A few people have asked if the sample sale is open by appointment only, but this is not the case. Our doors are open to one and all. This is the perfect time to get some of the gift buying out of the way before the holidays.

See you on Saturday!

Once again, Rising Sun’s Ranch Hand Jacket brings the this rugged charm back to life.

Since we know many of you have been waiting, we are happy to announce them finished just in time for the cold winter weather. This two pocket, pleated jacket, made from our signature brown duck is a timeless piece. We kept the details the same, using tobacco colored contrast duck on the inside of the waist band and the cuffs, and a steel buckle made from bending steel wiring as a back detail.

This piece is the Gent Waistcoat. It is crafted from the finest of wabash printed dot stripe selvage canvases. The gent features a flatbusted center back seam with inside selvage detail. The inner pocket is selvage edged with a custom Rising Sun patch. Its deep hunting pockets can subtly hold anything from your safely concealed passport to fresh quail. The chest pocket has been enlarged to perfectly fit your smart phone. This may be a vintage inspired piece but we consider your technological needs. With its plethora of features and hearty duck canvas this rusty beauty will be the pride of your wardrobe.

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

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

Newstadter Bros.

Julian Boots


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!