April 10, 2017

Meet Doris Raymond of The Way We Wore in Hollywood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Doris Raymond.

Since the opening of her Los Angeles vintage boutique The Way We Wore over a decade ago Doris Raymond has become THE arbiter of fashion not only locally but for an international clientele as well. For the last three decades Doris has made herself and her vast collection of vintage, antique and designer clothing available to a coterie of designers, celebrities and fashion insiders. The incredible success of The Way We Wore represents Doris’ wide and far reaching influence on the world of contemporary fashion. She has worked with the vast majority of designers from high fashion as well as mass market labels and details culled from her collection have shown up on runways from New York to Milan.

Doris has also made a significant impact with museums, private collectors and high profile individuals with her valuable one of a kind items. The wide range of services she provides for an ever growing list of fashion and costume designers include supplying prints, embellishments, embroideries, applications and a vast array of other esoterica related to fashion and fashion history for inspiration. Doris has also educated a new generation of the fashion obsessed during numerous classroom visits to the shop from fashion and art schools through her lectures and high spirited conversations.

Her fashion journey in the late 1970s with her discovery of how fascinating and affordable vintage clothing could be. In 1981, she opened the doors to the very first location of The Way We Wore in San Francisco. After a long and successful run the doors of the boutique were closed for good and Doris began to concentrate on costuming for film and television. She has supplied many a lauded costume picture with her rare and precious pieces.

In 2004 Doris decided to open the doors to a new The Way We Wore boutique in the heart of Hollywood. In the 13 years, she has been in business in Los Angeles she has become known around the world as the “the fairy godmother of fashion inspiration”. All of her hard work and experience in the field of fashion and fashion history culminated in the production of 2 seasons of her Smithsonian Channel documentary series “L.A. Frockstars.”

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not to sound boring, but we literally took off when we opened in 2004. There were a few dips that correlated with the actors/writers’ strike but nothing that caused us too much grief.

Please tell us about The Way We Wore.
We specialize in the entire 20th century which sets us apart from any of the other high end vintage clothing stores. We also have a huge selection “behind-the-scenes” that most of the competition cannot compete with.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
When I was 10, my mother and sister and baby brother went to Palm Beach to visit my uncle- who was a very young but successful clothing designer. His atelier was filled with colorful and amazing fabric and spending time down there lit my fire and interest in sewing and design. The trip was exhilarating and scary because we had to hunker down for a massive Hurricane.

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