In the early days following Selma Blair’s diagnosis with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2018, the actress’s battle with symptoms like fatigue, muscle weakness and impaired speech left her largely bedridden. While he worked with doctors and underwent treatment, it was small, unexpected acts of kindness that kept Blair’s spirits up, including a gift from the founders of the Blair Society. MorsiLena Dickinson and Melanie Pauline. “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 made me feel cared for and gave me hope that I would once again go out and have these luxurious moments,” Blair tells the Observer. Even with her MS in remission, the gesture remained on Blair’s mind. Now she’s teaming up with Mersea to create her own sleepwear collection so she can help bring that same feeling of care to others, whether they’re suffering from a chronic illness or simply looking for some relaxation after a long day.
“I tend to lie down a lot of the time when I get home because I have to catch up on sleep,” Blair says. “I don’t know how to cook, but I know how to sleep.” To blend her love of red carpet glamor with her new focus on self-care, Blair turned to a sleepwear staple from her mother for inspiration: the bed jacket. “When I first moved to New York, I didn’t have any clothes to go to a nice dinner at Gramercy Tavern,” Blair recalls. “But my mom had packed her bed jacket for me as something cozy, so I wore this mint satin bed jacket with slacks and high heels.” The bed jacket, a sleepwear staple from the 1930s through the 1950s, became the most personal piece in the collection for Blair, who sketched out several designs before settling on the collared version in her Sea La Vie collection with Mersea.
Named after her mother, Molly comes in hot pink, as well as midnight blue with red piping, which Blair wears with jeans and her Kiss Kiss satin top as she walks us through the 14-piece capsule collection alongside her service dog, Scout (who’s also wearing a coordinating bandana for the occasion). “This blue can definitely be worn outside — I mean, do what you want — but I love the way it looks, it’s lightweight, and the bed jacket was really my first order.”
Satin pajamas and cotton sets were also at the top of the list for Blair, who added her own touches with lip prints that she originally accepted on a note and hand-written embroidered details for the collection. “I wanted it to feel personal because that’s how Mercy felt when I originally met them,” Blair says. Another distinctive touch of the collaboration is Mersea’s charitable commitment to donate 10 percent of the collection’s profits to American Brain Foundationwhere Blair serves as Global Ambassador and National Head of Brain Health. “There are some women who have really come forward — men too — who have done something that makes a big 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 disease.
“I’ve always loved high fashion or high fashion or vintage, but when I needed more sleep, I said to myself, ‘Okay, where are my charming pajamas?’” Clothes had a very profound effect on me, and what Mercy did to make another woman feel special is a big part of that story. Before Selma Blair Cla Vie Group With Mersea, which premieres April 14, she sat down with the Observer to share her current essentials, from where to eat breakfast in New York City to a current read she picked up from a former on-screen co-star.