Argyll jacket top-stitching

[The Wizard of BC]

This topic got me to looking through some of my old tailoring guides. Most notably the 1898 cutter's guide. The kilt and kilt jackets make up 42 pages of this classic and its 1912 and 1936 updates.

I have to admit that I too like the look of top-stitching simply because it is not seen often today, but in the older guides the general consensus is that top stitching was a give away of less than top notch tailoring.

In the days of hand stitching being the hallmark of bespoke tailoring, fine, flat seams were the most sought after. The thinner, finer the seam the better. This also goes along with finer weave fabrics.

Top stitching was regarded as a way used to cover up for less than the best quality fabrics and less than the best quality tailoring.

At this same time heavier, coarser fabrics were only used for field wear. It was regarded as the equivalent of blue jeans today.
As tweed jackets are day wear, top stitching would be more than appropriate.

My jacket maker offers a top stitching option at an additional, but minimal, cost.

[Tobus]

I'm with you Tobus, on a thick weave, the top-stitch detail is very nice. Oddly enough I have a few Italian suits from the 90's that have this detail on the lapel, although the distance between the edge and the stitch is VERY narrow rather than ~1/4" or so that you see on tweed jackets.

If I were to custom order a highland jacket or 3 I'd certainly make sure to specify that I'd like the top-stitch detail. But then again, I'm a chap who enjoys vintage details.

ith:

Yeah, I don't know what it is about it, but I really love the look. I've had many suits over the years but none of them had it. They were all made in the modern fashion of thin, flattened cloth with smooth, clean seams and edges. As I've aged and started to be more picky about style, I've decided that I don't care for the clean, aerodynamic modern look. In fact, despite being a bit cliche, I think some of the examples from Mad Men represent the pinnacle of being well-dressed. Roger Sterling, who virtually always wears suits with top-stitching, looks about as sharp as a man can get in a suit:

You know.. I don't think it would be that difficult to take a jacket you like and "faux" a top stitch. I'm not sure how crafty a fella you are but I'm betting if you have a bit of time you could modify it to your tastes. Most of the top stitching I've seen is pretty simple, an eighth to a quarter inch stitch showing on the top side with about a thirty second of an inch under and repeat. If your up to try I'd highly recommend using a wheel and a piece of sharpened chaulk to keep your spacing off the leading edge of the lapel. I wish you luck : )

That might be an idea worth trying. I wouldn't think it would be too difficult to just slap a jacket on the sewing machine and run a top-stitch around the edges. I just wonder if the final result might vary depending on what's inside. I would think it might depend on the seam allowance they used at the edge where they turned the fabric back inside.

The problem with machine-stitching would be where the lapel turns over. The 'bottom' of a machine stitch looks different than the 'top' of the stitch. Might have to reverse the jacket (i.e. turn it over and start the stitching again) at that point in order to get the right look to the seam.

This topic got me to looking through some of my old tailoring guides. Most notably the 1898 cutter's guide. The kilt and kilt jackets make up 42 pages of this classic and its 1912 and 1936 updates.

I have to admit that I too like the look of top-stitching simply because it is not seen often today, but in the older guides the general consensus is that top stitching was a give away of less than top notch tailoring.

In the days of hand stitching being the hallmark of bespoke tailoring, fine, flat seams were the most sought after. The thinner, finer the seam the better. This also goes along with finer weave fabrics.

Top stitching was regarded as a way used to cover up for less than the best quality fabrics and less than the best quality tailoring.

At this same time heavier, coarser fabrics were only used for field wear. It was regarded as the equivalent of blue jeans today.
As tweed jackets are day wear, top stitching would be more than appropriate.

My jacket maker offers a top stitching option at an additional, but minimal, cost.

Excellent background info, Steve! I figured that might be the case. That would explain why we see it on older tweedy-type jackets and rough woolen jackets, but not on the finer jackets (and, except for the 1970s perhaps, never on evening jackets). I can't say that I've ever seen it done on the thinner, finer materials. The top-stitching seems to 'puff up' the edge, giving it a nice rounded border. It would likely be impossible to get that look on a thin fabric, and would just look odd.

But I think it really enhances the appearance of coarser fabrics, and tends to provide a visible, yet subtle, border detail which outlines the shape of the lapel.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I can offer top stitching as an option for anyone who wants it on my contemporary style kilt jackets.
http://www.newhousehighland.com/jackets.php

[creagdhubh]

Great selection, Matt!!!

[Tobus]

I can offer top stitching as an option for anyone who wants it on my contemporary style kilt jackets.
http://www.newhousehighland.com/jackets.php

I don't see that as an option there. Nor do I see a place to enter special instructions. How would one go about adding top-stitching as an option?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I don't see that as an option there. Nor do I see a place to enter special instructions. How would one go about adding top-stitching as an option?

Sorry for the confusion. By "option" I meant that if you wanted a jacket made that way, I could accomodate the request. But you are right, it is not listed as a standard option on my web site.

When you use the order form, once you hit submit, all that data is sent to me in an email; I review the email, and then send you an email confirming the details and price, and follow that up with an invoice for payment, which constitutes confirmation of the order. All you'd have to do is at some point in that exchange, just mention in an email "hey, I want top stitching." It would only add $10 to the price, and you can select a non-contrasting color thread, or a different color if you prefer.

[creagdhubh]

Sorry for the confusion. By "option" I meant that if you wanted a jacket made that way, I could accomodate the request. But you are right, it is not listed as a standard option on my web site.

When you use the order form, once you hit submit, all that data is sent to me in an email; I review the email, and then send you an email confirming the details and price, and follow that up with an invoice for payment, which constitutes confirmation of the order. All you'd have to do is at some point in that exchange, just mention in an email "hey, I want top stitching." It would only add $10 to the price, and you can select a non-contrasting color thread, or a different color if you prefer.

[Jock Scot]

Do you know, I have just had to look at my tweed argyll, as I could not remember if it had "top stitching", or not. The answer? Not.

[piperdbh]

Machine top-stitching tweed is not a fun exercise. In my experience, the tiny little roughnesses on the bottom of the foot tend to snag hairs in the tweed. If you're going to top-stitch using a sewing machine, it might be a good idea to put a little piece of masking tape on the bottom of the foot to make it smooth.

[creagdhubh]

Just to confirm as The House of Labhran has been mentioned in this post: We CANNOT supply Haggarts Tweed Argyll Kilt Jackets at this time

We have currently taken the Haggart's top stitched kilt jackets out of stock. We are looking at a new kilt jacket tailor, but are not taking any new orders at this time. We hope these will be back as an option very soon as discussions are taking place with a new tailor at this time.

Thank you for the update, Timothy.