Just a quick one. Gregoire Alessandrini over at New York in the 1990's put up another batch of amazing pictures, and this one leaped right out at me. Once upon a time, Broadway between 14th and Canal used to have a lot of interesting places to recommend it. Those days are long gone, of course. This is the 90's incarnation of the Unique Boutique, which was a fabled spot wherein to buy freaky duds, not unlike Canal Street Jeans and another similarly-inclined joint whose name is escaping me because I'm old.
Actually, to be perfectly honest, a lot of the stuff at Unique was frankly ridiculous. I mean, sure, it was great if you needed to procure an oversized t-shirt with a giant, airbrushed likeness of KRS-One on it, or something comparable. The "vintage" stuff downstairs was pretty great. I picked up several dubious blazers there over the years.
In any case, don't bother looking for Unique anymore. This address now plays host to the massive NYU bookstore. I'd advise against shopping there not only because NYU is soulless and evil and destroying the integrity of the character of downtown Manhattan, but also because you'd be better served shopping just down the road a piece at the incalculably superior Shakespeare & Co.
Be sure to check out New York in the 1990s.
ADDENDUM: Check out the pins below, which I found via this similarly reminscent blog post:
Thank you thank you thank you. I have often wondered about this place. My father worked as a maintenance worker across the street at Tisch and I would often visit this store. I remember all the Soviet military stuff, which was interesting back in the '80s during the cold war.
Posted by: Ivan | April 05, 2013 at 11:22 PM
Just happened across this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8095450745/in/photostream/
Posted by: James Campbell Taylor | April 16, 2013 at 08:09 PM
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!!!!
Posted by: Six To Six Shift | December 05, 2013 at 10:12 AM
Was the other one you're thinking of 'Antique Boutique' I think a few doors down from 'Unique'?
Posted by: Barbara | September 19, 2015 at 01:40 PM
I still have a plastic shopping bag from that store. Good times, good times.
Posted by: sioiux | September 30, 2016 at 03:23 PM
Thanks for posting this! (even though I found it 3 years later)
I bought a few things at Unique back in the 80's. I still have a great painted denim jacket with a gorgeous image of the famous Jim Morrison head shot album cover on the back. When I wore it, it used to stop traffic with people asking where I got it. It's signed and dated 1989. It's still in perfect shape :)
I miss the 80's.
I remember when the group of painters later moved to Canal Street -- I think they took space at the Canal Jean Company. I tried to have something else painted, but Canal Jeans had closed and I couldn't figure out if the painting concession had moved elsewhere or also closed.
Posted by: LG | October 27, 2016 at 12:55 PM
I bought tons of stuff at Unique and the Antique Boutique also (oversized men's wool coat, parachute pants, yellow shirt of industrial cotton that buttoned up the side and down the shoulder, striped short dress, red-striped carpenter's pants, etc. You could buy a bunch of stuff on the cheap. We also shopped at I. Buss which had military surplus like jumpsuits. I bought loud-and-annoying vintage shirts and a pair of tight, pegged used jeans. I wire all thus with my maroon Doc Martens from the Village Cobbler. I really miss those days..
Posted by: Caryn | January 24, 2017 at 10:05 PM
I was 15 and just moved to NYC from CT with my NYC born and raised parents. Commutes were nothing to them so they moved to the then more affordable Battery Park City and put me in school on 71st between Madison and Park. I could generally coax a ride to the train or school from my Dad on his way to work but coming home I had to take the M1 down 5th, down Park, & ultimately down Broadway... right past Unique, Antique, Tower, & Canal Jeans. I hated that commute at first and then it became one of my favorite things about my day. Can't tell you how many times I got a transfer and wound up missing dinner! Wondering those racks at 15 was amazing; the neon, the jellies, the jewelry, the buttons, the brocade, the music, the art, the goths, the punks, ALL THE PEOPLE! Nothing like it will exist ever again no matter how many floral leggings they make in 2018. This is amazing.
Posted by: Pam Negri-Lenzen | July 19, 2018 at 05:08 PM
Buy this product or we’ll shoot this dog. Lots of South Park stuff key chains postcards kitchen magnets with sayings like Rehab is for quitters. Fun place until 9-11. I got to know most of the nearby shopkeepers and installed security cameras in their stores Mike K ran the Boutique great guy.
Posted by: John P Patterson | February 16, 2019 at 10:40 AM
This was one of my favorite places in the 80s when I went to visit my sis in NYC. I have a photo very similar to this, and a photo of myself, shopping inside. I was amazed at how huge this place was. I still have the rainbow button buried in one of my bins. I'll have to dig it out. Thanks for posting! I miss the 80s.
Posted by: kibster | June 02, 2019 at 02:30 PM
I remember coming from long island just to come to this store. It was a store were you fit in.like the name.i got my black bag here with there name in rainbow letters on it.best store ever, miss those days
Posted by: Laurel Alston | April 16, 2020 at 07:45 AM
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS. In the 80s, my friends in high school and I would take the train into NYC from central NJ every so often and visit Unique Boutique. They had the best stuff--and if I remember correctly, they had a place where you could make your own spin-art t-shirts. I made more than a few, and I'm pretty sure I bought my army jacket there (all of which are long gone, much to my dismay). When I Google "Unique Boutique" in NYC today, all I get are thrift stores--thank you for reassuring me I wasn't imagining this!
Posted by: Wendy K. Bodine | September 11, 2020 at 02:09 PM
Omg I cannot believe I found this Unique!! We used to buy Parachute pants and cool t shirts I also remember buying an authentic WAC uniform jacket and pants!! Wow thanks so much! Cathie
Posted by: Cathie | October 20, 2020 at 09:13 PM
Thank you for the fabulous memories. I'd take the D train from Brooklyn and visit Unique, Canal Jeans, Zoot, and Flip for t-shirt and sweater dresses, parachute pants, vintage cardigans, and men's dress shirts, trench coats and wool coats. Shopping would be followed by a slice of Ray's Pizza. I wish I still had my Unique logo t-shirts, and all the pins!
Posted by: Beth | October 30, 2020 at 10:35 PM
another one nearby was Rue des Rèves, sometime in the early 90s, I think owned by the same people as either Antique Boutique or Unique Boutique.
The decor inside was amazing, like a cross between The Enchanted Forest toy store and those Midsummer-Night's-Dream-esque ABC Carpet Home store windows. Antique couches to sit on and cool music playing, with a dreamy voice periodically saying "Rue des Rèves".
Posted by: Honoria | January 07, 2021 at 12:50 PM
Among many coats and hats etc. I got at Unique, I also picked up my Mork from Ork rainbow suspenders there in the 70s. Little did I know then that I would go to NYU film school right across the street a few years later!
Posted by: Mike | October 24, 2021 at 09:04 PM