An Thoughts/Ideas Regarding Contrasting Stitching?

[Vespizzare]

I'm in the process of getting a half-belt from Johnson Leather and am currently awaiting the delivery of a test jacket for size. (What fun!) I really want this jacket to be righteous and it certainly will be somewhat idiosyncratic. I started to talk to Alan about contrasting stitching. He said it was big in the Japanese market and suggested brown stitching with black leather as a possibility, before he had to hang up.

So anyway, I'm either getting black or very dark brown hide. Any suggestions on thread other than matching? If I get brown, I sorta dig a darker olive thread as sort of an A2 homage. On the other hand, I think I'm leaning black because it'll have a brown merino lining and I want there to be some contrast (plus it'll be a bike jacket).

 

[Ishmael]

I think it looks good on black.

Here is a Rainbow Country in black with dark brown stitching.
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/americaya/item/rcl-10013h/?s-id=borderless_recommend_item_en

Same jacket in black with black stitching (and, if you scroll down, a side by side comparison with the above jacket)
http://blog.livedoor.jp/mcfly_store/archives/50659980.html

 

[rocketeer]

You want thoughts on this? Here's mine anyway. Not for me I'm afraid, I was all for an Eastman Rough Wear at one time till I found out that it came with green stitching. Not my thing at all, but hey, no problem if you like it.
there was a web page featuring John Maguire(jacket book writer) who stated that A2s ended up with this contrasting thread simply because the factory ran out of brown. True? Maybe, myabe not, but interesting anyway.
Just my thoughts JayTee

 

[Seb Lucas]

I've always found the look unfortunate.

 

[ForestForTheTrees]

I'm not so much into the contrast stitching, especially when it comes to a bike jacket.

But, since you inquired about it, you must have some sort of attraction to it, so to hell with what I think.

If you go with a black or really dark brown hide, along with the brown merino wool lining, a contrasting brown stitching might look alright.

My honest advice: follow your gut on this one Vespizzare.

 

[Sloan1874]

It's an interesting idea, but I like the simplicity of keeping everything dark and blocked. Understated and stylish.

 

[Boyo]

I say go for it! There have been several jackets shown recently that have had contrast stitching and have looked great. Brown leather, olive stitching, and even a black jacket with a red thread (from Goodwear no less) my thoughts would be to keep it reasonable, tonally in the same family. It will stand out , but in a good way....you did want to be noticed didn't you

 

[Panacheman]

contrast stiching can go either way. it depends on the color of the stitching and the quality of the work. i have a vintage black horsehide long pea coat with dark olive contrast stitching which i love more every time i look at it

 

[bicktrav]

I just got an Aero half belt in brown FQHH with green OD stitching. It looks amazing and I love the stitching. But it's also worth pointing out that it's incredibly subtle. In certain lights you can't even tell there's a contrast. It's the kind of thing that adds to the jacket, but you wouldn't notice it at first blush. So my feeling is that contrast stitching can be great, but it's gotta be subtle. I've seen jackets with loud contrast stitching (black leather with cream stitching for example), and they don't look good at all. At least not to me.

 

[ButteMT61]

I think on a "biker' jacket style(s) I could understand wanting to nix the contrasting thread. On every other jacket I've seen and owned, contrasting stitching is awesome. I'd never buy one without it myself, but that's me.

 

[Edward]

I say go for it! There have been several jackets shown recently that have had contrast stitching and have looked great. Brown leather, olive stitching, and even a black jacket with a red thread (from Goodwear no less) my thoughts would be to keep it reasonable, tonally in the same family. It will stand out , but in a good way....you did want to be noticed didn't you

Red on black sounds great! So would be olive on black. I have olive on my Aero A2 (seal goat). Very subtle - you have to look for it - but it looks great.

contrast stiching can go either way. it depends on the color of the stitching and the quality of the work.

True, more danger of any mistakes showing up. Colourwise, I'd advise against white thread. Looks nice on my wallet, but gets dirty quickly...

 

[Sloan1874]

Perhaps the thing that puts me off contrasting thread is that I tend to visualise white thread on black or brown, which is beyond the pale, as far as I'm concerned...:eeek:

 

[IXL]

I see a lot of contrasting stitching (many on western style garments) and most of it looks a bit too "Howdy Doody" for my taste, with a lot of the white-thread-on-black-leather kind of thing. If it was a subtle contrast, I imagine it might look quite nice.

 

[Grayland]

Olive drab thread on brown leather looks great. You have to really pay attention to even notice it.

 

[HighandDry]

You want thoughts on this? Here's mine anyway. Not for me I'm afraid, I was all for an Eastman Rough Wear at one time till I found out that it came with green stitching. Not my thing at all, but hey, no problem if you like it.
there was a web page featuring John Maguire(jacket book writer) who stated that A2s ended up with this contrasting thread simply because the factory ran out of brown. True? Maybe, myabe not, but interesting anyway.
Just my thoughts JayTee

John at Goodwear told me that A2's had contrasting stitching, because they used whatever they had on hand. The army had a LOT of green stitching left from making fatigues, so they just moved that over into their jackets.

Personally, I love the contrasting stitching.