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'Pin striping' is the application of a very thin line of paint or other material called a 'pin stripe', and is generally used for decoration. Fine lines in textiles are also called ''pin stripes''.
Automotive, bike shops, and do-it-yourself car and motorcycle mechanics use paint pinstriping to create their own custom look on the automotive bodies and parts.

Contents

Motorcycles

Vehicles

Textiles

External links

Motorcycles

Pin striping can be seen all over the roads with custom choppers, such as Orange County Choppers, Indian Larry, and West Coast Choppers. Pinstriping motorcycles has been around for a long time. Kenny Howard, also known as Von Dutch, a pioneer of the Kustom Kulture lifestyle, is widely recognized as the self-proclaimed "originator of modern pinstriping".

Vehicles

In automotive body work, pin stripes are a thin vinyl tape or paint. The tape versions are adhered directly to the painted surface in the pattern desired, while painted ones are done by skilled artists with 'sword' shaped brushes. The paint used by the vast majority of stripers is a lettering enamel made by 1 Shot although large companies such as House of Kolor and lately Kustom Shop also make striping urethane.
The goal of pin striping is to enhance the contours of the surface, and the lines are generally of a complementary color. In any other form of decorative pin stripes, the goal is the same.
Pin stripe décor is also applied to motorcycles, trucks, boats, and surfboards.
Whilst stripers such as Von Dutch and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth are possibly the best known early practitioners of 'modern' pinstriping, many of the early stripers cite Tommy "The Greek" Hrones and Dean Jeffries as their major influences.
There are countless brush artists who carry on the tradition, not only in the US but across the globe — The Doc in Compton, Preacher (Peter McDermott) in San Antonio Texas, Steve Kafka in Arizona, Victor in Nebraska, One Arm Bandit in New England, Anthony White in Florida, MWM from Hot Rod Surf in San Diego and Herb Martinez to name a few of the US stripers. Neil Melliard in the UK, Tom Plate in Germany, Simon Watts from Australia and Makoto in Japan show that pinstriping has become a worldwide art form.
The technology used by contemporary stripers has changed little since the '50s. Mack still make brushes the same way they did when Andrew Mack started the company, although their product line includes more than just swords. Stripers such as Steve Kafka and Mr J have designed brushes suited to their striping styles, the Kafka brushes make the swirls and complicated designs, which make up Kafka's signature style, much easier to do and Mr J's Xcaliber brushes have shorter hairs than the traditional Mack, making them more suited to beginners.
Most stripers will stripe all manner of things, including toilet seats and office furniture--pretty much anything that will hold still. Stripers can often be seen demonstrating their craft at car and motorcycle shows.

Textiles

A pattern of very thin stripes running in parallel found in cloth is also called ''pin stripes''. The pinstriped suit has become associated with conservative businesswear although many designers now produce fashionable sharp pinstripes for younger more fashion-conscious suitwearers.
Although found mostly in men's suits, any type of fabric can be pin striped. The New York Yankees baseball team uniforms have had pin stripes for nearly 100 years.

External links

★ Site dedicated to the preservation of the art of traditional pinstriping

★ Pinstripers Forum

★ Pinstripers Yahoo Group

★ Tootall pinstriping, UK based pinstriper

★ Nefarious pinstriping, UK Pinstriper

★ Pinstriping and Kustom Graphics Magazine

★ Video of Ed Roth interviewing Von Dutch