Altar

Walked in to peruse their earrings. A girlfriend recommended I check out Altar. I was in the store for five minutes and the clerk didn’t acknowledge, greet, say hi or ask if I needed help. She seemed to be more interested in listening to her loud friend talk about how to be a female comedian in Portland. I’m all for girl power but perhaps this wasn’t the right venue? There are plenty of great local businesses with excellent customer service I would rather shop at.
I left after five minutes and probably won’t be back.

Hands down, my favorite shop in Portland (or ever?). Beautiful clothing and jewelry. Rad art/​unique artifacts. Awesome staff, too! I would give this place 6 stars if I could.

This little shop shares space with an adorable brunch spot both lovely spaces with wonderful touches of vintage and new. My advise, stop by when both are open!!! Altar has many many many pieces of exquisite hand made jewelry. I have a huge love affair with all types or artists but those that make admirable jewelry are the biggest heart breakers. I don’t know how long I was in the shop but I wanted everything!!! And most of the artist are local. I’m so happy I stopped in, I’ll certainly be a returning customer. I already know what my next piece will be.

I love this darling boutique! A favorite stop of mine when visiting Portland. If you love vintage or hand made clothing and jewelry, then make sure to stop by! The fabric they use is chosen carefully as it is both high quality, beautiful, and often USA made. Love that you can get anything altered or repaired here and that designers and seamstresses help run the store! True local owned and run!

I popped into Altar and loved the shop! This tucked away little jewel on Hawthorne is one of the best boutiques on the block. Its hard to find such diversity of clothes– they even had indian style prints of a brand Indie Ella. Their jewelry really is a cut above the rest, I first heard of them for it and its what made me decide to pop in.

Love these ladies they’re super sweet and attentive but not in your face. Plus everything is local! Black lipstick co is my FAV and I went in there just yesterday to buy a couple more (have to only buy two at a time so the boyfriend doesn’t notice :) hehe) and when I saw that I had basically bought them out already I asked when they’d be getting more and she had already sent the girl an email to restock. Can’t wait for my visit next week to these lovely ladies to get my black lipstick co fix. (They also have awesome funky postcards that my out of town family just love)

Don’t buy your girlfriend earrings here unless you never want to buy her earrings again. She won’t take them off and won’t wear anything else! Very satisfied customer! Amazing selection of unique beautiful jewelry, and super friendly and helpful staff!!!

Cassie and her sweet team have curated an incredible line of designers at Mag-​Big, and are completely ‘killing it’ with their in-​house line.
Constantly wearing a smile and working her ass off, this girl does amazing things for the Portland fashion community and I’m always excited to see what’s new with her and her adorable shop.

I. Freaking. Love. This. Store.
To be honest, I try not to go to Mag-​Big because I rarely escape for less than $ 100. A giant agate cocktail ring? Sure! A bar of handmade mint soap? Ok! Yet another drape-​neck top? Why not!
I absolutely love the owner’s enthusiasm, helpfulness, and dedication to supporting and promoting local artists and designers. She always has some little tidbit to tell you about the item you are looking at. She rotates the stock continually so you always find something new: gorgeous jewelry, well-​made clothing, cute little gifts, even some art and household goods. There is also a huge variety of price points.
I do wish they had more clothing in larger sizes and curvier proportions, but I still manage to find something every time.
I can’t stay away from this place!

This is the most magical little shop in all of Portland!!! Mag-​Big hosts almost all of my favorite clothing and jewelry designers in Portland. A one stop shop for beautiful clothing, jewelry and artwork. And the staff is always very friendly and helpful.
Thanks Mag-​BIg!!!

I love this store! This is where I buy all my special gifts for the ones I care about and usually pick up something for myself as well. I’m the proud owner of two Mag-​Big dresses, a few pairs of earrings and a leather wrist cuff… I cherish everything I own from there!

Crammed with so much local art, mostly jewelry, it’s amazing that it does not explode. It’s basically all dripping off the walls. It’s a collage full of necklaces, earrings, bracelets. All very different, some steampunk mixed in with other unique jewelry. I overheard the cashier tell someone they have over 500 artists. It’s pretty overwhelming and even confusing at times as you really have to look under, over, and around other items to find that one piece that catches your eye.

Lets face it I love shopping, I’v lived here all my life and think of myself having great taste. I was walking down Hawthorn one day and saw this cute sign that read Mag-​Big. I walked in and found pure Portland sexy bliss, awsome things to buy the women in my life. Maybe a thing or two for me. The owner is amazing and I love the layout and her dresses. Cant wait to look over and see a beautyful woman with one of her dresses on. OVER 400 artists and crafters, local hand made Goodness.

This is a great little store to pick up a quick gift or something for a friend. Lot’s of locallly made awesomeness. I picked up «Made in Oregon» coasters, candles, jewels, etc.
Great spot for a guy to pick up a nice gift for the lady in his life. My BF gave me a sweet necklace that the owner helped him pick out. NICE WORK!

You can hardly stroll down any major street In Portland without bumping into a delightful little boutique with locally made trinkets. I love these places and you can bet your sweet ass I go into each and every one of those damn boutiques to ohh and aww over the goodies. After you’ve gone to a few of these places, lets face if you start to bump into the same knick knacks. Enter Mag Big…
Mag Big offers a whole new world of knick knacks, goodies and trinkets! It’s a smaller space but it’s jam packed with fun thing to check out. Jewelry, prints, cards, and all kinds of things to make your life a little more beautiful. They have a very unique selection of crafts all from local artists. The lovely lady, whom I presume is the owner, knows so much about each and every item and is more then willing to help you out. Before purchasing my wallet, which I love, the owner shared a little bit about who crafted it, the leather and showed/​explained to me how the stitching was top notch. What a nice personal touch!
Above they store they have a sewing area. I believe they offer classes as well as a space to come together and sew. Very cool idea if you ask me!
The «idea» of Mag Big is nothing new, in fact it’s a pretty saturated market. Even still Mag Big has something special about it. I like that it doesn’t have a boutique-​y or fancy feel to it. As far as I’m concerned it’s the best of it’s kind.

This place if full of super fun and crafty items for everyone! I love that that are handmade and from Portland. Candles that smell sooooo good. Purses, art (the squirrel painting!!), clothing, jewelry, postcards… the list goes on.
The other thing that I loved was that the gal working there was very friendly and helpful. She also seems to be made in Portland!

This is a lovely little store packed full of creative, interesting jewelry, clothing and gifts. Everything in the store is handmade in Portland, so if you’re really into shopping local, this is your mecca. I found quite a few things I loved, from lovely hand-​sewn and screenprinted tanks to faux-​grass earrings and rings. The girls who work there are lovely and very friendly, and the store offers incredibly affordable sewing classes. Definitely a new must-​stop shop on Hawthorne.

Creative, handcrafted designs. Everything from coasters, jewelry, clothes, art, wallets, everything is created by local Portland artists. This store is located where the old Dollar Scholar was, and it’s nicely put together. In the back there is a gallery where a selected artist can display their art for a month, I believe. There is so much in this store, I wanted to buy a little bit of everything. The prices are actually really reasonable and since everything is handcrafted you can find that unique gift that may not be available if you don’t buy it on your first visit. I’m already making plans to make this a gift buying stop for the holidays that are coming. I really love this location, which is pretty close to the House of Vintage and Awesome Cone. The dude that runs was behind the counter might be an insane person, but in a really good way. ;P

I wandered into this cute little store after seeing that they offered some (amazingly priced!) sewing classes. I poked around in their cute store, which had a wide selection of local artists’ artwork & handmade pieces. They had everything from adorable acorn earrings to a cute felt «sandwich» playset for babies. It is a perfect place to find gifts for people, and snag a few lovely items for yourself without totally draining your bank account.
I’ll update the review after the sewing class.