Opened in 2017, The Bloke surprised a very casual Los Angeles with its hybrid concept of traditional UK/Ivy clothing, music collaborations with San Fransisco’s Groove Merchant Records and consistent trunk shows and exhibitions featuring the DJ’s of Dublab and various “A” list jazz musicians. Brands within the store ranged from Drakes to Rowing Blazers and Alden to Loake Shoes. This page shares a combination of press and event announcements from the three years of the stores physical presence. The future likely offers more events, merchandise and ephemera in a pop-up form. Stay connected as we step into the future.
You can purchase anything you want with your phone. Flicking through webstore after webstore, there’s essentially nothing you can’t buy with a few taps. As satisfying as it may be to peruse your way through pixels of your favorite stores, the true, full experience of your favorite brand, store or designer can only be had at a brick-and-mortar location…
Just in time for Henley Royal Regatta week, we’re releasing a brand new striped blazer in 100% lightweight cotton. And we’re naming this jacket in honor of a store we love in Pasadena, California: The Bloke.
Every once in a while, I get asked for my recommendations of places to visit in SoCal in terms of vintage and contemporary menswear. I actually don’t really consider myself an arbiter of taste, which is why I’ve always written from a place of personal journey rather than as someone of authoritative recommendations (like say Simon Crompton or David Coggins)…
Jeffery Plansker dialing in from LA – I created The Bloke almost as a film. I come from Directing and felt the curatorial – design decisions of shaping a boutique were the same thing as shooting, assembling and editing shots…
A notoriously casual city, The Bloke is a bit of an outlier for the guy who still feels best in a classic two-piece suit (or some variation thereof). Located in the tony hamlet of Pasadena…
The Drake’s SS19 Trunk Show at The Bloke
A Party for the Bloke’s One Year Anniversary
The Drake’s Fall Trunk Show at the Bloke
The Bloke in Pasadena Magazine’s Top Docs Issue.
The Bloke in Pasadena Magazine’s Best Of Summer Issue.
The story of cartoonist Ryan Cecil Smith and his purchase of a beautiful Drake’s madras blazer from The Bloke.
Just in time for Henley Royal Regatta week, we’re releasing a brand new striped blazer in 100% lightweight cotton. And we’re naming this jacket in honor of a store we love in Pasadena, California: The Bloke.
A little bit of London came to visit the most British part of Pasadena this past weekend. You guys all know by now that I’m trying my darndest to make classic menswear happen in LA. Every weekend I keep seeing black tie dinners, soirees, and trunk shows in London, Stockholm, and NYC.
While J. Press was busy reopening a proper flagship store in New York, something else was happening in Los Angeles. Jeffery Plankster, a commercial director and host of the jazz radio show that featured me last year, has opened a retail store in LA’s historically most preppy enclave of Pasadena.
Into this odd environment steps The Bloke, a new shop which specializes in the intersection between traditional English aesthetics and American Ivy style, with a dash of mod for good measure. Owner Jeffery Plansker is new to retail, having led a career as a director in advertising to this point, but the store has a personal feel.