By the time Cody arrived to pick us up, the spitting had already started. This was a day we were planning to be out for a while, but what you wouldn’t know is that it was the only day it was going to rain.
Never mind. It wasn’t that heavy and now we were engrossed in greetings, hugs and comments about Cody’s car. Cody WelemaAn old friend, hat maker and now vintage buyer, was taking us to the Rose Bowl, and we were all collecting a bunch of his hats. Old Honda CR-V.
Cody is one of those friendly, open people you feel you know right away. But when you travel in someone else’s car, there’s an added sense of intimacy. It is the halfway point for visiting the house. Cody’s shoes were littered with wrapping paper and various children’s paraphernalia, and his boots had thread, pieces of plastic, and other markings indicating how much clothing he had to ship.
In fact, one of the lovely aspects of Cody’s preparations for the day was that he also pushed a large plastic shopping caddy as he wandered around the flea market wearing the perfect western hat and rare vintage jacket. Because that was the only way to transport everything.
The Rose Bowl opens at 5 a.m., and true seekers often show up early with head torches so they can see in the dark. We weren’t really interested, but our original plan was to show up at least 7am and experience the treasure hunting atmosphere.
The rain made it pointless. There will be fewer sellers, fewer buyers, and the atmosphere will not be the same. We set our arrival time as 9am.
It rained all morning, but in pours and showers. Anyway, it turns out that everyone we wanted to see was there. It helped create more rare and exclusive vintage fairs. inspiration Since it was the last two days there were a lot of high end international buyers in town anyway.
And obviously the weather on the other side is much worse. On hot days, the sun boils over the tarmac and it feels like a torture oven.
The Rose Bowl Flea Market is held in the parking lot of the Rose Bowl Stadium, a 100-year-old stadium where all the concrete and pillars are original. However, it is a historically and culturally important place. It hosted the Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984, hosted five Super Bowls, and was the site of the 1994 World Cup final (soccer/soccer, where Brazil beat Italy in a penalty shootout).
The Rose Bowl feels like a flea market. Despite its reputation among vintage fans (it’s arguably the most famous market in the world), it has a very local and fun vibe. A chatty man with a huge white beard chuckled and stamped our tickets, and everyone seemed to be calling to each other as they entered.
Once inside there were hundreds of stalls to visit (even on cloudy days). Luckily, Cody was an experienced hand and guided us from one of his favorites to another on either side of the little bridge over the canal.
The standard of clothing is very high. Almost every stall had something of interest. But Cody wanted us to meet some sellers in particular. One person was Bob Melet, one of the people behind RRL along with Doug Bihlmaier. Bob sells many things, but specializes in store fixtures.
Manish chatted with Bob (above) while the others looked at the merchandise. Lucas was especially happy to find an old flannel shirt in his size. Since he has a 54 chest, vintage is often a slim option for him.
But such old flannels are great for their price, both for their quality (older, less industrially grown cotton) and for the number of times they are worn and washed (extraordinary softness, developing a patina of small frays or scratches). Lucas’s was $60.
Next is Woody and Barry run the street vendor next door. As I spoke with Barry, I learned that he lives in Bishop, in the eastern Sierra Mountains, and specializes in outdoor clothing such as thermals, fleeces and down jackets. There are a lot of things in the secondhand stores above, but not so much to take to the city.
This was echoed by several other stalls around the Rose Bowl. Although most are general consumers, there are enough that specialize in military surplus or old sports clothing to add real depth to the offering.
Interestingly, there was a group of men at the very end selling newer vintage (mostly 90s and 200s, but some 80s). This young group appears to have grown out of the popularity of second-hand clothing and the search for rare finds within it. They tend to specialize in American-made products like denim, band t-shirts, and Ralph Lauren.
We continued to meet people we knew. It may not be surprising, but considering the date and location, I honestly wasn’t expecting it.
jojo’s Sheffield’s Rag Parade Clutch Magazine’s Atsushi Matsushima was also there. we met by chance Ethan WongBrandon Mahler (formerly Aime Leon Dore, now Buck Mason) and Marco Tamponi of Sebago/Woolrich hosted a dinner together last month.
But what did I buy, can you hear me crying? There are two things: One was a pair of American-made Ralph Lauren chinos with really lovely fading, but after wearing them for a while in the hotel, they turned out to be too low-rise. It’s hard to spend too much time putting on and taking off pants at a street market.
But even more successful is the beautiful Lee Storm Rider jacket. It has a blanket lining and is very soft and needs a few repairs, but no major issues. Lucky me There’s a man worth it.
And it was $90. Great value for what it is, and explains the fact that I swam further upstream than usual. I was purchasing items from a flea market where the buyer goes rather than from the buyer’s physical store, which is conveniently located. There all the searches were done for me and probably the repairs as well. like Erik recently wrote:It’s all about paying for your time.
The Rose Bowl is held once a month (on the second Sunday). If I plan on coming back to LA, I will definitely make time to visit.
Then again, I’m not a vintage head or the offerings aren’t that unusual so I’d go on a trip specifically. So it’s probably in the category of a very good, destination men’s clothing store. Given the lack There are usually stores like this in LA.It’s still important.
Thank you to Cody, Kentaro, and everyone else for having such a great time on a rainy Sunday in Pasadena. Hope to see you soon.
