-LIMITED EDITION- FILSON SCARLET MACKINAW CRUISER

Killer -Limited Edition- FILSON Scarlet Mackinaw Wool Cruiser. A nice alternative to the indigo denim chore coat. Would work well with with dark indigo carpenter jeans or some brown duck pants. Too bad the mild So Cal winters don't provide ample opportunities for wearing such a coat (not to mention the fact that the much favored Brown's Beach Jacket gets priority). Still... can't help but think that the time and place to sport this fine garment could be found. "MIGHT AS WELL HAVE THE BEST"

Limited Edition of only 897 to commemorate the Seattle company's first year in business and available for pre-order only. Jackets will ship in November. To order call 1-866-860-8906

Constructed of thick 24oz Mackinaw Wool with contrasting double stitching

Large rear full coat width cruiser pocket

6 button front closure

4 large front pockets with snap flaps; 3 utility slots sewn over upper left front pocket; 2 hand warmer pockets under lower front pockets; 1 interior left chest pocket; 1 vintage compass pocket

Button closures at wrists

Available in sizes 36-50

Made in USA

Filson has been selling its Mackinaw Wool coats since the company began in 1897. The Cruiser design was named after the logging industry’s “timber cruiser”, the advance scout who crashed brush to survey the forests for the most productive timber land. First sold in the solid red color as the “Red Mackinaw Cruising Coat” in 1922, it was later sold in 1934 as style No. 14 “Woolen Cruising Coat” in the “Scarlet” color. This style, “The Scarlet Cruiser” is one of many variations of the original Filson design.

RISING SUN & CO. New Brown Duck Outdoor Vest Coming Soon

This fine piece jumped out at me while helping out at Rising Sun this past weekend. Their new Brown Duck Outdoor Vest with some very nice details, available soon from Rising Sun & Co. 

I hope to be adding one of these to my uniform once they are in store and then giving it all the use that it deserves, followed by wear update. Keeping the old fingers crossed!
Call 1.626.793.3479 or email them at info@risingsunjeans.com for price and availability. 

New San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co. BEAR BRAND Engineer and Workman Caps in stock now

New model BEAR BRAND Engineer and Workman Cap in 12 oz natural duck canvas with indigo cotton thread. Newly redesigned model features shape based on 1940's Carhartt work cap, soft washable visor that can be rolled up and placed inside pocket or bag and hand stamped BEAR BRAND Engineer & Workman Cap and MADE in USA logos.

This particular cap gets its inspiration from much favored SWEET-ORR and FINCK'S vintage carpenter dungarees & overalls in natural cotton drill with blue thread.

Caps available now via The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co. store.

NOS 1950's SWEET-ORR natural cotton drill carpenter overalls with blue thread. Sold via The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co.

SWEET-ORR American Institute of Laundering Certified Washable •SANFORIZED• printed label

NOS 1950's SWEET-ORR natural cotton drill carpenter overalls with blue thread. Sold via The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co.

SETTING SUN....One Sun Sets Allowing Another Sun to Rise, THE RISING SUN & CO. Move Part I

I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon and evening helping our friend Mike Hodis, proprietor of RISING SUN & CO., get started with the relocation of his work shop and retail space. Known as one of the finest denim & canvas tailors in the nation if not the world, RISING SUN & CO. is moving from their Old Town Pasadena location to what will be their new home, just a few miles down the street to East Pasadena.

While it is a shame to see Mike have to dismantle his wonderful old shop of 5 years, the new space has as much if not more of the same flavor and character that has complemented the RISING SUN & CO. line of vintage inspired, fine tailored goods so well. Rest assured that as the sun sets on the old location, a new day will dawn and a new sun will rise, giving birth to a new chapter in the ongoing evolution of the iconic brand.
 

I believe the shop will be open for business thru the end of the week or till the end of the month so by all means do your part and purchase some goods to help lighten the load. Best to call 1.626.793.3479 or email info@risingsunjeans.com to confirm their status before you drop in.

The once clean & organized Rising Sun workshop, reduced to a mere shell of its former glory

The Motley Moving Crew L to R, Alex, Mike, Brendon and hiding behind the tree...Marion

The Crew joined at halftime by Julian, moving a few of what must have been 100 rolls of selvedge denim and duck canvas

The taking of these shots accounted for roughly 10 minutes of what was to become a 9 hour day. While I worked up a bigger sweat than I have in a quite a while, picking up a nice blood blister on one of my digits and offering a bit of knuckle flesh as a sacrifice to the moving gods, it was all good. And I thought I worked hard...Mike's brother Alex took time off from his day job of building-out stores for the likes of Levis & other well known brands to raise the work ethic bar and show how it's done. A tip of the old engineer & workman cap to Alex for busting some serious ass!  It was truly my pleasure to lend a hand to help a friend and hopefully make what must surely be quite the daunting task a little less daunting.

Marion sporting one of Rising Sun's Racer Tees

Julian's friend Thaddeus switched out of his street clothes and donned a Rising Sun chore coat and some vintage hunting pants to get dirty while lending a hand hauling some fabric

The photos here provide a brief glimpse behind the scenes of a very long and busy Saturday. The beginning stages of the relocation focused on moving the work shop and the many vintage sewing machines and the rolls upon rolls of selvedge denim and canvas duck fabric used to construct so many wonderful garments. These photos will be even more interesting to look back at and provide perspective once the dust settles and the phoenix rises from the ashes. Look for more on the new shop in future posts.

The sweat soaked darker portions of the tongue and ankles on my Red Wing Iron Rangers show just how much effort was expended. Seen a few hours after getting home Saturday night

My trusty Salt & Pepper convert cloth cap seen at about midnight Saturday night, some 3 hours after wrapping up work.  Had kind of the old stanky gym clothes thing going on. This hat's gonna need a soak

Vintage KING-O-WEAR Stroh's Brewery Side Buckle Work Jacket

Very nice vintage 1950's era KING-O-WEAR Stroh's Brewery work jacket in a much favored 3 pocket design. This classic Cossack style short wool motorcycle / work type jacket includes the following details.

• Multi-color wool that looks like solid black but shows multi-color fibers under close inspection.

• Leather detailing including elbow patches and cuff and pocket trim.

• Side buckle adjusters with twill tape edging.

• Slightly angled rt. side chest pocket with ring pull zipper. 

• Coats & Clark main zipper

• Large chain stitched Stroh's logo on back and Engineering divisional ID chain stitched in cursive script above rt. chest pocket. 

• Union Made in the USA.

 Nice photos via Planet Archives

MADE IN LOS ANGELES...The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co. CAP MANUFACTURING PREVIEW

A behind the scenes glimpse at the manufacturing process for the new BEAR BRAND ENGINEER & WORKMAN CAPS available soon via The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co.

Selvedge denim and The San Fernando Valley Mercantile Co. label

Selvedge edge hickory stripe denim used on the new BEAR BRAND ENGINEER & WORKMAN CAPS hickory stripe & indigo dyed selvedge denim combination cap.

 

Guides...we don't need no stinking guides. 

Video clip showing the freehand stitching method used to construct the new washable visor that has replaced the vintage style cardboard insert visor used on the first run of BEAR BRAND ENGINEER & WORKMAN CAPS. The new and improved visor will withstand the rigors of both wear & tear and washing and can be rolled up and placed inside your back pocket or bag if needed.

New style caps include natural duck canvas with indigo cotton thread along with a long awaited restock of the popular brown duck canvas cap. The brown duck caps are available in a buckle back version with indigo cotton thread and both buckle back and limited edition lace back versions with natural cotton thread.

The new cap incorporates a crown and visor shape based on 1940's era Carhartt work caps.

Fashion's Night Out Sept. 8 2011 featuring Matt Winter's POST 42

Part 1 of a brief recap of FASHION'S NIGHT OUT 2011. The event went down Thursday night Sept. 8th at the burgeoning La Brea Ave. shopping district between 2nd & 3rd street. Apologies for the crappy photos, the iPhone usually takes much better images.

This installment features Matt Winter aka Mr. Winter and his well executed pop up Quonset Hut outfitted space known as POST 42. A bit of info on the Post 42 take on shopping can be found via urbandaddy.com. 

The focus of POST 42's is Mr. Winters preferred design aesthetic (an aesthetic shared by yours truly) featuring time worn objects including vintage industrial lighting, factory carts, storage lockers and cabinets not to mention the corrugated metal Quonset Huts used to house his wares which also include vintage board track motorcycles, and vintage clothing. Another nice feature was the conversion of one of the huts to a movie room which featured looped video images of nuclear tests from yesteryear, their resulting mushroom clouds and the accompanying sonic roar which can be experienced in the video below.

RRL alumni Alex sporting his new favored direction in hat style

KEN BLOCK'S GYMKHANA FOUR; The Hollywood Megamercial

Ran across this great clip of RallyCross driver Ken Block's latest installment of his Gymkhana series a few weeks back via my friend Eric's great blog LIFE TIME GEAR and finally made some time to share.

A few favorite highlights include the great use of the Universal Studios Tour backlot as a closed course rallycross (located right here on our own backyard), Ken's choice of iconic opening title graphics from well known present day films along with end titles from vintage film, the backfire from the exhaust and "chirp" from the turbo of his Ford Fiesta, the great onboard and super slow motion camera shots and the icing on the cake... his inclusion of the guys from EPIC MEAL TIME make for a riotous, smile inducing 9 minuets.

NEW SCHOOL vs OLD SCHOOL Danny Macaskill & Bernie Schreiber

Great Danny Macaskill Industrial Revolutions video that just had to be shared. This guy is so frickin talented, not to mention the Industrial Park in which he chose to work his magic, I don't even know what more to say other than WATCH IT and see for yourself. Talk about taking it to a whole new level! Uncovered via one of the blogs that work Red Wing 1905. Thanks guys!

Reminds me of another special trials rider who was doing great things back in the day, just after my motocross racing days, the great Bernie Schrieber. A nice piece on Bernie can be found on another blog that works, OSCAR .

LIMITED EDITION HTC Engineer Boots featuring NOS Green O'Sullivan Soles

These awesome SANTA ROSA Engineer Boots featuring deadstock original O'Sullivan green half soles were recently sold by our friend Zip Stevenson of HTC (Hollywood Trading Company) fame. 

Part of a truly limited edition project, only 10 pairs are being produced and offered (5 pairs already sold) due to the limited quantity of new old stock 1940's-1950's green O'Sullivan soles from Zip's collection that are being used for this limited run. 

N.O.S. vintage O'Sullivan half sole.

Of the 10 pairs available that were initially available, I am informed that 2 pairs are now sold to a client of Zip's in Spain, 1 pair to another client in Germany, one pair to another in Orange County So. Calif. and yet another pair now calls Toronto its home, leaving 5 pairs remaining at the time of writing. 

These boots can be constructed in a full range of sizes ranging from 7 to 12.

Design details:

The boots include four stitches on the counter pocket, three stitches in the vamp, and triple stitched back spine.  

They are available with either hard or steel toes and solid brass (or heavy duty stamped steel buckles with nickel plating) instep and calf buckles.  

The interior vamp is leather lined (nice touch).  The top of the shaft comes with a separate rolled, green leather collar.  The boot features leather "Goodyear Welt" standard sole construction with optional storm welting available at no additional charge.  

They come standard with triple ribbed hardened "steel shank" arch supports that are secured to thick "12 Iron" leather outsoles with twin solid brass, semi tubular rivets.   

The heel cores are made from stacked leather and the rubber heel cap is the nail down washer type.  Even the heel rand is made from leather.

Zip uses Latigo type leather that he offers in choices of light, medium or dark brown in addition to black. I'm told that the Latigo leather ages quickly to a very nice patina. 

Made in the U.S.A.

Cost:

Priced at $995 per pair which reflects the thought, experience, time and materials not to mention the love invested in to making these heirloom quality, limited edition beauties. With boots like these, when you're done with them you can hand them down to one of your grand kids that's interested in classic British made motorcycles e.g. Triumph as these boots are made to last!

Interested parties may contact Zip via his Facebook page or contact the fine folks at the Hollywood Trading Company retail store in Los Angeles, California. 

The first rubber heel for shoes was patented on January 24, 1899 by Irish-American Humphrey O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan patented the rubber heel which outlasted the leather heel then in use. 

1910 O'Sullivan Rubber Co. Print Ad

P.S.  One of the reasons that these boots first caught my eye was due to the unique green sole that reminded me of a pair much favored PRO-Keds that were re-released some 8 odd years ago with green toe cap, shoes that I still wear to this day.

NOS PRO-Keds from the upper reaches of my closet.

BUDDY MILES... THEM CHANGES

Front cover of the Buddy Miles classic album Them Changes. Both title track and album cover image are long time favorites.

Buddy Miles "performs" his wicked fuzz infused classic Them Changes with introduction by the one and only Hugh Hefner... CRAZY.

Gatefold album cover art from The Buddy Miles record titled A Message To The People courtesy of one of my favorite artists, the mega talented Abdul Mati Klarwein, likely best known for his album art which graced the front of iconic albums by some of the biggest names in music including the Miles Davis birth of fusion & scorched earth classics Bitches Brew and Live Evil, Santana's Abraxas and trumpet player Jon Hassell's Power Spot, Aka-Darbari-Java / Magic Realism and Fourth World Vol. 2: Dream Theory in Malaya

 

Buddy Miles Harley Davidson Chopper Trike via The Selvedge Yard where a you can find a great piece on the funky drummer.

R.I.P. Buddy Miles, Abdul Mati Klarwein & Miles Davis

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Props to Olivia at THE BIG MAMA INTROSPECTION for knowing what time it is. Check out her nice work.

ROYAL BLUE UNION MADE BUCKLE BACK SUSPENDER BUTTON WAIST OVERALL

1920's-1930's era Union Made buckle back waist overall manufactured by Royal Blue Overall. Recently sold for just over the $4,000 mark.

These beautiful chore pants / jeans include the following details.
• Buckle back rear waist adjustment with V notch at upper rear waistband
• Royal Blue Overalls - "The Best and Strongest Union Made Overall in the World - 45 ¢" stamped on inside pocket bag
• THE BIG STORE embossed shank style suspender buttons
• Button fly
• United Garment Workers of America pre-AFL union label
• Selvedge denim details
• Crotch gusset
• Pliers pocket on right leg