Lena Medoyeff

This shop is hands down the best place to buy stunning, locally-​made high-​end designer dresses. The ladies of Lena Medoyeff are true artisans, and they know how to make you look and feel beautiful on your big day. Fair-​trade, all natural silks and one hundred percent cotton dresses, shirts, and skirts, colored by natural vegetable and mineral dyes and stitched by talented seamstresses earning a living wage are just the ticket to make you feel like a queen. I have a few Medoyeff skirts in my wardrobe. They go so well with everything; I wear them at least once a week. They’re also perfect for travel because they are light, airy, don’t take up much room, and can be dressed up or dressed down. The shop girls love to help customize things to suit you flawlessly, so if you are looking for something unique but don’t know how to make it work, just ask! They have always given me incredible customer service.

Beware of promises!
I tried on a dress at Lena Medoyeff but did not like the way it fit. I was assured by the sales staff that the dress could be altered and made to fit perfectly. Much to my regret, I took their assurances and allowed them to alter the dress. Following the alterations (which the customer pays for in addition to the cost of the dress), it was still not right, but having altered the dress, they would not take it back, and furthermore told me there was nothing more they could do to make the dress fit. Beyond not fitting well, the dress hikes up when I sit down, the bottom end of the zipper bulges out just as it hits my rear, and the lining clings. I would not recommend buying a dress there, lest you risk entrapment.

On a Saturday, my bridal party and I decided it’d be fun to see if there were any dress shops that would take us in for a last minute appointment. We were turned down (of course) from everyone we called. We took a stroll down Burnside and ended up at Lena Medoyeff’s. It was pretty busy, but we were welcomed with open arms. We had no appointment, and there were already multiple bride-​to-​bes trying on dresses, but they made room for us anyway.
The dresses here are INSANELY beautiful. I would describe them as vintage, romantic, and classic. These are the dresses that your daughters ACTUALLY want to inherit. I was filling pretty self conscious in my post baby, no shape wear, hot pink underwear clad body, but these dresses still looked amazing. The quality of the fabric can’t be beat.
The women working in this shop are very helpful, can multitask exceptionally well, and the designer, Lena, was there the whole time getting involved in all of the fittings and ready to make suggestions. Not once did I feel pressured or uncomfortable.
Make it a point to stop by this studio. You’d be doing yourself a real disservice if you didn’t!

Prior to going to this shop, I called them and told them I was looking for a Mother of the Bride dress in purple and could they help me? The woman who I talked to on the phone said yes and I stopped by a few days later. The woman who I had talked to was not there, but she had mentioned to another women working there that I would be coming by. With the help of the lovely ladies I found the perfect dress and a sash within the hour. The sashes are expensive, but they are a work of art and I’m sure you’ll find nothing like them in Portland. I took a quick look at the bridal gowns and they were beautiful!

I got married in a dress from here, and found them to be really nice and easy to work with. I am not the girliest girl and felt really out of place and judged in other shops, but the people here were super friendly and genuinely helpful. They also make their dresses keep their shape with a soft and pretty sash rather than horrible boning or other stiff and uncomfortable elements. It was really important to me to be in a dress that was both beautiful and easy to wear, and I could not have done better. The dress looked great, and I was comfortable sitting down, standing up and dancing all night. Couldn’t be happier.

I really had a great experience in this store. I went to try on some wedding dresses. The girl helping me was really nice. She got to know me, asking about my wedding and my fiancé. She also got to know my friend that I brought with me. I really appreciated this. I’ve been to other bridal salon’s where they pretty much ignore whoever you bring, so there’s an awkward silence while the bride is in the dressing room changing and the sale associates and friends of the bride are sitting in silence. Really beautiful dresses and affordable considering the high quality the dresses are.

We have been wedding dress shopping for 2 days in the portland area and made a appointment to look at dresses at this shop.
We bought THE DRESS here!
All the dresses here are made locally, they are simple yet beautiful, they fit amazing.
Andrea was the best to work with, she made my daughter (the bride) feel beautiful and helped us pick the perfect dress for her body type.
I live in Reno and my daughter lives in Portland so we only had three days to find the dress before I had to fly home, I feel very secure her dress will be made (we did not find one off the rack) altered and ready to bring home to Reno for her big day.
I give this shop 5 STARS for service, design and value!

I finally found my wedding dress (not in Portland) so now I’m going back and posting reviews of all the places I shopped along the way to finding it. I’m trying to make each of my reviews as similar as possible so a bride looking to save time can narrow down which places to try.
Without further ado:
Hours: The hours are fine, but the parking is not. As with any store in this neighborhood, plan ahead and expect that parking will be a pain in the a**.
Selection: This store has 2 racks of options, probably about 20 dresses. They are of a very distinct aesthetic. If you want a train or a big skirt, beading, or satin, or a very «princess-​y or bridal-​y» look, move along, probably not worth your time. If you are looking for something off the beaten track, you just might find it here. They have only one brand – Lena’s, and you can get a idea of whether or not you’ll dig that.
Note: I have a VERY hourglass shape and therefore found that none of these dresses were that flattering on me. The tailoring and structuring required to make it look good would have just been too extensive. However, as a flip side to this coin, I would highly recommend this store to brides who have more of a pencil shape/​rectangle/​equal waist and hip measurements. For example, if you’ve got a 29″ waist and a 34″ hip, I think a lot of these dresses are going to be flattering and well fitting on this body shape!
Prices: Affordable options! The cheapest bridal dress is probably about $ 600, the majority are between $ 800 and $ 1100. I don’t think there is anything in the store above $ 1500, so if you have a limited budget and limited self control, a good place to try.
Sales: The ladies at Lena’s were funny and quirky and had plenty of personality. They don’t help you try anything on, which was fine. You don’t really need help trying on these dresses. They’ll belt it and put you on a pedestal and give you your opinion, but if you’re not buying what they’re selling, that’s fine with them. Expect low pressure or even no pressure sales tactics here.
Size 12+ friendly rating: Ehh… I don’t know. If you’re up to a size 16, they have dresses in size large you can try on. If you’re an 18 or up, I don’t think you’ll be able to try on much here.
Group friendly rating: The dressing room fits two, squeezed very tightly, one comfortably. Your friends/​family will have to stand around and wait between each dress you try on. There might have been 1 chair?
Follow up: These ladies know that if you didn’t love it right away, you’re unlikely to come back. They don’t ask for your phone number or really do any follow up.
PS I think this is a great resource if you’re looking for bridesmaid dresses that aren’t so BRIDAL. A lot of bright, vivid colors if you’re not head over heels for pastels.

In hindsight we did stop in here over a year ago and I have not returned since, so take that with a grain of salt. I came into the boutique looking for a unique wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses for my friends and we were definitely not pleased with the selection, maybe our taste was different? Every dress I tried on was required to have an expensive sash/​scarf tied around it to make it fit or to give it some shape. We ended up leaving after trying on two dresses and were aghast at the prices for a sash. Not the kind of dress that I ended up using for my wedding and again maybe this version of unique is not unique for me as I ended up having mine made by a tailor :)

Although I havent chosen a dress yet I have some great new ideas about what I’d like mainly due to Andrea. She really gave us the five star treatment. I felt very comfortable and beautiful. She listened to all of my ideas and was extremely knowledgeable.

I WISH I could say I purchased a dress from here, but I can’t.
I initially went dress shopping looking for something very specific; otherwise I would have definitely brought something home! The photos of the dresses (though beautiful) don’t do them any justice — in real life, they are AMAZING. Every piece here is sartorial splendor at its finest — the colors, textures, fabric cuts, bows, details… AHH! My heart is fluttering at the thought of it.
The ladies, too, were so helpful and a woman (whom I assume/​think was Lena herself) offered to design and sew the dress I was looking for to my exact specifications. But, running on APT (Asian People Time), I was running late and needed a dress ASAP.
Though I didn’t buy something this time, I know I’ll be back in the future to look for a special occasion dress. If you’re in the market for bridal dresses (bridesmaids/​engagement), I highly recommend coming here. And also giving yourself a little bit of time, in case you need the ladies here to custom-​create it for you !

Last year I purchased a dress from cocoon silk down the road, while it would have been beautiful had it been made correctly and finished on time it was neither. 11 days before my wedding, with my dress nowhere near done I came into this store mid meltdown.
After like 8 months of frustrating interactions down the street and so little time left I was seconds away from bawling in public. The sweet, knowledgable, helpful, patient, stylish and wonderful team here had me calmed down (I swear I’m not a drama queen, but I very nearly fainted when I realized I had no dress so close to my wedding) and in a new dress in no time. It took 2 days start to finish. My dress was beautiful and simple and while it’s taken me over a year to thank them for their part in getting me through the nightmare that is pulling off a wedding, I really couldn’t have done it with out them.
**oh, and there were two of us hysterical brides days away from our weddings with no dresses bc of the store down the road. They fixed her up too, and she was just as relieved and happy as I was when it was all over.

So I saw the reviews online and I checked out the website but I needed to see what they had in person. I am plus sized (size 16 – 18) and busty so I didn’t think anything would fit me, but I thought I would check out some dresses and see if they were alterable to my size. As soon as I walked in I was greeted very nicely by two ladies. The first thing I asked was do they have clothing in my size for a wedding dress.
One of the girls asked me if I was willing to try anything on even if it looked unimpressive on the hanger. She also asked me to take my coat off so she could see my shape. She immediately advised against a structured bust because it wouldn’t be supportive enough without boning sewn in for my ample bust.
She picked out a dress indicating that she thought it would be beautiful on me and asked me to try it on. So I tried it on. BEST DRESS EVER. I came out of the dressing room and she tied it in a very flattering way to compliment my shape. BTW I am also pregnant and will be during my ceremony. She gave me all kinds of suggestions on how to wear the dress, what sash to buy, how to tie the sash, what undergarments to get, I mean EVERYTHING.
I bought the dress on the spot. They didn’t have the color I needed so she put in a rush order for me and I should get it in plenty of time for my wedding. She also suggested that after my wedding I have the dress dyed so I can wear it again for special occasions. I can’t say enough about how great the service is and how beautiful the merchadise is. Lena is a genius!
If you want a very beautiful, unique, modern dress I highly suggest skipping the big bridal stores and going straight to Lena Medoyeff!

Just stopped in to look at bridesmaid dresses and the girls were so nice! Very friendly, helpful and just fun. I had a blast and will probably end up getting my rehearsal dinner dress there.

My friend found a BEAUTIFUL dress here– loved their style. She found a simple cowl-​neck, sleeveless lace number that really suited her figure and she said it was really comfortable. Really appreciate their emphasis on non-​child-​labor materials as well. However, the salespeople are a bit pushy.

Beautiful shop. Great selection. Terrific sales clerks. Bridal gown shopping with my daughter and we were very impressed with our experience in this store!

Wonderful store. My husband and I stopped in before we were even engaged because we wanted to see what they had, and were treated well right from the start. They even let me try dresses on right then!
I fell in love with a beautiful, simple, yet elegant dress that day. After were were engaged, I looked around at some other shops, but never found anything that I liked. They all seemed over the top, uncomfortable, expensive (especially for the poor quality), etc.
After purchasing my dress from Lena, I went back to the store multiple times to try it on for friends. The ladies who work there have always been absolutely wonderful to both me and my husband.
I love this store and will purchase more every-​day dresses from them as soon as my budget allows for it!

I can not rave about all of the helpful sales girls at Lena Modoyeff enough. My mother needed a dress for my wedding in August and this was the first (of many) places that she went. We were very upfront that we would not be trying on a dress that first day and they didn’t even care. Each and every girl there was happy to help us and answer any questions that we had.
Fast forward to a few weeks later… and many other dress shops later…
Back to Lena to purchase the dress. This was after we had stopped in again to just «peek» at the dress and the fabric swatches a few more times. Again, no pressure, just help. Not only are the designs beautiful, but the fabrics are exquisite (free trade silk). In a world of over-​the-​top taffeta Mother of the Bride creations, I’m glad that there is a store like Lena’s to find a beautiful classic piece to wear to a wedding that you can wear again and again.

Local shop? Check.
Fair-​trade fabric? Check.
Well-​merchandised boutique? Check.
Will take walk-​in brides? Check.
My friend (the bride) and I walked into the shop and was warmly greeted by Lena herself. She is super nice and helpful, and was humble about her creations and the way she obtains it.
My friend didn’t find what she was looking for there, but if hubby and I ever do a Wedding Redux, I will stop by Lena’s first.

If you feel out of place at other bridal shops and department stores, hie thee to Lena Medoyeff and exult!
I was very frustrated by my search for a dress that is elegant and unique but also simple and practical enough for an outdoor summer wedding. Most of what I had encountered was over-​the-​top and meringue. Everyone wants to look beautiful on their wedding day, but I’d rather not feel like I belong on the top of the cake.
Needless to say, I arrived at Lena Medoyeff feeling a little deflated after striking out at two other bridal stores that day, but the sale associate, Amber, is fantastic and immediately makes you feel at ease. She also has a great eye for what will look good on your figure and with your skin tone. My only issue was deciding between four equally gorgeous dresses! Most of the dresses can be paired with beautiful sashes that come in an array of colors.
Another plus is that the fabric is all fair trade and purchased directly from the mill (which designs it specifically for Lena Medoyeff), and Lena produces the dresses in small quantities. Shopping local does have its rewards, and you’ll definitely reap them in abundance at Lena Medoyeff.