How can I sass up a pair of motorcycle gloves for my Spike-Lee-Films-Loving man this Christmas?

November 26, 2011 2:12 AM

My fella loves the "love/hate" monologue in Do The Right Thing and in particular, Radio Raheem's blinging handwear. He's mentioned how cool this would look on his motorcycle gloves - how can I execute this in a way that isn't completely tragic [my opinion] and doesn't ruin the safety function of said gloves?

We've committed to making our Christmas presents for each other this year, so I took note when he said something about how cool it would be to have gloves with love/hate on the knuckles.* I have access to an older pair of gloves that he's not currently using daily - his winter ones with gauntlets, not his summer Fox gloves. I was thinking of riveting the letters onto the knuckles but how safe are rivet ends on your knuckles at crash time? Or indeed, how comfortable would they be when you're riding? I'm pretty fussy about my gloves so I wouldn't want to screw them up with a bunch of wrongly applied metal. Also, waterproofing?

Anyway, riveting is out as the size and thickness of the material and fingerspaces doesn't give a lot of room. Apart for using permanent marker, or glitter stickers, have you folk got any ideas about how I might execute some kind of solution that doesn't look [too] naff, but clearly echoes the film scene?

* I'm hoping this isn't a test or some kind of joke I've missed. I swear that in all other things he demonstrates exquisite taste.

posted by honey-barbara to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

I think these sound awesome! But the I also love that movie. You could knit/sew little tubes with the letters on them that he could slip on when he wanted, but I'm not sure how cool that would look. Some kind of patches?
posted by chaiminda at 4:35 AM on November 26, 2011

I have a pair of bicycle gloves like this; the letters are on small round patches that are sewn over the upper knuckles. Presuming your guy's gloves don't have some kind of metal or plastic armoring, you can go to you local arts and crafts store and pick-up the letters in a suitably bling style and sewn them on.

Alternatively, you could get the letters stamped on individual thin metal strips at either the crafts store or a hardware store. You would then bend the strips around the each of the upper fingers and sew them in place.

Finally, you could glue metal or plastic letters directly to the gloves. This is could potentially be messy, needs to be done in a well ventilated area, and you only get one shot. But, the results are probably the closest to what you are asking for. You can find out what kind of glue will work best with your materials here.

Also, Robert Mitchum.
posted by chrisulonic at 5:15 AM on November 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

Could you get it embossed into the leather? http://www.nulineemboss.com/#!gloves
posted by springbound at 5:18 AM on November 26, 2011

Embroidery? Apparently, on leather gloves it's very difficult, but not impossible, and would allow for the most "tattoo-like" result.

chrisulonic: "Also, Robert Mitchum ."

Also, Sideshow Bob.
posted by benzo8 at 6:28 AM on November 26, 2011

Embroidery? Simple block letters with metallic thread seems pretty do-able.

But really, whatever else you do you should get him a DVD of Night of the Hunter, one of the best films of all time, and the film from which Spike Lee quotes the whole Love/Hate scene.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:32 AM on November 26, 2011

If you embroider it, make sure you have a thimble (alternatively, I've been known to duct tape a penny to my thumb in the absence of thimbles) and pliers to pull the needle out. Get a lot of extra needles because you will break some. I don't think I've tried to hand sew on leather, but I've hand sewn things on lots of inappropriate/thick materials and you'll need pliers and a thimble. Without a thimble, the eye of the needle will go backwards into your thumb if you push hard enough to get through the leather. It's totally doable, but you'll have to put the needle in and out in one go to sew on narrow glove fingers.
posted by artychoke at 7:07 AM on November 26, 2011

Have you considered using leather paint?
posted by workerant at 7:56 AM on November 26, 2011

If his gloves are armored, you may not be able to use embroidering. If they're armored where the text should go, I too would suggest some kind of paint. Even if the paint starts to deteriorate over a period of time, I think that would just enhance the impact of the message, so long as it remains readable. When it comes to motorcycle apparel, distressed frequently equals badass.
posted by imjustsaying at 2:15 PM on November 26, 2011

Tiny pan head wood screws from inside holding scrabble tiles outside.
posted by hortense at 4:25 PM on November 26, 2011

Response by poster: Hi everyone, thanks for your suggestions. I liked the scrabble tiles idea a lot but the execution was difficult in such a tricky position. I looked up embossing but it was going to be over $150 - probably worth it if you were doing a batch of them for a club as the price per unit would go down significantly. chrisulonic, thanks - I think the final result reflects your thinking of sewing on some bling. Here is a pic of the finished gloves. The letters were found via Etsy here.
posted by honey-barbara at 7:43 AM on January 7, 2012