Tumbleweed

I’m pretty sure this is my favorite place to shop for clothes in Portland. Over the last 8 years I have bought several of my most favorite items of clothing here and I still wear all of them. The price is more dear than most of the other places I shop for clothing, but the pieces I have bought here are very special and really good quality, so it’s worth it. Plus the owner also designs and makes her own line of clothing (Kara line). She always has new patterns and fabric and only makes them in small runs so you’re getting one of only a few pieces made. If you are visiting Portland I would definitely make a special trip to Alberta Ave just for this shop. Plus they have the worlds best pastries next door a t Petit Provence.

Cute boutique on Alberta with beautiful and classic women’s clothing. Staff was very sweet and helpful. I’ll be back.

Easy, beautiful, timeless. Tumbleweed’s house line runs the gamut from feminine to modernist, but always has the designer’s signature hallmarks: simple to care for, easy to dress up or down, something for nearly everyone. I have a few of the «Kara-​line» pieces and I love them. Have sent them through the wash, including the wool, and they held up beautifully. Complimentary brands abound, as well, including hard to find European lines like Humanoid.

I have loved Kara’s shop since day one.
Her designs are perfect. Simple. Pretty. Wear more dresses, people.
And the lines she carries outside of her own are great. Jewelry, accessories, and the JEANS, oh my god the JEANS. Kara picked out a pair i SWORE i would hate. Love. Them. Wear them all the time.
The service is excellent… not pushy, honest, friendly, dedicated.
Treat yourself and go here. A lot.

Let me start by saying, I’m a jeans and t-​shirt lady. I was needing a dress for a wedding this weekend and went into Tumbleweed to start the search. Mind you, I haven’t worn a dress in years and don’t particularly like wearing dresses.
Shannon «the awesome», pulled just about every dress in the store she thought would work for me and endured my try-​on session. Not only did I find an awesome dress for the wedding, I found a couple others that I could see wearing just because! I made myself stay on track and just get the dress I needed but boy o’ boy, I would have left with several other items if I let myself! Great store, beautiful clothes and excellent service! I’m ready to go shopping again…

I love the jewelry here. The clothes are beautiful, though the are a bit too expensive.

I walked into tubleweed begrudgingly in the rain. This place has «hip-​mom» written all over it. Which is cool for hip moms but hell for those wanting to retain a little personal space as other peoples kids climb all over you. Lucky for me, the store is big and appears to be set up for rug munchers to have a little space for themselves to wipe snott on.
I learned a few things. Hip moms and I BOTH don’t like underwear that goes up our butts or undergarments that are over designed and seriously lacking in cloth volume (sorry hip dads and dudes who date me). Second, we both like sensible/​modern flats and boots. Damn hip moms good eye! Finally, we both go effing nuts about a nice chunky sweater. God damn it hip moms! Now I’m gonna have to come back. Not to mention your art and jewelry collection. The jewelry is more classic and clean than modern but, still well picked.

I rarely find stores that have unique clothing at a reasonable price, but this is one of my new favorite stores! I happened upon it while walking down Alberta when I was vacationing and I really am glad I did.
I ended up buying a cool grey sweatshirt turtlenecky thing and wanted some black shoes (they didn’t have my size). I will be back. The owner seemed super nice and helpful.

Tumbleweed has consistently been one of my top 5 places to shop in Portland since I moved here 5+ years ago. Everyone who works there is genuine and sincere, and t will tell you honestly how something looks, with no pressure. I love that I can find original things at a local business.

It’s been awhile since I’ve felt compelled to write reviews, and just realized my last two were super negative — I feel bad because this doesn’t at all reflect my experiences living in the Portland area this past year.
So many tasty restaurants (Pine State Biscuits, Pok Pok, Duh Ku Bee, Seasons & Regions — to name just a few). So many friendly sales people and helpful gallery owners (Frances May, Black Wagon, Buffalo on Hawthorne, Land Pdx, Grass Hut). Unlike in the SF Bay Area, service here is almost always friendly and comes with practically ZERO attitude. +1 PDX!!!
So, I want to tell you about my favorite place of all — Tumbleweed on Alberta.
I rarely go shopping for clothes these days. Just finally liquidated the last of the inventory from my former brick & mortar and then web-​only shop, and I seriously have enough dresses & denim leggings to clothe a small permaculture village.
However, as much as I try to ditch my formerly materialistic ways — I still love dresses! And I still want new ones! Floral dresses to pair with sandals. Knit ones to pair with wool coats & waterproof boots. Short ones, long ones, cut on the bias. Hand-​made and please not sewn by Chinese Babies.
Whenever I have a very special occasion (or just get really desperate and eBay old stuff to acquire new), I head to Tumbleweed. The sales ladies are super friendly and they always remember me (probably because I’m the most annoying customer of all time & try on practically everything in the store before deciding!) The women who work here are true professionals. They know what I’ll love, and what will fit me from the current selection as soon as I walk in. This isn’t an easy task, since their signature line is hand-​sewn, and there are no sizes — each piece is unique!
I’ve never left this place without at least one new dress, and I’ve yet to resell any of their pieces to afford something new.
I vote Tumbleweed best dress shop in Portland!

This is my new neighborhood, so of course I am going to come in when I see cute dresses in the window.
I just really wasn’t that impressed. I think someone else mentioned it in a review. it’s just higher quality anthropoligie clothes. Maybe made better, but to me, not worth the price. I couldn’t really find much. A few things I kind of liked but now worth the $ 150+ price tag.
I am all for buying quality pieces that last and are classic, but nothing in this store really stood out.
I imagine if I had more money, more time, and a diffrent style, I may see the reason for all the good reviews.
I really want to like this place. In fact, I have been in about three times since I moved here in September. Come on Tumbleweed, give me something I love.

I recently wandered into Tumbleweed for the first time.
I picked up a dress that was in the first table you see as you come in the door, tried it on and bought it. Not only did it fit like it was made for me (hooray for carrying petitie sizes!) but it was exactly what I didn’t know I was looking for.
A little on the spendy side, but great for a little special something once in a while.

Some of my favorite dresses were purchased at Tumbleweed. The store has a relaxed environment and it’s fun to browse through the constantly changing collection. My goal is always to purchase unique pieces that help me feel pretty while I’m at work or out on the town. Tumbleweed is one of my secret tricks to achieve this. I think of it as a local version of Anthropologie.
The staff is helpful and friendly. I happened in when the owner was behind the counter. She told me to pick out a free scarf from a basket near the register. She also gave me tips on how to layer and accessorize my new purchases so that I could get the most use out of them during any season. These were small gestures but they left a good impression.
While it is true that the prices are higher than retail, I still believe you get your money’s worth. I was always taught to take a more European view of fashion — purchase a few select pieces that you absolutely love, that you feel good wearing, and wear them out. I would much rather have a few dresses that I adore than two closets worth of «Oh, I guess I could wear that…»

I love this store! The clothing is adorable and the customers services is impeccable. I know the prices may seem high but knowing that the people making these garments were paid a fair wage means a lot to me. I would rather buy a couple beautiful pieces per season then a ton of disposable clothing that is just going to end up in a land fill.
So if you want hand made beautiful garments that you can feel good about as well as good in you should shop local and go to Tumbleweed.

I usually do not find myself in boutiques but saw «dresses» written in the window at Tumbleweed and instantly went in. I have a weak spot in my heart and pocket book for dresses… though maybe I should confess that I actually have a weakness for clothes shopping all together. But fun little dresses are on the top of that weakness list!
Anyhow…I’m usually turned off by boutiques because the clothes don’t fit me and are way too expensive. Tumbleweed is the first exception I have found to this, regarding the fitting issue at least.
What helped the most was that the saleswoman was so helpful. As I started flipping through the racks she walked over, introduced herself and started to explain the store/​clothes to me. She explained that that Karaline (the local owner and designer) never sizes her clothes but certain styles fit certain body types better. She pulled out some examples of dressed that she thought would fit me better than others. I said some of the dressed looked small but she urged me to try them on since they can be deceiving. I ended up in a funky dressing room with an arm full of adorable print dresses in multiple styles. Almost everything that she said would fit did.
I can not justify spending over $ 200 dollars on an amazing sun dress made of cotton/​silk so thin you could read through it; even if that print was the most playful red with dark blue elephants prancing around with little trails behind them… sigh. But I assure you that I will be back every couple weeks to see if that elephant dress, which fit me like a glove, will be on sale.
I did however buy a fun floral blue print dress and an incredibly comfortable length t-​shirt for under $ 65. My point is that I think the way to get things from Tumbleweed (if you are living on a budget) is to go back often and see what’s on sale. They had a couple racks and bins worth of great stuff.
Last but not least — they have vintage hand-​dyed slips of all styles and lengths that you can mix and match with any dress. Also a bit pricey (unfortunately those do not go on sale) but very cute.

You had me at your goldenrod screen door.
Perhaps it’s because of my uncanny passion for colored office paper, or, I don’t know, maybe your store is a wonderful never-​never-​land where I internally hear birds chirping and Julie Andrews belting out some «work-​is-​fun» anthem from the hillsides — but I was instantly enamored. (Polls favor office paper, but I know better.)
First, let’s talk logistics. When can I move in? Can the lease please include the tenant’s prerogative clause where by in I prance around your beautifully inspired space, try on flowy dresses at my whim, and play pretty pretty princess all day?
Unfortunately back in always-​always-​land, I have trouble coming up with the time and the money that your fabulous boutique reasonably requires. But if you’re looking for a part-​time dress wearing prancer, I’m your girl! (Plus, who’s above splurging for the opportunity to wear local art?)

The mother of Grasshopper and again the poor sales tactics with sad attempts at getting you to buy something… example: «oh, today that is 20% off». Note to shoppers it’s always «20% off».
Love the home made dresses, but a bit steep for cotton and elastic.

Tumbleweed is well stocked with beautiful girly cotton dresses that you would feel awesome wearing in the summer. They have cute cotton aprons in their window.
They also have a couple pairs of cute shoes, a few bags, and lots of pretty gold jewelry to pair with your new summery dress.
Dresses usually run between one and two hundred bucks, so you’ll pay to look that cute.

Why I love being a girl…
Reason Number 1: Free drinks
Reason Number 2: Having a Honey who opens doors for me
Reason Number 3: Dresses at Tumbleweed

I wish that I could buy all of the clothes at Tumbleweed, unfortunately I don’t have the money. There are beautiful dresses and skirts, gorgeous shirts that are very fashionable, but still appropriate for Portland.
Bonus: one of the cutest kid’s stores is right next door (Grasshopper) and is owned by the same person that opened Tumbleweed.