Out of the Closet

An unexpected vintage shop with lush designer duds

Photo: Mark Boroyan

ike the neighborhood itself, the Velvet Fly boutique in the North End embraces old and new, with vintage coats, purses and dresses alongside trendy modern labels. Co-owners and former New Yorkers BethAnn Hoyos and Lorrinda Cerrutti have designed the store to look like the bedroom closet women dream of, with pastel walls, antique furniture, airy curtains, breezy paper lanterns, and, of course, lush designer duds. And you thought the North End was just for pastries and pasta. Kutz

Shhhh! Frocks, spunky shoes, and
coats from Diane Von Furstenberg, Catherine Malandrino, and Ferragamo

Shhhh! Hoyos previously managed a clothing
store; Cerrutti was a high school art teacher.

Shhhh! The store has monthly events and a
January “what you didn't get for Christmas” sale, with half-price handbags and other deals.

Shhh who knew

A few doors down from the Velvet Fly is the site of the Universalist Meeting House (now the North End Community Center), where minister John Murray and his wife, the writer Judith Sargent Murray, encouraged the unpopular idea of equality for women as early as the 1790s.