My Mersea Tastemaker Edit: Five Fall Favorites I Actually Wear

I own the Mersea Travel Wrap in more colors than I own pairs of glasses, and if you’ve been reading here for any length of time, you know that is saying something.

So when Mersea asked me to be part of their Tastemaker series, I didn’t have to think very hard. As I mentioned on Thursday, Cindy Hattersley x Mersea is officially live, my own curated edit of their fall collection, and I promised I’d share it with you here on Sunday. So this week my Sunday Fab Five is all Mersea, all the time. (Consider yourself warned.)

We go way back, Mersea and I. It started with a linen Travel Wrap they don’t even make anymore, and it has grown into a genuine relationship with a brand I trust. Mersea was founded by two women friends, and it shows. They design for real women with real lives, at every age, and they never once make you feel like you’ve aged out of their customer. After meeting so many of you at the Kansas City grand opening in June, I can tell you I’m clearly not the only one who feels that way.

For the edit, they asked me about where I find inspiration, the style rules I love to break, my go-to fall formula, and what I never travel without. Here are the five pieces that came up again and again.

1.The Travel Wrap is Where it all Began

This is where it all began. The linen version that introduced me to Mersea is long discontinued, and I still reach for it. Since then I’ve collected it the Charleston, the Modern, and the Hermosa (the modern interprettion of my linen wrap)

My rule: when you find the piece that works, buy it in every color. That isn’t excess, it’s efficiency. The Travel Wrap goes over a sweater on a chilly morning in the garden, drapes over my shoulders at a winery dinner in Paso Robles, and doubles as a blanket on a long flight. (Steve has tried to borrow it on a plane. Sorry buddie bring your own.)

Shop the Travel Wraps

2. The Bessie Straight Leg Jean

My newest obsession. A straight leg is the workhorse of any Collected Wardrobe, and the Bessie is a very good one. It’s clean and easy without being skinny, and it looks great with a loafer and a cashmere sweater as it does with a low heeled boot and a jacket. Wrap on top, Bessie on the bottom, done.

I am not a fan of the overly deep cuff the Bessie won’t cut you off and make you look shorter.

3. Favorite Fall Sweaters

When Mersea asked what makes the perfect fall sweater, I couldn’t pick just one, so I picked three.

The Camden is a classic round neck with a stripe, but the real surprise is in the back: a row of buttons running down the spine. It’s the kind of detail you only notice as someone walks away, and I love that. A sweater that looks simple from the front and has a little secret in the back is my idea of good design.

The Sabrina is the one I reach for when I want something that looks great with everything. I love it with the Frenchie wide legs or the Bessie jeans with a pop of color.

The Lighthouse has that classic fisherman sweater look with the coziness of the Frenchie collection. Style it with the wide leg Frenchie pant or with jeans on a chilly morning.

4. The Emerson Button Up

I’m particular about my button-ups. The collar has to be firm. A floppy collar can’t do anything interesting, but a firm one lets me pin a vintage brooch at the neck on one day and wear the shirt open with scarf the next. The Emerson gets this right, and it comes in multiple patterns and colors.

The Emerson works buttoned up with the Bessie jeans and a loafer, or under the Camden Boatneck on a cool evening. It comes in multiple patterns and colors but I am partial to the embroidered cherries.

5. Travel Pieces you can Count On

When Mersea asked about my non-negotiable fall packing tips, the Frenchie collection was an easy answer. I chose four pieces: the Full Zip Hoodie, the Hoodie, the Jogger, and the Wide Leg Pant. Together they’re the closest thing I’ve found to a travel uniform that doesn’t look like one.

The Full Zip Hoodie is my airport layer. It zips on and off as the cabin goes from freezing to stuffy, and it looks polished enough that I’m not embarrassed to walk into a hotel lobby wearing it. The Hoodie is its easier sibling, perfect for a slow morning with coffee before the day’s sightseeing begins.

On the bottom, it comes down to the day. The Jogger is for travel days and long walks, and the Wide Leg Pant is for when I want the same comfort but a little more polish.Add the Sabrina and a good loafer, and the Wide Leg Pant goes straight from the plane to dinner

The Rules I Shared (and the Ones I Break)

A few things from the interview that I think are worth passing along:

Buy quality once instead of trendy five times. Every piece in this edit has earned its keep in my closet for a reason.

When you travel, pack around one wrap and one great pair of jeans, and let your accessories do the heavy lifting. A tortoise cuff, an interesting pair of sunglasses, and a textured bag will take the same outfit from a morning market in the Luberon to dinner that night.

And my favorite rule to break? The idea that at a certain age we’re supposed to fade into beige and blend in. I’ll wear the olive, the stripes, and the brooch, thank you very much.

You can see my full Tastemaker interview on the Mersea website here.

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What means the most to me is that a brand trusted a woman in her seventies to tell other women how to dress, and saw her age as an asset, not a liability. That matters. Every time one of us shows up, it makes a little more room for the rest of us.

Thank you so much for reading My Mersea Tastemaker Edit and for being here each and every week. Wear your own monogram, ladies. Age confidently, age vibrantly, age fashionably.

If you missed last week’s Sunday favorites, you can find them here. Now let’s pop over and visit Mary Ann and Annie for their Sunday favorites!

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