In the following first days Selma BlairDiagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2018, the actress’ battle with symptoms such as fatigue, muscle weakness and impaired speech left her mostly bedridden. While working with doctors and undergoing treatments, it was the smallest, unexpected acts of kindness that kept Blair’s spirits up, including a gift from the co-founders of thank you, Lina Dickinson AND Melanie Bolin. “At the time, I was on a different path; I was sick with MS and I wasn’t leaving my house much, and these travel-inspired pajamas and candles just made me feel nourished and gave me hope that I would go out again and have these luxurious moments,” Blair tells the Observer. Even with her MS in remission, that gesture stuck with Blair. Now, she is joining the thank you to create her sleepwear collection so she can help bring that same sense of care to others, whether they’re navigating a chronic illness or just looking for relaxation after a long day.
“I’m a bedridden person a lot of the time when I get home because I need to get a good night’s sleep,” Blair says. “I don’t know how to cook, but I know how to sleep.” To combine her love of red carpet glamor with her newfound emphasis on self-care, Blair turned to one of her mother’s sleepwear staples for inspiration: a bed jacket. “When I first moved to New York, I didn’t have clothes to go to a nice dinner Gramercy Tavern. But my mom had packed her nightgown for me as a cozy thing, so I just wore this mint satin nightgown with a pair of pants and high heels,” Blair recalls. collared version in her Sea La Vie collection with thank you.
Named after her mother, Molly comes in pale pink, as well as a midnight blue with red piping that Blair wears with jeans and her satin Kiss Kiss top as she walks us through the 14-piece capsule collection alongside her service dog, Scout (who’s also wearing a coordinating headband for the occasion). “This blue is definitely more worn outside – I mean, make of it – but I love the way it looks, it’s light, and the bed jacket was really my first request.”
Satin pajamas and tailored cotton sets were also top of the list for Blair, who added her own touches with lip prints she first kissed in a note and embroidered details she hand-wrote for the collection. “I wanted it to feel personal, because that’s what it is thank you felt when I first met them,” says Blair. Another distinctive touch of the collaboration is Mersea’s philanthropic commitment to donate 10 percent of the collection’s profits to American Brain Foundationwhere Blair serves as Global Ambassador and National Chair for Brain Health. “There are some women who have really stepped up—men, too—who have done something that makes all the difference in that moment: a kind gesture, sending something, wanting to engage with you,” Blair says of the importance of not only supporting research into neurological disorders like MS, but also raising awareness to reduce the stigma associated with chronic illness.
“I’ve always loved fashion, haute couture or vintage, but then when I needed more sleep I’d think, ‘Well, where are my glamorous pyjamas?’ The clothes have had a very deep, nourishing effect on me, and what thank you I did to make another woman feel special is a big part of that story.” Forward Selma BlairS ‘ Sea La Vie Collection with Mersea, which debuts April 14, she sat down with the Observer to share her current essentials, from her go-to breakfast spot in New York City to the current reading she got from a former on-screen co-star.
