Paige Lorenze Is Immune To FOMO

Approximately midway into my phone call with Paige Lorenze, the content creator and Dairy Boy founder drops some news: She’s just bought the most perfect house after two years in a rental. It’s in Connecticut, she’s doing all the interiors herself, and in describing it, she uses the word “charming” three times. “I love that it’s a love letter to the suburbs,” Lorenze tells NYLON. “It’s charming. There’s amazing light. ... I just love the charm. To me, that’s something you can't even buy. I guess it’s appropriate because my brand is American Charm.”

Lorenze’s new homeware venture, as advertised, does lean into the specifically New England brand of shabby twee with pastel gingham and Laura Ashley-ish florals cleverly offered in sheet sizes to fit college-dorm mattresses. “I love doing clothing, but I’m the most passionate about home,” she says. “I’m such a homemaker myself that being able to offer that to girls and to give my community this opportunity to romanticize their space ... is such an honor to me.”

Below, Lorenze sat down with NYLON to talk about the yearlong testing process for her American Charm products, the photo album of Dutch-oven recipes she keeps on her phone, and why her biggest detractors are also her biggest fans.

How’s the Dairy Boy New York pop-up going?

It’s amazing. This is the best time of the year for me for so many reasons, and it’s so important to me as a creator to have an in-person experience. When people start to feel like numbers, for me, I love seeking that connection with my community and taking the time to put on an in-person event. It makes everything we do so worth it.

What are the girls buying?

We have this thing called a barn jacket. It’s like a really cute jacket. I feel like the girls are really excited about that because it’s our first cropped ready-to-wear jacket. ... We have a lot of different things at the pop-up this year, so I’m really curious to see what people gravitate towards. But based off social media, people are really excited about the jacket and the tennis-inspired sweatshirt.

What were your inspirations for the homeware?

I am obsessed with Pinterest. I get a lot of my inspiration from old cottages, summer houses. I love that feeling of the nostalgic bedding and the quilts. ... I think home in particular is my favorite. Making it affordable, too, because I know that it’s not always cheap to make your apartment in New York [or] when you’re in college look cute, but we want to make stuff for everyone. I love the bedding. I was always seeking that out, so being able to make my perfect version of it has just been so fun and rewarding.

What’s the next thing you’re shopping for for your own home?

I don’t own any art, so that’s something I really want to buy. Since I’m just moving, I have so many things I need for my house. But I’m just excited to do it all myself. ... I want to make it feel very American Charm and the brand. A lot of our home goods we’re sampling already. I really want to use it for a year. I have knives, cutting boards, bowls, spoons, and all those things. I just want to use them in my home and see how they wear over time.

Do you typically spend that long testing samples?

I do, especially with home. I don’t as much with clothes because we know fabrics that are dependable. Home is a whole different beast. I’ve been testing this Dutch oven we’re launching this fall for a year and a half now. ... It’s so important to me that things last and that I really love them and want to use them in my own home.

What have you made in the Dutch oven?

This is really funny. I have an album on my phone of random food I’ve made, like pasta sauce, soup. I’ve boiled corn. I just like how the heat distributes, and you can leave it on the stovetop for a long time without worrying about your kitchen going up in flames. I literally have this album of 50 photos over the last year and a half of me using this pot for different things. I’m going to post it when we launch it.

Speaking of home, as someone who’s in the public eye, how do you view having your own space?

Honestly, when I left Manhattan, it was really about horses, which might seem funny. But I just wanted to be near a place where I could ride that was close enough to a major airport. My family is also in Connecticut, but I’m about 45 minutes from my parents. I’ve never felt so fulfilled when I made that decision to leave.

I do feel like it’s my safe place. ... My partner, Tommy [Paul], travels so much, he can’t even come to my home in Connecticut very often. Obviously, I wish he could spend more time there, and he eventually will when his career slows down, but it’s truly my space. There’s something really empowering and special about ... as a young female, just having my own home while I’m in a healthy relationship.

Before you moved to Connecticut, was there ever a sense of “If I do leave, I might miss out on this, this, and this”?

Luckily, I never felt that way because I never have had a problem with FOMO. But I had people around me that were concerned about my social life and about, well, “What is your content going to be like now?” I didn’t like my content while I was living in Manhattan because I didn’t enjoy my lifestyle. There was no way that I was going to succeed and reach the goals I had in the city because that’s not my DNA.

I guess I just believed in myself, and I believed that anything authentic would be better. Even if maybe I wouldn’t make more money. I think it’s important for girls to know that even if you still live in your hometown, even if you still live with your parents ... you can create a job now from anywhere. There’s no reason to be ashamed. A lot of the times people view moving back home as “you failed,” but I don’t think that’s true. I hope I can show people that you can live any sort of way you want to live.

A lot of the times people view moving back home as “you failed,” but I don’t think that’s true.

Shifting gears a bit, the U.S. Open’s coming up. What are your references for courtside looks?

My stylist Maren Taylor sent me a bunch of stuff, which I liked, but the feedback I sent back to her was like, “Let’s go even sportier and even more casual.” A lot of vintage hats were playing into the Olympics. We’re [pulling] some USA vintage stuff, some Tommy, and just a cool dress with a vintage baseball hat and sneakers. Also, I pulled some references of Maria Sharapova. She used to wear these really cool old Nike kits that are so sick, and we were basically scouring eBay to find some old Nike tank tops to wear with baggy jeans. I’m probably most excited for the looks this year than I’ve ever been because I feel like it’s the most me.

Moving on — I’m fascinated by how even when people online aren’t the most complimentary of you and your work, they do acknowledge that they’re also your biggest fans. How do you feel about that?

I mean, those people are all watching every single one of my videos. It’s an obsession. They’re fascinated, and it’s OK. ... It’s never affected my business once. Every single year, I’m making more money. Every single year, I’m more successful and happy. They’ve never taken anything away from me, and I think that’s the most important part. If it was affecting my business, maybe I would think about it more. But I’m successful. You can’t really do anything.

I look at Hailey Bieber a lot — that girl is a trendsetter. She’s a thoughtful, kind person. She’s a business owner. The climate we are in right now on the Internet and the world is just hateful. But I focus on the positive. I have such an amazing, amazing community that is so vocal and there for me that those few hundred people really are a speck of dust on the radar.

Going back to the idea of authenticity, which we’ve talked about quite a lot, what area in your life are you actively working on to become even more authentic?

There was a point in time when I was really reluctant to share my vulnerabilities because I felt like people would use them against me. But what I’m realizing is that the more transparent I am about the good, the bad, and what I’m up to, the more I have the control. For example, I just dissolved my lip filler a few weeks ago. I not only shared who I went to see; I shared a video of it happening. I shared why I felt that way and that I am getting older and more confident. The filler was supposed to be a good thing, and it made me actually feel more insecure.

I got thousands of messages from people thanking me, which was so interesting because I didn’t feel like this is what I should be doing. It felt so good. I want to continue to ... be transparent about everything — and not only about filler, but about the struggles I’m having or the problems I’m having at Dairy Boy or any of the things. I’m starting to lean more into that because I’m realizing that there’s actually power and confidence in that.