifton peccary gloves. I have never been a consistent glove wearer. I was thinking about a pair of peccary gloves lined in cashmere but was thinking the unlined gloves might be sufficient because they feel thick. I live in NYC. What are your thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

MLS

Thank you for your quick response and opinion.