NW 23rd is block-for-block, the premier shopping street in Portland, with a number of excellent independent boutiques (from accessories specialties and shoe shops to lingerie and the city’s top boutique for local independent designers), top notch beauty boutiques in the locally-owned Blush Beauty Bar and Kiehl’s, as well as a few chain stores at the southern end of the row like Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Urban Outfitters, and Cost Plus. The NW streets are in alphabetical order, and from Burnside and Couch down to Irving and Johnson, nearly every block has great shopping. Plus, you can enjoy terrific food from Thai to deli to chocolate desserts.
But start at the North End, the non-chain end of the street at Seaplane (827 NW 23rd Avenue) for a real taste of Portland’s healthy independent design scene. Founded by designers Kate Towers and Holly Stalder, Seaplane carries modern styles (many one-of-a-kind) from primarily Portland designers like Liza Rietz and Emily Ryan. It’s the only place in town to find top Portland labels Church & State and Leanne Marshall’s Leanimal. For men, Seaplane has great pieces from a broken spoke and pieces from Adam Arnold. Don’t miss the bags from Jenesse, Rush, and Precious.
Across the street, you’ll find Dana Lynn (828 NW 23rd) with Portland’s best collection of handbags by mainly local designers. These are higher-end bags from designers like Denise Kortes (who bases her bags in the Golden Ratio), Maya Moon, and Angela Adams as well as cases upon cases of lovely jewelry, again much of it from local designers.
And Talula’s (820 NW 23rd) is a newer shoe shop and foot spa where you can get a pedicure while you mull over your shoe choices from labels like Miss Sixty, Bronx, Vince Camuto, DKNY, Seychelles, and Sam Edelman.
The English Dept. (724 NW 23rd), owned by Portland-based designer Elizabeth Dye and jewelry designer Joy Cohen, is one of the rows best bets (along with Seaplane and Souchi) for extraordinary, modern looks. They stock their smart shop with Dye’s mod-feminine dresses as well as great stuff from Built By Wendy, Maria Bonita Extra, Mint, Erotokritos, and Development.
Gilt (720 NW 23rd) is the destination jewelry shop on the street (along with Dana Lynn and Twist) and what sets it apart is the fact that it focuses primarily on estate/antique jewelry, (so many women looking for unique engagement and wedding bands make this their first stop) and that its service is so good (staff will keep an eye out for something for you because they get new items in all the time). Gilt also carries jewelry by a number of local designers like D-licious Metals (bracelets and pendants), Carley Brin (necklaces) Coco Corral (silverwork) and Orelafey
Could you guess that Oh Baby (722 NW 23rd) is a lingerie store by its name? One of few in Portland (besides Jane’s Vanity and the new Lille Boutique), Laura Fitzpatrick’s Oh Baby carries overtly sexy underthings by Aubade, Clo by Claudia Ochoa, Arianne, Hanky Panky, and more.
Need a party frock? For special occasion pieces from local designer Lynn Medoff, visit her boutique, Lena Medoyeff (710 NW 23rd), where the shop is stocked with an extraordinary array of elegant, wearable silk dresses and separates of her design.
Blake (2285 NW Johnson) is known for its excellent designer denim selection, but there’s a lot more here — jackets, tops, accessories — for men and women. In fact, it’s one of the few places in Portland where boys and girls can shop side by side. Find denim from Cheap Monday, Chip & Pepper, Earnest Sewn, Habitual, Joe’s Jeans, Loomstate, Meli-Melo, Paper Denim Cloth, Rag and Bone, and True Religion. And brands like Trovata, Ella Moss, Penguin, Fred Perry, Gentle Fawn, and Ben Sherman.
Suzi Johnson’s shop Souchi (807 NW 23rd) shares the name of her line of luxe year-round cashmere pieces in modern shapes and a range of colors. Besides Souchi cashmere, the shop carries an amazing selection of smart apparel from Portland-based label Rachel Mara, Jovovitch-Hawk, and jewelry from Pade Vavra and Portland’s Hazel Cox.
Libby Hartung’s double-dose of high-end retail for 23rd are the conjoined boutiques Elizabeth Street (635 NW 23rd) which carries lines like Tory Burch, Rozae Nichols, Burning Torch, and Three Dots and Zelda’s Shoe Bar (633 NW 23rd) with a highly-edited selection of shoes your feet would die to wear.
Hello Portland (525 NW 23rd) is wall-to-wall with fun, cheeky gifts for kids and adults who still have a bit of kid in them. There’s a decent selection of vinyl figures, cool books, that scary vinyl blow-up punching clown that hopefully you don’t remember from when you were a kid, cute onesies, and bins full of wacky stuff.
Blush Beauty Bar (513 NW 23rd) is a make-up and skincare dream come true: a place where you can try out premier products and looks with the help of friendly pros with no pressure to buy. Deborah Haynes’ well-stocked beauty boutique carries makeup from Bare Minerals, Guerilla Glam, Gongcils, Lorac, Nars, Lip Fusion, B Cosmetics, Blinc, skincare products from Tracie Martyn, Mario Badescu, LouHann, and Malie, plus fragrance from fragrance from Lily Lambert and Crazy Libellule and the Poppies (those great French solid perfumes, so cheap you can mix ‘n’ match).
End at Twist (30 NW 23rd Pl) where the whimsical craft furniture and objects coexist with an extraordinary selection of statement-making designer jewelry from Ten Thousand Things, Mark Davis, Alexis Bittar and Pippa Small among many others.
For accessibly-priced options on NW 23rd try Galore (823 NW 23rd), 3 Monkeys (811 NW 23rd), or Ipnosi (616 NW 23rd) for young, trend-sensitive clothing and Ether (600 NW 23rd) for accessories.
