Vintage Vendor Jaimee Dormer Shares Her Fave Local Fashion Finds

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We've been admiring Jaimee Dormer, the stylish woman behind Coast to Coast Vintage (you know, that cute little 1976 Serro Scotty trailer always bringing funky, fashionable finds to your fave flea markets?) since she and her fiancé Adam Lodynsky first planted themselves permanently on the West Coast just over a year ago. Both Connecticut natives, the two made the trek across the US (hence the name) selling their bevy of carefully curated clothing in pop-ups, markets, and music festivals all over before finally deciding to stay put in LA.

Though not a fashion-follower per se (Trends? Nah.), Dormer has always been into expressing herself through clothes, which led to pursuing a degree in fashion design at New York's prestigious FIT. After school, she learned quickly that being a designer was not the best fit for channeling her talents. Lucky for us, she found her niche as a vendor (follow C2C's Instagram to see where the trailer is stopping next) of cool, pre-loved clothing with a penchant for brightly colored, wildly patterned pieces that always make a stylish statement.

Speaking of things that are colorful, we recently met up with Jaimee at Hollywood's OG juice spot, Juices Fountain, where she unsurprisingly chose the bev with a spectrum's worth of fruity ingredients and shared her 94-year-old style crush, and what she'll be wearing down the isle (hint: it's not a dress).

What are you drinking?

I'm drinking the Fruit Rainbow, which is just classified as "all the fruits," which is kind of perfect for me. My mentality is always like, give me all of it!

Earliest fashion memory?

Probably coming here when I was four. It was the first time I flew on an airplane. My mom is from California originally so I have two aunts and a grandmother out here, so my family is pretty much directly split between Connecticut and California. I came out here to go to Disneyland and stay with them. We got picked up from the airport in a limo—it was the 80s, so it was perfect. I remember everything that I wore. It makes so much sense that I ended up here and that I am who I am today, the way I dress and everything. We went into this Beverly Hills boutique and I tried on this oversized shirt with a pink face on it—so 80s!—and I had the matching pink sunglasses, everything was coordinated but different. I had an acid wash denim miniskirt—anything from that trip was so ideal. The whole aesthetic here has been ingrained in me since then.

Worst fashion faux pas?

I was really into a tomboy phase at one point and I just liked to make a statement, and I remember going to school wearing literally a Lakers jersey with a matching bandana on my head. Like a very hip-hop look. And for some reason I never thought about people looking at me in any way and going "What is she thinking?" For me, I just liked it. And then when [my fiancé] and I first met in college, that was like the era of—oh god, this was like early 2000s—so it was very pop-punk, emo. Lots of bracelets, two belts. So I went through a couple. I always knew what I liked, but it took me a while to figure out who I was. I eventually gave up on trends and things, but there were definitely some rocky times I wouldn't want to see photos of.

Favorite flea market around LA?

I'm a big fan of Long Beach. Markets for me are relatively new. Back east they're all very curated. There's no place to go and get a $20 dress. They're more like the ones I'm used to selling at, so to come out here have flea markets be like that, I'm like "Oh, wow. I get it!" For the past five or six months now I will still do Melrose, I'll sell in the morning but then I'll have my fiancé sit there for me—he'll man the booth for me—and I'll drive to Long Beach and shop and come back. I know a lot of people are into the Rose Bowl, but it's not my thing. I like Long Beach because it's smaller, more manageable. It's also a little bit of a secret because a lot of the vendors sell at the Rose Bowl the week before and if they still have things, they might drop the price a little bit whereas at the Rose Bowl, it's prime.

Best vintage score since being in LA?

I've never found as good vintage back east as I do here. I think some of my favorite things have been from stores that I really like, because when I'm out hunting for [Coast to Coast] I'm not thinking about myself. Even if I found something for myself I probably wouldn't realize it until a week later and I'd be like, "Oh, maybe I should keep this!" I like to support other vintage shops and I really like Squaresville in Los Feliz. The other day I got this amazing black, satin Norma Kamali jumpsuit that's insane. It's a class, forever piece, and that's really what I try to look for for myself. There's this place called L.A.G. Vintage [...] and they have a very East Coast, cool mentality and I found this amazing primary color-blocked, bat-winged shift dress. It's such a cool, easy piece. And then from The End in Yucca Valley I got this satin two-piece that looks like a jumpsuit when it's put together. And this jacket! I got this from Recollection on Hoover. 

Favorite Instagram and Snapchat accounts to follow?

With Snapchat, besides all my friends, I follow Kate Hudson. She's very funny, she's really good at it. It's not just selfies all the time. So in terms of celebrity Snapchat, I really like that one. For Instagram, oh man! So many! My first love is photography so I've always been drawn to photographers themselves. I like to follow the ones who have a really strong voice, and [their feed] is like they're taking you into their world. Jonpaul Douglass would be one. He's LA-based and has an amazing sense of humor. I also love Mara Hoffman—her style and lifestyle are very ideal—and The Art of Shade for hilarious celebrity feud videos.

Whose style do you totally admire?

I recently watched this documentary on Iris Apfel. She's like 90 years old. I admire anyone—regardless of if it's my personal style or not—just people who have a personal style and really explore that and continue to grow with it. Her documentary is so amazing, she embodies so much life and spirit. She's done so much and lived so much and portrays that with how she dresses. She's the ideal for when I get into that age bracket, just continuing to have fun with what she wears. I think it says something about who you are and what you've seen.

You're getting married! Tell us one thing about what you're wearing.

I don't have it yet. I'm actually having it made by Miss Tashina. She does a lot of custom stuff and I wanted to go vintage initially but that's really tough and I have a very specific vision. It's going to be a wedding jumpsuit, I'll say that. I'm going to go for a jumpsuit instead of a dress. I've come up with how I want it to look but it's changing a little bit every day.