HOW TO BE A MERMAID

Embracing Boho style and the perfectly imperfect

Apr 07, 2025

Hi everyone,

Summer is in 75 days, and I want to talk about Boho, the sun-soaked, ruffly looks brought back into our lives by Chemena that are finally everywhere again. There's something about this free-spirited, salt-kissed aesthetic that feels like coming home to me—the sunshine getting stronger, days stretching longer, windows flung open.

It feels like a celebration of everything I was raised to appreciate. I think my childhood on the Riviera shaped this in me: I was taught that maximalism and collecting aren't excess, they're heritage and expression. I am, after all, the daughter of avid collectors who antiqued (hoarded?) for decades. Sometimes to my dismay. My mother, the truest bohemian, lets life collect around her instead of editing it away. She has a room full of ribbons and pearls, and whenever I see sheer chiffon, embellished garments and anything bedazzling, I feel right at home. Perhaps most personally, this aesthetic finally helped me embrace my natural, unruly waves, which I spent the first 30 years of my life trying to straighten into submission.

My apartment is a work in progress, but I’m channeling a 70s version of Loulou de la Falaise’s NYC loft.

Or maybe it was watching my grandmother adorn herself for even the smallest occasions, treating everyday life as worthy of celebration and embellishment. Her precious leopard coat, and the gold cuff I so hope gets passed down to me someday.

Last fall, Kallmeyer sent a blue silk mousseline skirt down the runway and I gasped. After years of “quiet luxury”, seeing my aesthetic return felt like reuniting with an old friend. I found the skirt at Ludivine uptown (pro tip: Ludivine and a Via Quadronno panini to follow). I've kept my old-Chloé pieces from my Vestiaire-obsessed teen years, and lately, I'm down a vintage Isabel Marant rabbit hole on eBay.

Speaking of collecting, for months now, I've used Carted - a digital wishlist app - to build my dream summer wishlist, until it felt financially appropriate to start collecting summer pieces. I love that it can create thematic wishlists instead of organizing by retailer. Whether I'm assembling an outfit for a specific wedding, designing my living room, or just making sure my weird Etsy finds might actually go together—Carted keeps everything in one beautifully organized place.