A factory shop in Furnax Lane, Warminster, Wiltshire in the UK boasts the largest privately-owned collection of gloves in the world. These include the gloves of lords, admirals, monarchs, and everyday people, from the world’s smallest gloves to a 1945 pair of Dents soft brown leather gloves worn for nearly 45 years without ever having to ‘put a stitch in them’.
Tools of the glove-making trade, from antique sewing machines to photographic memorabilia dating back to the 1890s, are also on view at Dents.
Queen Elizabeth II wore a pair of Dents white leather gloves embroidered with golden thread for her Coronation at Westminster Abbey in 1953. They were worn before the coronation ring was put on.
They are on display as well as Queen Elizabeth 1’s 1559 Coronation gloves, made from white alum-tawed suede leather with hand-sewn prix seams. Silver threads, purl and sequins, and silk satin inserts depict orbs, flowers, and leaves
Also on the show are Queen Victoria’s mourning gloves and those belonging to King Charles I, James Bond, Batman m The Joker, Wonder Woman, and members of the cast of Downton Abbey.
Dents have been crafting the world’s most luxurious gloves since the reign of King George III (1777) and hold a Royal Warrant in recognition of the quality, heritage, and ‘Britishness’ of its luxury gloves.
John Dent Snr, founder of Dents, was born in Worcester in 1751. In 1825 he became mayor of the city, opening a warehouse in London’s Cheapside. In 1837, the family bought Sudeley Castle. A Paris office opened in 1856 and ones on Fifth Avenue, New York (1877), Brussels (1879), and Grenoble (1882,) and later factories in Naples and Montreal;
The company included shirts, ties, collars, umbrellas, suspenders, socks, and ladies’ stockings in its catalog.
In 1955 Dents was approached by Christian Dior to make gloves. In 2011, production moved to Warminster. The dents museum is open for pre-organized tours.
Dents specialize in driving, shooting, mild weather, extreme weather, formal, elbow, fingerless, touchscreen, leather, cotton, suede gloves and wool mittens as well as tulle and Abraham Moon Yorkshire tweed “Lilburn” gloves
 |
 |
Best-sellers include £129 Longleats, leather Thruxtons and Emmas, suede Lauras, silk-lined leather Elizabeths, cashmere-lined leather Isabellas, silky felicities, and short satin tansies.
Another name that goes hand in hand with top-quality luxury gloves is Cornelia James.
Having studied art and design in Vienna, she arrived in England as a refugee in 1939. Vogue magazine described her as “the color Queen of England”, making the gloves for the 1947 marriage of Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten in 1979, by the granting of a Royal Warrant. Today it is Genevieve James, Cornelia’s daughter, who holds the Warrant as glove manufacturer ‘by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen’.
All this changed abruptly in the 60s; Mary Quant, miniskirts, and Beatlemania dominated the cultural scene. The fashion world and society were rocked to their foundations when Jean Shrimpton, the world’s very first supermodel, attended the Melbourne Cup horse race meet wearing neither hat nor gloves and a dress that ended a shocking 4 inches above the knee. It was truly a pivotal moment in fashion history.
Diversification was the key and Cornelia diversified into silk scarves and swimwear. All the best boutiques and department stores boasted a Cornelia James connection. A ‘corporate’ division was established and Cornelia made neck ties for Rolls Royce and resort wear uniforms for Euro Disney World.
The business has now refocused on the Cornelia legacy to renew its identity as a specialist glovemaker.
As well as the Duchess of Cambridge and the casts of Sense & Sensibility and Downtown Abbey, stars such as Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Zoe Kravitz, and Ariana Grande have all worn “dearly beloved” CJ styles.
These range from velvet, satin, silk, Nottingham lace, Swiss cotton, leather, cashmere, fingerless, with or without Bolton Thumbs (an intricate design than the regular ‘round thumb’ that is used on many fabric gloves in that it incorporates a quirk (see below). This allows for increased mobility and flexibility when the glove is made of leather or fabrics that are not lightweight. All our sueded cotton gloves have a Bolton thumb), ‘Querk’ (A small, triangular or diamond-shaped piece of material attached to the bottom crease of a fourchette in the ‘vee’ of the fingers) Fourchettes (are strips of material running between the fingers and holding the back and palm portions of the glove together. Usually three fourchettes per glove ) and Mousquetaire (A three-inch opening at the inner wrist which allows for easy removal of the wearer’s hand from the glove. The hand remains attached and may be tucked inside the sleeve of the glove for dining or an exchange of rings. The Mousquetaire is sealed with dainty buttons or bows)
Every pair of gloves involves 96” of stitching.
Based just outside the village of Ripe in East Sussex, England, the company hand-makes all its gloves which are sold all around the world. Gloves worn at state occasions, banquets, balls, operas, and high society events, formal daywear gloves, and bridal gloves are made in ‘The Old Cattle Stall’ in a barn on a farm in a muddy part of the kingdom.” Overlooking the South Downs. It is a very English situation in which we have adapted, adopted, adjusted, and plain old cobbled-together facilities to create a very efficient environment for the making of gloves.”
“There is something indestructibly British about the cut of a good pair of gloves from Cornelia James!”
