Click here to watch it in High Definition.

June is the month we celebrate father’s day. Here at Rising Sun & Co. that is the perfect excuse to throw a party with all the things we love like hot rods, vintage motorcycles, and great music and drinks.

On June 12th, 7-11PM, we are throwing a bash featuring Speedbuggy, the hard-playing, cowpunk band who will be playing music from their upcoming album. Maker’s Mark is providing the whiskey and bourbon for all sons and daughters of spirits-enjoying age.

Industrial furniture that is best described as functional art will be showcased by Cleveland Art. Julian Boots will also be showing off the craftman’s new handmade boots. Julian makes some of the best boots in America today, the old fashion way, with the same love and labor we at Rising Sun apply to clothing.

And of course we will be unveiling new product like the Rising Sun bandanna.

Event: Pre-Father’s Day Bash with Speedbuggy
Who: Speedbuggy, hot rods, Maker’s Mark, motorcycles, Cleveland Art, Julian Boots, Rising Sun, fun and games
When: Saturday, June 12, 2010. 7-11 PM
Where: Rising Sun & Co., 107 S Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91105

This sweet couple from Germany visited our shop after reading about Rising Sun in a German magazine and we chatted the day away. Customers hungry for denim talk make our work immensely gratifying. After trying on several pairs they walked out with a pair of Standard jeans hemmed on the spot for a perfect cuffing length. The machine used is of course none other than our especially rare black head bulldog Union Special chainstitch hemmer. If you come by the haberdashery in Pasadena we can show you how this is not your garden variety Union Special.

Thank you for visiting!

The Rising Sun booth got very busy.

There is a perfectly good reason for why our blog has not been updated in some time. In preparing for Rin Tanaka’s Inspiration show our good propreitor Mike Hodis reminded us how madly dedicated he is to his work at Rising Sun. Running for days with barely any sleep and lots of RS coffee Mike moved practically half the shop to the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica airport. Human limits were tested. We took great pains (ie, back pain, shoulder pain, etc) to carefully move our sewing machines like the ol’ black head Union Special bulldog hemmer, our lovely black head single needle, the black caballo, and a special triangle stitcher (more on that last piece of equipment next time but it has this neat attachment and cam that make it perfect for stitching leather reinforcement on seams). Not to mention putting in tongue and groove pine floors, crates, stock, heirloom showcases, and so much more.

All these and the required raw materials were transported there for us to set up a temporary haberdashery to stitch up a fine pair of jeans and show off our passion. We also flaunted our and Michael Harris’s vintage collection in wooden showcases that are sisters to the ones in our shop. Considering visitor reactions we think we did a pretty good job and wonder if maybe we should hit the road more often (no).

Showcase of vintage pieces at Rising Sun booth.

Mike with JP Plunier.

Mine finds from Michael Harris's collection at Rising Sun booth.

Heller's Cafe put on quite a display of amazing vintage pieces. In both quality and quantity the collection displayed is one of the finest in the country. Important artifacts of denim workwear pieces included racks and racks of chinstrap shirts and Stifel pieces including shirts with removable collars still attached.

The most interesting and memorable booth for us is Julian boots'. His booth was right behind ours and he was making a pair of booths right there and then. Julian is an old school craftsman who makes boots the old fashion way in America. He will measure your foot, feel your foot, and goes through the whole process needed to get a handle for what your feet needs before carving a last just for you to ensure the best fit. Very rarely do you hear about custom bootmakers who go through such lengths.

Julian only worked on spiffing up one pair that day and Mike was super impressed with the results. He exude such pride and joy in his skills at the art of a fine polish.

The Mr. Winter booth

Mr. Winter's vintage racer. From 1939.

Chuck's Vintage booth.

Mister Freedom booth.

Given the opportunity we will definitely do the Inspiration show again. Besides being one big party for denim and vintage lovers the show also gave us the chance to meet unique craftsmen like Julian. If you missed the first show be sure to keep an eye out for the next one. See you there!

There is heavy denim talk on every corner. Stories about vintage finds are abound. They should rename this event to Heaven.

There are a few things you may find interesting about Rising Sun’s shop besides the products. Our haberdashery’s building, 107 S. Fair Oaks, is a historic building in Pasadena. It was constructed in the late 1880′s and served as a showroom for stage coaches or horse carriages. By the early 1900′s it became the Hotel Mikado a Japanese hotel that mostly catered to Japanese Americans. By about World War II the hotel was sold to the family of Mr. Percy Carter who converted the hotel to The Hotel Carver (after George Washington Carver), Pasadena’s first hotel owned by African-Americans. Its primary clientele consisted of visitors turned away by the Hotel Green, which serviced mostly well-to-do, white clients.

During The Hotel Carver years the then well-known nightclub, The Onyx Club, which eventually became The Club Cobra, featured jazz talents of the time in the basement. Below is a picture of the wall in the basement today.

By the 70′s the building was converted to artists studios and the Pasadena Repertory Theatre, which won the LA Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Director and best Screenplay for its staging of “In Celebration.” Other acclaimed creatives associated with the space include Paul McCarthy (contemporary artist), Steve Gerber (Marvel Comics creator, The Defenders, Howard the Duck), Gill Dennis (writer, Walk the Line), Betty Dore (painter), Herbie Lewis (jazz musician), and more.

Today Rising Sun does not forget the important history of Old Town Pasadena and the stories these walls would tell if could speak. With time we will perhaps weave some tales of our own for the history books.

When we worked on the space our belief was the only way to build ourselves a haberdashery was from the sweat from our own brows. The leather floors were install by Mike, friends, and family. The carved wood found in the haberdashery were done by his family. So were the tin ceilings. We pride ourselves in upholding the fighting spirit that is still very much alive in the building.

Please visit our shop at 107 S. Fair Oaks, Pasadena CA and enjoy the local history.

If you missed the Man Up pop up market in San Francisco in January you may still view some super rare Rising Sun pieces at this week’s Inspiration show in Santa Monica this weekend. We will be unveiling a collaboration with Deadgrass focused on really amazing pre-1900′s workwear that the world has not seen since, well, the 1800′s. More on that later.

Right now check out some great pics the Man Up team sent us of the event. They did such a great job!

I am not talking about the workwear brand. Not the clock tower bell either, although Ben Phillips is from the UK. He made a special trip to see us and we thought our meeting deserves recounting.

On the lazy Pasadena morning after Christmas, while workers of Rising Sun and other local institutions were at home hungover from celebrating, our propreitor Mike Hodis found himself compelled to open the store. In his own words not ten minutes after the doors were open “I quickly realized why I had to open that day and that if I had not I would have missed an opportunity to meet one of the most motivated and passionate denim enthusiast out there.” He is talking about Ben, the hulking Brit who deals in American tattoo machines and loves faithfully made denim clothing.

Ben was stateside with his girlfriend who is in a student exchange program in Philadelphia. They made the trip to the west coast to see the sights but “the catalyst for the trip was to come and check out our shop and to purchase a pair of Blacksmiths, in size 40.”

Chatting and swapping stories ensued. Ben’s size served him well in barroom brawls and hard living in the tough, industrial English town he grew up in. His passion for vintage clothing and 40′s era culture gave him a creative outlet to overcome what must have been a rough upbringing. We are proud to count Ben as a supporter and have him wear Rising Sun garments.

This encounter gave much Mike much to think about during this season of thanks and reflection. “The time I spent in the shop with this great guy made me realize that the shop serves more than one purpose. It also serves as a destination for like-minded people whose lives intertwine with mine. The stories as well as the new friendships I cherish as priceless moments in my life.” Thank you, Ben! It was a pleasure meeting you and Ooffii.

What follows is a small autobio by Big Ben himself.

Ooffii and I come from Brighton, England, about an hour south of London. My experiences in the music industry as a tour manager and promoter, and my time working for The Duffer of St. George has generated my interest in tattoos, vintage and especially denim. I now work for Deluxe Tattoo Supplies; I travel throughout the UK selling handmade tattoo machines.

Ooffii is a student at the University of Sussex studying American History. She is currently on exchange at the University of Pennsylvania; for her Christmas break we decided to head out west to get some California sun. My denim obsession forced us to brave LA public transport to make the trip to Rising Sun. We had the best experience in the shop. We hung out with Mike and chatted about everything from denim and vintage to frontier history, mining and our families. It was a pleasure and a privilege to spend time in the shop and get to see the amazing workshop. I couldn’t be happier with my new Blacksmiths and am looking forward to building a up a Rising Sun collection.

I am not talking about the workwear brand. Not the clock tower bell either, although Ben Phillips is from the UK. He made a special trip to see us and we thought our meeting deserves a blog post.

On the lazy Pasadena morning after Christmas, while workers of Rising Sun and other local institutions were at home hungover from celebrating, our propreitor Mike Hodis found himself compelled to open the store. In his own words not ten minutes after the doors were open “I quickly realized why I had to open that day and that if I had not I would have missed an opportunity to meet one of the most motivated and passionate denim enthusiast out there.” He is talking about Ben, the hulking Brit who deals in American tattoo machines and loves faithfully made denim clothing.

Ben was stateside with his girlfriend who is in a student exchange program in Philadelphia. They made the trip to the west coast to see the sights but “the catalyst for the trip was to come and check out our shop and to purchase a pair of Blacksmith, in size 40.” Chatting and swapping stories ensued. Ben’s size served him well in barroom brawls and hard living in the tough, industrial English town he grew up in. His passion for vintage clothing and 40′s era culture gave him a creative outlet to overcome what must have been a rough upbringing. We are proud to count Ben as a supporter and have him wear Rising Sun garments.

This encounter gave much Mike much to think about during this season of thanks and reflection. “The time I spent in the shop with this great guy made me realize that the shop serves more than one purpose. It also serves as a destination for like-minded people whose lives intertwine with mine. The stories as well as the new friendships I cherish as priceless moments in my life.” Thank you, Ben! It was a pleasure meeting you and Ooffii.