Anyone who has ever uttered more than two words to Doris Raymond, who owns high end vintage emporium The Way We Wore, knows that when it comes to style, the woman knows her shit (we recently spent two hours talking to Raymond about vintage costume jewelry and retained more during the conversation than from our entire high school career).
Not only does Raymond have an expert eye when it comes to sourcing old school Missoni skirts, 1970s metallic Galanos gowns and sparkly evening numbers worn by the likes of Whitney Houston and Gladys Knight, she’s apparently a yente, too, in that Raymond is quite adept at playing matchmaker.
Case in point: When Proenza Schouler was looking to partner with famed 70s costume jewelers Alex & Lee on pieces for their resort 2012 line, it was Raymond who brought the bunch together. According to Racked, Raymond discovered the hippie jewelers at the Sausalito Flea Market in San Francisco, where she had a vintage stall in the 1970s and Alex & Lee designers Alex Mate and Lee Brooks were avid shoppers.
Last year, Raymond acquired a bevy of Alex & Lee’s renowned oversized wares. And since her La Brea Avenue shop is an inspirational Mecca for heavy hitting designers such as Proenza Schouler (John Galliano was a regular before the world decided he was irrelevant), a love affair blossomed and Raymond put everyone in touch.
Pretty cool.
Even cooler is that Raymond still has a few original pieces from the Alex & Lee lot she featured last year, available to those lucky enough to be able to spend upwards of $1,000 on an amazing piece of costume jewelry worthy of being passed down to their kids.
And Doris, if you know any cute, straight single guys — we’re totally down.
Photos: Top, Raymond with Dita Von Teese and Debi Mazar in her shop. Bottom, an original Alex & Lee necklace that was part of Raymond’s collection.
