Kara & Ella Mendelsohn Find Common Ground

Fashion veteran Kara Mendelsohn and her 20-year-old daughter Ella Mendelsohn — a content creator with a flair for beauty and fashion — sat down with SheKnows during the photo shoot for our Mother’s Day issue for a lively round of “Common Ground,” putting their mother-daughter bond to the ultimate test: how well do they know one another? In this fun guessing game, they try to predict each other’s answers about everything from favorite places to shop to shared makeup staples — and even the vintage pieces that mysteriously make their way from Kara’s closet into Ella’s. (Hint: It helps that three generations of women in their family all have the same shoe size!)

Along the way, they laugh over old-fashioned battles — like when a belt-placement disagreement turned into a full-on debate during a viral video shoot — and reflect on the timeless advice Kara has passed down to her daughter: sometimes, when it comes to beauty, less is more.

When the question “How are you most alike?” came up, Ella was skeptical that there’s much similarity: “I feel like these are gonna be different,” she says. But while they don’t always guess perfectly, and their preferences don’t always align, it’s clear that their connection runs deeper than clothes or cosmetics. From sharing trends and travel dreams to swapping lip glosses and life lessons, Kara and Ella show how style, humor, and heart can bridge generations. It’s a sweet, funny, and relatable look at how the best fashion legacy isn’t about what you wear — it’s about the memories you make together.

Watch the video to see how the guessing game turns out … and to get a heartwarming glimpse into the fashion, fun, and family moments that bring Kara and Ella even closer.