Carefree and quirky, the Boho Woman has gone from a kooky sidekick to a beloved character type by dancing to the beat of her own drum. Here’s our Take on where the Boho Woman came from, who she really is, and how she found her own place in the spotlight.

Who Is The Boho Woman?

Boho Woman, Hippie Chick, Earth Mama, Granola Girl – this character type has been popping up in our favorite movies and shows for decades. And while each version has her own special vibe, they all share a few key traits:

Her quirky fashion sense – The Boho Woman isn’t concerned with trends, her eclectic (sometimes a little chaotic) outfits reflect her own personal style, and usually make her stand out in a crowd. She loves linens and drapey fabrics and isn’t afraid to add on a good accessory or two (or four.) Regardless of what she’s actually up to, her outfits often look like she’s on her way to a beachy meditation retreat (which is usually where she’d rather be anyway.)

Her free spirit – In the same way that she does her own thing in regards to fashion, the Boho Woman goes her own way in life as well. She’s easygoing, happy to flow wherever life takes her, and makes the most of it. She can also be a calming presence to her more Type A friends.

Her positive perspective – The world may be a dark place, but the Boho Woman doesn’t let that change her bright outlook – her glass is always half full. Even when times get tough, she always believes there’s a way to make a better tomorrow.

Her deeply held beliefs – While the Boho Woman is generally easygoing, she isn’t afraid to stand up for what she believes in. She’s usually a vegetarian or vegan and dedicated to animal and environmental rights, and she always holds on to her belief that the world can be changed for the better.

Her strong sense of self – While the Boho Woman is often mocked for the way she is, whether it’s her clothes or her beliefs, she never really lets it get to her. She knows who she is and what she wants out of life, and she’s not going to let someone else’s bad attitude ruin her vibe.

So how did the Boho Woman evolve from a comedic relief to a fully formed, interesting character type that helps bring light and balance to our favorite movies and shows?

Boho Beginnings

Bohemian culture spans back hundreds of years. As Alice Howarth wrote for Harper’s Bazaar, “Some believe Bohemian culture was founded as a counterculture in the late 18th century following the French Revolution… Others believe the French word ‘Bohémien’ was a disparaging term first used to describe Romani people, who back then were believed to have come to France from Bohemia… Either way, it was a term with one meaning: to describe a section of society that lived an unconventional and often nomadic lifestyle, which was reflected in their aesthetics.” During the 1900s, the Boho style started to become more fashionable in society, with even the wealthy occasionally embracing the style. This boho fervor hit its peak in the 1960s with the rise of the hippie movement, which fully embraced the free-flowing fabrics and wild patterns associated with the look as well as the boho ideals of counterculture and rejection of societal norms. And the Boho Woman as we recognize her on screen today was born out of this hippie era.

But while many others moved on to different styles and attitudes in the following decades, the Boho Woman never really let go. She’s held on to those ideals of free love and world peace, even if the rest of the world might have moved on. This often adds to the feeling that she doesn’t quite fit in, that there’s something about her that’s just a bit out of step with the rest of society. But it’s also what makes her character type so refreshing – in a world of jaded people that have nearly given up, she shines a bright light of love reminding us that there is hope. While some adjacent character types are more angry and militant in their quest to shape the world into a better place, the Boho Woman often takes a more relaxed approach – she believes that everyone will come to do the right thing in their own time with a little help.

Early versions of this trope were usually relegated to the sidelines on screen – often either as a comic relief for the main characters to guffaw at for her weirdness, a girlfriend or even sometimes just a nameless member of a larger group of hippies. They were essentially always young and beautiful, and the way they often weren’t given the opportunity to actually do or say much could sometimes make them feel more like set dressing than actual characters. As we moved away from the 60s and the hippie style fell out of popular fashion, the boho women on screen started showing up as teachers and mothers (a trend that continues on today.) These women are often presented as quirky weirdos who never quite grew out of their hippie phase. As teachers, they’re often the butt of students’ jokes, often framed as out of touch with “real” concerns as they focus on hugging trees and finding one’s inner light. But sometimes their positive qualities do shine through, as they’re able to help a student see the world in a different way or stand up for themselves in a way they might not have thought possible.

Boho moms also exist across a wide range, from hilariously kooky to concerningly detached from reality. On the more lighthearted end, the boho mom sometimes embarrasses her kids with her woo-woo ideas and her openness about sex and sexuality. But her frankness and easygoing nature also make her someone that they know that they can talk to about the big questions in life. Her chill attitude and ability to see the bright side often allows her to help her kids see their problems from a different perspective, leading to solutions that might be a little wacky but work. On the darker side of the boho mom trope, however, her refusal to let go of her more free youth and accept that she’s responsible for young lives can cause her to create a negative, sometimes even dangerous environment for her kids. She tries to frame it as her just being a cool mom, allowing her kids freedom that no other parent would, but the reality is that her lack of boundaries and flighty nature actively harms her children. This more dangerous side of the boho mom aligns with a darker side of the trope at large, which we’ll touch on in a minute.

Whether she’s a carefree friend, the butt of a joke, or a cautionary tale, the Boho Woman has continued to hold onto the public imagination – instead of waning as a trope and disappearing altogether as boho culture seemed to fizzle out in real life, the Boho Woman actually started to find a new place front and center. There was something just so alluring about her mindset and embrace of the world (and, to be honest, her cool look,) that eventually, she started getting featured more often as a fully fleshed-out main character. No longer stuck in the background or just popping up for a quick weed joke, the Boho Woman finally got to take her own place in the spotlight…

Finding Her Own Spotlight

As many people began burning out from the hyper-capitalist vibes of the 80s, the Boho Woman started popping up on screen as a detailed, fleshed-out main character in her own right. After years of media dominated by power suits and business, business, business, the flowy and free boho idealist was a welcome sight. Denise Huxtable of The Cosby Show became an icon for young people everywhere thanks to her rebellious nature and eccentric fashions. She wasn’t afraid to break from the mold her parents tried to put her in and speak her mind. Denise was a free spirit and valued things other than the elite education and high-powered jobs her parents tried to push her towards, a feeling that many could relate to during that era. Denise’s vibe was largely inspired by Lisa Bonet’s real-life ethos and style – Marcy Carcy, a producer on The Cosby Show, told Ebony Magazine, “I remember thinking, this is a kid who will not be anything but herself.” Denise was also notable because she kept her boho sensibilities and style even as she aged on the show – instead of it being framed as a “phase” like with some young women on screen, it was an integral part of who Denise was. And, importantly, we got to follow Denise through the ups and downs of life and how her personality and ethos affected her as she moved through the world – she wasn’t framed as just a weirdo or comedic punching bag, but as a real person with her own ideas about the world. And while her more old-school parents and uptight siblings might not have always seen eye to eye with Denise, she did balance out the family and bring in a perspective that no one else had.

The 90s and early 2000s continued this trend of showing the Boho Woman as an important, balance-bringing part of society with beloved characters like Phoebe on Friends, Dharma on Dharma & Greg, and Lynn on Girlfriends. While these characters were still occasionally mocked a bit for their more kooky aspects, everyone around them appreciated the free-spirited, laid-back vibe they brought to their friend groups. Their compassionate natures made them good friends, and though they might have been a little out there on occasion, they were still grounded enough in the real world to carve out good lives for themselves. They’re often contrasted against the more tight-laced people in their social groups, and we see what an important impact they have on opening up their loved ones to the fact that there are more important things in life than money and success. Dharma and Greg were complete opposites – she a bohemian dog walker and yoga instructor, he a conservative lawyer – but after meeting they fell immediately in love and got married on their very first date. Over the course of the show, we see how Dharma has softened Greg’s edges and brought fun into his previously boring life. Their different views of the world do cause them to butt heads on occasion, but they know that they have a positive impact on one another – and he never sees being with Dharma as a mistake (even if his uptight parents think otherwise.)

Phoebe and Lynn both bring a carefree nature and a spark of spontaneity to their respective friend groups. But their positive, nonconformist attitudes were also given depth through the context of their decidedly less happy backstories. Lynn was adopted by two white parents, and so didn’t begin to learn about her own heritage until she was in college – she spent much of her life feeling disconnected from her roots and uncertain of who she really was. Phoebe suffered a very traumatic childhood and ended up fending for herself on the streets from a young age. Both Phoebe and Lynn found freedom in their bohemian attitudes, and their hardships helped to show them what was really important in life. Their focus in life isn’t money or success in business, but instead following their creative interests, building deep connections with the people they care about, and working to find the things that will truly make them happy. In fact, in an ‘alternate reality’ double episode of Friends, we see exactly what would have happened to Phoebe if she had gone after the stereotypical business career: she’s miserable. Fighting against the darker parts of her past with brightness and hope is what made Phoebe into the wonderful person she is, and that’s why even as she grows and changes she never lets go of that important part of her being.

In addition to bringing balance to their social groups, these boho ladies also became important touchstones for the audience – in the same way they pushed their friends towards freeing their spirits, they showed viewers that loosening up a little bit doesn’t have to be a bad thing or mean you couldn’t also find your way in life. But even with everything that’s wonderful about the Boho Woman, sometimes something more sinister is lurking under the surface…

When Boho Goes Bad

The Boho Woman who sometimes enjoys the aesthetics of the bohemian style but definitely isn’t up for going against the status quo is often satirized on screen. From Lindsay Bluth on Arrested Development to Tanya on White Lotus, this type of “Boho Woman” just wants to occasionally wear some drapey clothing and be lauded for being so chill and kind without having the personality or good acts to back it up. And this is a problem we often see in real life, too – people putting on the airs of compassion and worldliness and then… just using that to exploit others. Because the Boho Woman is seen as simultaneously easygoing and non-threatening, she makes a convenient costume for women who are looking to do harm without getting called on it. But just because some people attempt to use boho aesthetics as a cover for their bad deeds doesn’t mean that all boho women are frauds. As we’ve seen with so many beloved examples, sometimes the Boho Woman really is just that cool (and kind and compassionate!) But all of this leads us to wonder… where is the Boho Woman now?

Light and Love Forever

While the Boho Woman might not be all over our screens and magazines like she was in the 90s and 2000s, she’s still around bringing love and light to audiences in her own way. Take Lynn from Vida: she’s a free-spirited vegan like many of her predecessors but she also has to deal with many modern problems like the pressures of social media. While her more eccentric behavior might put her at odds with her more straight-laced sister or make it difficult to truly commit to the life she wants, at the end of the day she’s always going to find her own way through (and stand up for herself when she needs to.)

Frankie of Grace and Frankie is one of the more recent examples of the Boho Woman on screen and she’s also one of the most classic – she brings together everything that makes the Boho Woman so great and makes it clear why this character type has withstood the test of time. She’s creative, always clad in beads and flowing fabrics and clashing patterns, cares deeply about her loved ones, marches to the beat of her own drum, and brings light into the life of everyone she knows. She’s not perfect, and she knows it – but she also knows that by keeping her head up and working together with the people in her life, she can overcome anything. Aging and the struggles of life haven’t made her jaded, but instead made her appreciate her world even more.

The boho aesthetic and lifestyle live on in real life, too, with boho women of all ages sharing their own styles and stories on TikTok and across social media, and with the style continuing to pop up everywhere from the streets to the runway. But the most important aspect of the Boho Woman we should keep with us is her capacity for hope and her willingness to go against the grain, even if everyone else doesn’t get it. The best boho characters show us how important it is to have the confidence to go your own way and stand up for what you believe in. They show us how great we can become when we truly let the light in.

Sources Cited

Howarth, Alice. “Fashion Trends 2022 - Shopping Guides, Street Style and Fashion News.” Harper’s Bazaar, 26 July 2022.

Norment, Lynn. “Lisa Bonet: The Growing Pains Of A Rising Star.” Ebony, December 1987.