Lately, there have been new viral reports about “mermaid” sightings. As I watched their video capture, rationality insisted on their being a fallacy, but the little girl in me who was bent on growing fins wanted them to be real.We know the line between fantasy and reality can be forced into a blurry, discombobulated mess, but this is only possible with the proper gear. Read on for your arsenal.
Last month, Free People (freepeople.com) laid out a catalogue featuring Behati Prinsloo called Washed Ashore. The collection exhibits Ariel’s modern attempt at joining humanity, and the photo shoot with Prinsloo transformed her into an ethereal creature of land and sea. The Sequin skirt ($277.15) and Raw Tulle Maxi slip ($122.03) are mermaidic enough to picture their wearers surfacing from the eroding waves. While the Patched Twill Herringbone pant ($132.37) is fit for us walkers, the Ramses Patina collar ($215.11) reminds us where we really come from.
Hailing from Australia, Finders Keepers hosts an array of designs with kaleidoscopic prints, bold lines, and notched skirts. Available at thefashionbunker.com, the Final Goodbye dress in navy ($219.95 AUD) and the Tangled Secrets dress ($139.95 AUD) seem worthy of Poseidon’s earthly daughters.
If you want to shine some light in the black waters, UNIF offers up some dive skirts that would light the way so you can just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. You can find them at nastygal.com for $92 in neon pink and neon yellow.
In the movie Aquamarine, the then-tailless mermaid sends a human girl out to a buoy to fetch her a couple of small starfish to use as earrings. We may not be as rich as the girl in mythical friends, but we have Erin Wasson, Fiona Morrison, the Snyder sisters and Gorjana & Griffin.
Erin Wasson, a muse for Alexander Wang, has a line of jewelry called Low Luv, which includes an Atlantis Architectural Magnetic bangle in silver and Oceanus River Fish ring ($55.81 and $44.22 at revolveclothing.com respectively), which would arm you with both a home and a friend.
Fiona Morrison, founder and designer of Wolf Circus, makes her abode on our lovely Vancouver Island. Some of her jewelry is meant for badass “ocean swimmers.” So what are you waiting for? We’re surrounded! And while you’re at it, take the Shark’s Tooth pendant with you ($40 at wolfcircus.com). If it’s useful for them, it could be useful for you too.
The Snyder sisters founded Dannijo, a brand dedicated to empowering women in any circumstance. While available at high-end stores, the packaging from their site, dannijo.com, is “handmade in Rwanda as part of their women’s empowerment initiative.” Three earrings have stood out to me the most for this article ($445, $145, and $150 respectively): Hania for the water and its mysteries, Jaks for the protruding rocky cliffs, and Luna for the waves that would cease to move if not for the moon.
Gorjana Reidel and Jason Griffin Reidel are the founders of Gorjana (gorjana-griffin.com). Get into the stripes trend with the Sea Stripe Bangle ($100) in navy, taupe or red, or trade your dollars (70 of them to be exact) for the sand-dollar Sirena necklace.
I leave you with a kiss — a toxic kiss, as a mermaid’s is. Evil Twin’s Toxic Kiss relaxed tee is available at revolveclothing.com for $64.23.
The skin of sea creatures alone makes them so beautifully alien (the blobfish might be an exception). We might walk proudly on land now, but the ocean dwellers will never forget what the water gave them.
