Locals may recognize Ally Bird Vintage from appearing at local flea markets and pop-ups such as the Artist + Makers Market in Jersey City or through her Instagram account. Now, however, Hudson County residents can shop Ally Bird Vintage in-person and all year round. On November 1st, Alessandra opened her first brick and mortar location inside 6th Street Vintage on 408 6th Street in Hoboken. Read on to learn more about Hoboken’s latest vintage store, Ally Bird Vintage.
The Journey to Ally Bird Vintage
Jersey City resident, Alessandra Canario, Started her vintage Instagram account around 2012 to showcase and share her vintage outfits. Her Instagram handle, @allybirdvintage, came from her own name. Her last name, Canario, is the Spanish word for Canary, hence ‘Ally Bird.’
“It all started as more of a blog,” Alessandra explains. “I was a freshman in college when I started doing Etsy. I started doing flea markets on the weekends as well. When I finished college, I joined the Brookly flea,” and it grew from there, Alessandra explains.
Growing up, Alessandra used to love going to yard sales and antique shops with her parents. “I thought I wanted to be a fashion designer as a kid. Growing up I would tell people I wanted to be the next Betsey Johnson, “Alessandra laughs.
“As I got older, however, I became increasingly worried by the environment and troubled by the whole concept of fashion and this idea of ‘nowness’ and what is fashionable and is not fashionable. It was just so far from what I actually believed in, so I used to thrift. I became obsessed with history and preservation. Thrifting became a game of just trying to find the oldest thing I could find, “she explains.
Once she became old enough to work, Alessandra got her first job at a vintage store in Montclair and eventually began working at Another Man’s Treasure in Jersey City, which is how she ultimately ended up in Hudson County. Fast forward to 2020, Alessandra finally opens her first physical store in Hoboken on November 1st.
The New Shop
Ally Bird Vintage is located on 6th and Adams in Hoboken. Alessandra is renting the backroom of 6th Street Vintage. The building’s Victorian and art deco elements complement the highly curated assortment of women’s and men’s vintage clothing and accessories.
The selection consists of merchandise from the 1900s–1990s such as unisex t-shirts, jewelry, accessories, gifts, women’s, men’s, and unisex tops and suits, bottoms, formalwear, and outerwear.
See More: Love The Clutter: A Home + Lifestyle Online Shop Based in Jersey City
Alessandra’s favorite historical eras for fashion are the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the ‘50s, as well as the end of the ‘60s and the beginning of the ‘70s. “The silhouettes are quite similar. I’m constantly mixing those two up.”
Prices of items in the store range from $5 for jewelry and trinkets to $200 for more special items of clothing. Alessandra also often creates handmade and repurposed items that she sells either on her Etsy, in flea markets, and occasionally at her shop.
The Info
Locals can stop by Ally Bird Vintage in Hoboken at 408 6th Street. Be sure to follow @allybirdvintage on Instagram and check out her “Try on Thursdays” each Thursday on stories. Alessandra is in the process of building a website, but customers can DM to purchase anything via Instagram and she will ship. Customers can also visit her Etsy shop to view some more curated products there.
