Best Oscar-Worthy Resale Store, April 2006

When you don’t want to run the risk of someone else sashaying into the Kodak Theater in the same scene-stealing gown you’re wearing, vintage is an eye-catching, economical solution. Decades, Cameron Silver’s famed designer resale shop, may feature dazzling one-of-a-kinds, but the red-carpet collection at The Way We Wore is endless. Proprietor and fashion encyclopedia Doris Raymond has spent 30 years amassing a 100,000-piece collection of museum-quality designer originals, including mint-condition pieces by Chanel, Bill Blass, and Claire McCardell. The store’s rotating selection includes a $5,000 Ossie Clark jersey halter gown, a $2,500 Michaele Vollbracht tulip-print gown with matching kimono-style jacket, and a $1,200 Lanvin number from the ’50s that just might get an Oscar crasher past the velvet rope.