Archival Vests: Rising Sun & Co Outdoor Vest

I first spotted the Rising Sun & Co Outdoor Vest at Man Up last January. John, Howard and Jeremy were all wearing versions of the vest: one in canvas duck and the other in indigo dyed canvas.

John in his Rising Sun & Co vest at Man Up

1952 LL Bean catalog

The Rising Sun vest's design is inspired by vintage hunting and shooting vests. Traditional fishing vests are cut short so they can be worn into a stream with waders. The addition of an internal game or poacher's pocket makes them useful for upland game hunting too.

Filson makes its own Original Hunting Vest out of a heavier weight waxed canvas. I'm still waiting for Filson to introduce this garment in their collection for women. As it stands, the vest is cut long and wears more like a shelter tent than a vest. I do love all the strategic internal pocketing (and reinforced wool shoulder panels).

Rising Sun & Co vest available in indigo dyed canvas.

A recent production model in black duck canvas and white herringbone twill.

Since Man Up, I've been asking Rising Sun to produce a version of the vest in XS for women. This December, for a larger production run, Mike cut a few higher for a women's fit. I finally own my own Outdoor Vest. Next to the super short, snug monkey fit, I love the vest's deep front utility pockets. Most clothing for women skimps on functional pocketing (see recent Barbour Utility jacket for a glaring example). For daily wear, the Rising Sun vest easily carries a large smart phone, pocket camera, notebooks and writing utensils. For revision, I wish Rising Sun would add two rear carrying pockets (per LL Bean vest) and ditch the back cinch. Since the fit on the vest is so snug, the cinch has no real use value. And for me, the cinch shifts the look of the vest from field clothing to western wear.

I'll be testing the vest for bike commuting later in Spring when the weather permits a formal transfer from wax & wool to canvas duck outerwear.

Archival Review: Man Up San Francisco

Two weeks ago, the Boulder and Eugene arms of Archival Clothing converged on San Francisco for a winter meeting. As it were, our visit corresponded with the Man Up menswear pop up market. Since we spend so much time browsing old catalogs and flickr photostreams, it was terrific to make contact with people behind some of the brands and shops we love. Highlights for us were our visits with Howard and John at the A-B Fits booth and the fine folks behind the shirting company, Taylor Stitch.

Howard of A-B Fits testing the fit of my SNS Herning cardigan

Rising Sun & Co. denim

John in the A-B Fits booth

Vest obsession

Although the show was billed as a menswear market, we were encouraged to find a few top quality clothing options for women including the Rising Sun & Co. chambray vest. With a little tailoring, I'm pretty sure I could have made the size small fit perfectly. But I'm holding out for a promised version for women. Front pocketing reminds me of one my favorite outdoor garments, the Filson original tin cloth hunting vest.

Browsing the A-B Fits Booth

Custom shirts for Archival Clothing

Shoulder slope calculator

Michael in P.G. Field vest (secured in Scotland)

Taylor Stitch Booth

We're very excited about the custom shirts Taylor Stitch will be creating for Lynn, Tom and me. At the show, our measurements were taken and we were instructed to select fabric from an overwhelming range of swatches. The details will be transmitted to the third generation US company who manufactures the shirts for Taylor Stitch. Since it's nearly impossible to find a well tailored, American-made shirt for women, we have high hopes for the Taylor Stitch product. We'll post a follow-up review once our shirts arrive. We'd love to see this kind of custom clothing service expanded to include pants and coats (ala Al's Attire). It would give women who like heritage style clothing a chance to source many of the same garments already readily available to gents (khakis, please!) .

Vintage French Rebour saddle (outside the show)

Unionmade

Sui Generis

Beckel Canvas Products

My Dutch Bike

Jeremy and his vintage Aldens

I spoke with Jeremy (one of Man Up's impressarios) about possibly staging a similar show in the Northwest--in the fall. It would great to bring together many of the regional manufacturers and purveyors from the Portland, Seattle and Vancouver areas. We'd be there line with our full lines of bags and perhaps a few items for women.

Heritage overload

Full flickr set here.

Archival Field Trip: San Francisco (1/2010)

by Lesli Larson


Archival Clothing made a quick trip to San Francisco over the weekend to see friends, visit shops, show bags and attend Andrea Marcovicci's Johnny Mercer tribute. As it were, our visit corresponded with the opening of MAN UP, a menswear pop-up store on Market St. In the next few posts, we'll document our finds. For now, here's a quick visual review.