How I Got Started

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome! This is my first blog post on this site. 

Allow me to introduce myself, I am Stacy LoAlbo, aka The Vintage Maven of Incogneeto- a vintage clothing and accessory store in Somerville, NJ, and the author of the published bible on vintage accouterments entitled, 

"Vintage Fashion Accessories." 

I have been a lover of vintage since 1980 having been a thrift store shopper as a teen. I enjoyed finding unique items to wear and subsequently learned the value of such items to be superior to anything purchased new. As many of you may know, vintage clothing and accessories were made in a time when construction and design were given much more thought, since these items were generally not outsourced for the making. Designers spent more money on creating a garment as this was the norm. Attention was paid to detailing an article of clothing. Of course, this holds true for accessories as well. Quality leathers were used in shoes and bags, handwork was incorporated in the beaded bags, and jewelry was crafted with the finest Austrian crystals!

So this love of vintage has turned into a sincere passion for fashion for me!

I opened my first vintage shop at a large indoor flea market (US 1 in New Brunswick, NJ) in 1986. That opened up the opportunity to buy and sell beautiful things that weren't my size or style! With an excuse to shop, the collection grew! By 1991, I opened my first official storefront in Somerville, NJ. I maintained the flea market locale since it was only on the weekends and business was booming there! Within a few years, I had the flea market and 3 stores including one in Somerville, NJ, one in New Hope, PA, and a prestigious location on Nassau St. in Princeton, NJ. In 1994, my mini-me- the younger maven that goes by the moniker Hallie, was just entering the world. I pretended to be Wonder Woman for a while and shuffled back and forth between stores with a baby sack on my back! Burning the candle at both ends began to wear down the wick too fast, so I slowed it all down by opening one huge 6000 sq. ft. store in Somerville. With all my eggs in one basket (Jeez! I use a lot of clichés), I was able to concentrate on better serving the customer/consumer all in one place!

Here we are 37 years later, and I have one retail location on Division Street in Somerville, New Jersey and Warehouse Space in the Heights of Jersey City, NJ. While the retail brick and mortar is open to the public 6 days a week, the 2500 sq. ft. warehouse space is only open by appointment, mainly to the vintage trade, production costumers and fashion designers.

Stacy LoAlbo

Incogneeto 

30 Division St

Somerville NJ 08876

Incogneeto.com