Store Stocks Clothes From Past Masters
Most vintage-clothing stores specialize in denims from the 1970s or jackets from the 1950s. Doris Raymond’s shop will specialize in mint-condition formal, casual and ethnic apparel from the late 19th century to the early 1980s.
The store, called The Way We Wore, will open May 20 at 334 S. La Brea Ave. in Los Angeles. Raymond will keep the white vinyl-covered walls and ruched, gold lameacute; draping left by the former tenant, shoe boutique Diavolina, and add the clothes that once stocked her television and movie costume rental business, which thrived from 1992 to 2004.
Price points on the first floor of the 2,400-square-foot boutique will range from $20 to $750 for clothing such as a silk chiffon dress from the 1930s and straw hats from England’s Edwardian era. The upstairs will house Raymond’s couture section, where price points will range from $400 to $100,000. Treasures will also include a quilted gold lameacute; coat worn by a Russian aristocrat in 1890 and a one-of-a-kind Versace dress from the label’s 1986 collection that weighs 12 pounds because of inlaid gold beads and rhinestones. Also featured will be a stunning silk taffeta dress from Yves Saint Laurent that the designer created in 1959, during the brief period when he worked for Christian Dior.
On a lighter note, Raymond will also stock a Victorian dress covered in newspaper headlines from 1889. The 19th century pop art was made by running the dress through a newspaper’s printing press. Another rave Raymond find: a 1960 paper dress is printed with images of Andy Warhol’s famous Campbell Soup can.
Raymond ran a vintage retail store, also called The Way We Wore, in San Francisco from 1981 to 1992. She closed it to run a costume rental business. She moved to Los Angeles in 2004 to join her boyfriend and start her second retail store.
Raymond’s business is a labor of love, but the labor is getting tougher.
“I’m a treasure hunter,” she said. “People are a lot better educated in my field because of eBay and the ’Antiques Roadshow’ program. Years ago, people wouldn’t know what a Fortuny is. Those days are gone.” —Andrew Asch
