Rose Bowl Flea Market is an event held on the second Sunday of every month at the historic Rose Bowl Football Stadium in Pasadena Los Angeles. It has run since 1968 and has over 2,500 vendors that set up from 3.30 am in the surrounding car park spaces.
All three times I’ve been to Rose Bowl Flea Market, it’s been a 5.30am arrival and a 3.30pm finish, falling into the Uber back to my hotel!
It is the most amazing and overwhelming experience of all things pre-loved. At PPHH Consign our primary goal is to breathe new life into older clothing and Rose Bowl is the ultimate pilgrimage for that.
You enter the gates with the impressive Rose Bowl stadium sign in the background, can grab a much needed coffee if needed, then head to the back of the venue over one of the two small bridges that take you to the clothing area. Half of the whole flea is clothing (see how the amazing and overwhelming comes into it!) and there is everything you could possibly want to sort through. 1950's Oxford shirts, 1940's high waist pants, a spectrum of Ralph Lauren from over the years, WW2 Jackets, Selvedge denim galore, from bargains to pieces worth thousands. There is not just something for everyone, there is an abundance for everyone. Over the years I’ve met designers from Ralph, pickers from Korea and some crazy characters who still go down the mines to find old workwear.
As the sun beams down on you, you can grab a home made lemonade and head over the bridge again to the antiques and collectibles section. The kid in me comes out here and I look for old basketball cards as well as workwear advertising, but yet again, there is everything here. Furniture, art, jewellery, homewares and all sorts of collectibles from every era you can imagine. The music & movie memorabilia is also incredible and straight from the heart of the scene, whether that be 70's or modern day. A Grateful Dead 70's hand-painted banner from The Roxy that a friend found one year, and then sold for 10x that, is a prime example.
You can choose your battles at Rose Bowl, pick a section and do that for a few hours, or try to cover (as I do) most of it in what equates to the same hours as a working day. What I will guarantee though, is an incredible pre-loved experience and never coming away empty handed. I filled two large totes and it was only my bank account telling me not to take out the third one!
It’s awesome to see the interest of vintage and pre-loved at its peak right now, making Rose Bowl even more of a must for your bucket list. Whilst there are some contentious ways in which vintage is gate-kept and arguably a more ‘fad’ status with so much social media around it, this market has always been consistent and genuine in the unique experience it offers. It’s almost 60 years in existence attests to that. Over the 10 years I’ve been going, it’s pretty much been the same place different year, but with amazing ever-changing stock. If you decide on a visit and need tips, advice or just want to pay for me to be your personal guide…feel free to reach out at any time. Indeed, if you have your own advice and tips, we'd love to hear them!
