Rising Sun

The “Jeans of the Old West” book just came out and is already proven to be very popular. We do have a limited amount available in the shop so come on by to get your copy.

We have a small amount of Julian Boots still available in the store. These are whats left of the special run from the Jeans of the West release party.

Saturday was a huge success with the release of Michael Harris’s new book “Jeans of the Old West”. Check out the photos of the party below. Many thanks to Timbo for performing that night and the Harris family for hosting the event.

The book will be available for purchase after Thursday, August 12th in our shop. You can also find the new ‘Dead Grass’ trousers, made by Rising Sun, available at the store. These jeans are recreated from pants found in mines from 100 years ago. We are fortunate to have a few pairs of amazing ‘Julian’ boots to purchase as well.

Thanks to all who came to the party and we will keep you posted on upcoming events in the future. In the meantime, walk into our late 1800′s mercantile store and see these trousers displayed in the proper turn of the century style.

Party-goers

We had some of the mine-found items from the book on display

Julian Boots on display

Timbo playing solo

There was a lot of vintage denim discussion going on

Roadster parking only

These are the “Deadgrass” pants with the finishing touches we put on last night.
Hope to see everyone at the event tonite!
6-9pm
107 S. Fair Oaks Ave #109
Pasadena, CA 91105

AB Elfelt & Co. with the Jeans of the West book

Newstadter Bros.

Julian Boots

August 7th is coming up fast, and we just wanted to wet your whistle with a glimpse of our production of the mine-found recreations for “Dead Grass”.

We are privileged to be a part of a curated collection of American-made garments for Orvis, the outdoor outfitters. Fifteen years ago, Mike was fly-fishing in Alaska wearing an Orvis Wading Jacket, little did he know then; that sometime in the future, his two passions would come together.

We are honored to be presenting these items as a part of the fall collection on their website and in select retail stores.

Here are the items we made for them:

Well Worn Workers Pants
This is a special washed version of our Worker pants, made out of the duck canvas.

Long-Sleeve Racer Tee Shirt

Some style blogs around the internet have started waxing praise for the Miner’s Pants:

10 Engines:

“These might be the most pined for item already…”

Guide To Bad Taste:

“Rising Sun… has got their grapefruit together on these pants.”

As there is a positive expectation building about these items it seems that they wont last long. There are limited quantities available and Orvis has chosen to offer them for a special price to their customers… less than what we retail them for in our shop. This is a perfect opportunity for the individuals who have expressed interest in purchasing Rising Sun product but have had difficulty locating and attaining it due to our limited production and distribution.

Good Luck!

There is an encouraging new artisan movement in Los Angeles where local products are made the old-fashioned way using the best and most authentic ingredients. Many of the craftsmen in this movement have been drawn together as a result of the common thread they share.


One particular artisan, the boot maker – Julian. He is known amongst fellow craftsmen as someone who takes joy and pride in every step of the process from hand carving lasts to hand making every single pair of boots, right here in the America. While riding in Hodis’s pre-war hot rod as the navigator on the Annual Reliability Run, meandering through the San Gabriel Mountains, the idea of the collaborative effort was born.

We took an English last (the last makes the the shape of a boot) from the time period before the First World War. This last was the shape that was used by Welsh miners in the United Kingdom during this pre-war period. We made a couple modifications for comfort and fit and then we applied a pattern that was commonplace in that time up until about 1920.



The boot that we created is all handmade solid leather throughout (100% leather sole and upper), crafted in the old-fashioned handmade way, the same way that it would have been done back in that time period.



One motivation behind this project is that we see people are becoming very serious about buying local products made with old-fashioned techniques and with the highest quality of goods. We believe some of this was born out of an intrigue with vintage products because they were always made and bought locally, and with highest quality materials. It is in opposition to most of the products we buy today that have been made in the farther parts of the world.

We made only 5 pairs of these boots which will be available for boot enthusiasts to look at, try on, and purchase at our event on August 7, along with our mine-found recreations.

Come celebrate with us the release of the much anticipated denim history book, written by Michael Harris. Covering the origins of denim in the ol’ west frontier of San Francisco from 1873 to 1890.

You will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a few of the mine found items chosen to be recreated by “Dead Grass” & manufactured by The Rising Sun on period correct machines using period correct fabrics and hardware.

* LIMITED QUANTITY AVAILABLE *

Saturday August 7th
6pm to 9pm

Hosted by
Rising Sun & Co

107 S Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105

Below is an excerpt from the book, an example of what you will learn from denim history:

In the Old West, blue jeans were one of a workingman’s tools. They protected his lower body and they carried items of use, and they were comfortable enough to wear all day long. And, with the invention of the riveted jeans, they were sturdy enough to last for years.

To me, old San Francisco-made blue jeans have functional beauty – like old steam engines with all of the pipes and workings on the outside. Not only the riveted jeans of Levi Strauss & Co., but also, and perhaps more so, the non-riveted jeans with strengthening features sewn on the outside, like the designs of B. & O. Greenbaum, A. B. Elfelt, and S. R. Krause.

Although this book is primarily about the jeans manufacturing companies in San Francisco during the late 1800’s, there were a large number of independent tailors working in San Francisco at the time who made clothes-to-fit. Work pants could be bought ready-made off the shelves of dry good stores in all of the Western towns and mining camps of the period, but dress clothes were probably mostly purchased from these independent tailors.

Remember that the first rivet denim jeans were made by Jacob Davis in his tailor shop in Reno, Nevada. In fact his inclusion of a watch pocket on work pants may have been because of his being accustomed to making suit pants, which customarily came with one. Also, Jacob’s addition of a back pocket to his work pants, something not normally found on work pants of the period, but often on dress pants, suggests that he used a dress pants pattern for his work pants design. So, the modern form of jeans, with a watch pocket and back pockets, probably owes its existence to the melding of features from dress pants with work pants by a tailor.

So don’t forget to mark your calendars for August 7th!

The YouTube video below features Rising Sun’s own Mike Hodis, as an entry in Mitchum’s contest to find the “Hardest Working Person in America”. Click play to watch as Mike talks about Rising Sun’s story.

We had a blast at our pre-father’s day party at Rising Sun & Co. and got some photos that we really wanted to share.

Julian boots on display

The boot-maker, Julian, was there to explain his craft

We had a lot of guests bring their vintage bikes, cars and roadsters adding to the traditional workwear culture that inspires Rising Sun. Here are some of those:

The lineup

discussion

Dewalt and his custom

…nice bike

Traditional style

The music for the nite, provided by Speedbuggy, helped to set the mood, and rounded out the night very nicely.

The calm before the storm

Speedbuggy at full throttle

We also want to give one last special thanks to our friends at Wurstküche for adding a special flavor to the night with their amazing gourmet sausages.

Wurstküche, a gourmet sausage grill in Downtown LA