If you had enough dosh, you could build your whole boho look wardrobe at Free People – dresses, tops, bottoms, shoes, boots, purses, jewelry. Did you know that that Free People is the original brain child of the same people who founded Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters (two other places I love)?

Everything they do is lucious, and never the same. Their July catalog featured “Southwest” bohemian style, such a fun change from hippie chic stuff!

Now’s definitely the time to get into some Free People. Their Summer Sale is going strong, including tons of stuff under $30.

And don’t forget to check out their blog. They’ve got some fantastic photos and videos, including this one on how to do a fishtail braid…

Marion Muñoz and Monica Kennedy bring their eclectic backgrounds to a new line of handbags based on women’s lifestyles — including Bohemian Girl!

Monica, who lives in Florida, designs and creates each handbag to tell a story. She combines gorgeous fabrics with one-of-a-kind illustrations by Marion, a freelance artist who works in Barcelona. The two met through mutual friend on Facebook and  pooled their bohemian talents to create these original works-of-art.

Check them out at TuffCooki.com.

Kelly Porter, a featured contributor at the kids’ design site Design Dazzle, recently wrote a wonderful post on bohemian decor for girls’ bedrooms. In it, she truly describes the essence of bohemian style.

But even more, she mentions that creating a boho bedroom can giving girls an appreciation of other cultures and traditions:

“Bohemian spaces are a blend of modern, vintage and global-ethnic furnishings. This look is casual, free flowing and can take your child beyond the expected design boundaries.

As our world ‘grows smaller,’ tribal textiles and other ethnic accents are becoming the focus of the Boho style. This gives us the opportunity to teach our children about other cultures, countries and traditions.”

What a wonderful way to introduce a young girl to global culture and get her interested in the world beyond her neighborhood! You can read the full post here.

In July, Kelly will be writing about bohemian decor for Sherwin Williams (hopefully for big girls). I can’t wait until that posts!

Boho tops get their flair by evoking another time or place.

They can be ethnic tunics, gypsy or peasant blouses, hippie camisoles and romantic blouses, or combinations of these.

Natural fabrics rule, but nomadic bohemians might prefer quality blends for traveling ease. 

Details include beads, ruffles, embroidery or crocheted trim.

Ethnic Tunic

The timeless bohemian top, with influences from Mexico to Morocco, Indonesia to India. Perfect over jeans.

Gypsy Top

The updated peasant blouse. Bold colors, flirty necklines, a little wild, a little flamenco.

Hippie Camisole

Loose and flowing, a bit more revealing, tie-dyed or not.

Romantic Blouse

Lost on the moors, hair lifted by the breeze, looking for Heathcliff.

Post Image: Art.com — Dinah Shore Wearing Peasant Blouse and Skirt, c.1944 (isn’t she adorable?)

A few years ago I stumbled upon a Peruvian Connection print catalog and was immediately entranced. Their motto says it all: “Artisan apparel for nomads and romantics.”

Peruvian Connection employs their own in-house designers. They conceive original pieces using seasonal color palettes and custom dyes.

Then Andean craftswomen bring their designs to life using luxury fibers native to their homeland — silky soft alpaca and Peruvian pima cotton. Although Peru provides the core design inspiration, ethnographic textiles from many cultures come into play.

Peruvian Connection is also a wonderful mother-daughter success story. Annie Hurlbut was majoring in anthropology and studying Cuzco market women when she found a gorgeous alpaca sweater for her mom’s upcoming 50th birthday. Her mom, Biddy, showed the sweater to a local boutique buyer, who wanted 45 more.

The business grew slowly but steadily until The New York Times interviewed Annie for the paper’s Style section. Within three months, Peruvian Connection received 5,000 catalog requests.

Today, Peruvian Connection is on Working Woman magazine’s Working Women 500, a list of the largest women-run businesses. Annie is the CEO.

A word on their prices — somewhere on the Internet I read a complaint that they were too high. The person loved the designs and was looking for a knock-off site.

Indigenous artisans craft Peruvian Connection apparel from luxury materials. When you take that into account, their designs are fairly priced, especially when compared to certain couture lines probably manufactured in China.

The versatile Milkweed Tunic (post image above), made of 100% Pima cotton, is on sale for $99. It would look equally fantastic with jeans or leggings. Details include a string of beads at the halter neckline and a hand-crocheted hem.

For those of us who adore bohemian style, Peruvian Connection proves that the boho look goes beyond hippie chic into an alluring otherworld of glamour and artistry.