By: Chelsea Jenkins
 |
| Designer Lilly Pulitzer waves to the audience at the conclusion of the showing of her Spring 2003 collection in New York Photo Credit: REUTERS/Mike Segar |
When 21-year-old Lilly Rouseau eloped with Peter Pulitzer,
they escaped the hustle and bustle of city life for the sun and sand of Palm
Beach. With her new husband’s
citrus groves, Lilly opened a juice stand. To disguise the juice stains in her clothing, she had a
sleeveless dress made from colorfully printed cotton.
With that, the Lilly Pulitzer clothing line was born.
Many years later, Pulitzer, peacefully passed away on April
7, 2013 at the beautiful age of 81.
She will forever be remembered as the accidental fashion designer who happily
dreamed up a wildly colored, simply cut design that since the 1960s has filled
the closets of women who wish to live in an eternal summertime.
“Early this morning, Lilly Pulitzer Rousseau passed away
peacefully in Palm Beach, surrounded by family and loved ones,” her company
sorrowfully confirmed via Facebook that Sunday. “Lilly has been a true inspiration to us and we will miss
her,” the touching tribute read.
“In the days and weeks ahead we will celebrate all that Lilly meant to
us. Lilly was a true original who
has brought together generations through her bright and happy mark on the
world.”
If young women learned anything from Lilly Pulitzer, and her
wonderful clothing designs it was that all life should be is fun and dazzling. And just like that, the stunning allure
of Lilly is understood.
 |
| Pulitzer signing copies of her book Essentially Lilly, A Guide to Colorful Entertaining at Saks Fifth Avenue in 2004 Photo Credit: Andrea Renault/Globe Photos |
Even women who have never had the pleasure of wearing one of
her “wear pink and make the boys wink” dresses can find inspiration in those
words: fun and dazzling. Something
to long for, if not a Lilly dress, than maybe a Lilly life.
“Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink, and certainly being happy never goes out of style.” Lilly
began to state in her book, "Essentially
Lilly, A Guide to Colorful Entertaining."
From the start, and to the time of Pulitzer’s death,
her whimsical life, filled with spontaneity, bright colors and happiness, had
become one of the most celebrated stories of the fashion world. It went a little like this:
Pulitzer, formerly known as Rousseau, eloped with Peter
Pulitzer and began her life as a housewife as a mother of three buzzing along
in her comfortable lifestyle. But,
comfortable obviously wasn’t for her.
She soon found a hobby, and created a juice stand where she
would sell the oranges grown in her husband’s citrus groves. With her clothing covered in orange and
pink juice stains, she went to a market, selected printed fabric that would
cover the stains and asked a seamstress to sew a dress.
The result? A comfortable and sleeveless shift dress made of
bright, colorful printed cotton—pink, green, yellow and orange. It was perfect for the job and became Pulitzer’s
first Classic Shift.
Although her customers loved her juice, they loved her dress
even more. Soon, Pulitzer was
selling more dresses than juice, so she ultimately decided to stop squeezing
and start selling her “Lilly’s”.
Her designs really began to take off when her old boarding
school classmate, and First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy was featured on the
cover of Life Magazine wearing one of Lilly’s dresses. Then, of course, everyone wanted one
and Lilly Pulitzer became a fashion sensation.
 |
| Jacqueline Kennedy on the cover of Life Magazine Photo Credit: Google |
"Jackie wore one of my
dresses,” Pulitzer said in her book. “It was made from kitchen curtain
material – and people went crazy. They took off like zingo. Everybody loved
them, and I went into the dress business."
Making her way through the sixties and seventies, the Lilly
Pulitzer clothing line became a craze for women across the country. Lilly Pulitzer stores opened in resorts
all over the country and her bright colors became the must have of the preppy
lifestyle.
Now, Lilly Pulitzer is more popular than ever, and only
continues to grow. It grows among
women who knew it years ago, to those who are just discovering the fun of the timelessness
of the Lilly Pulitzer designs.
“My whole closet is Lilly,” said Jessie Brooks, a sorority
girl and senior at High Point University.
“I probably have 25 or more pieces, everything from shirts to shorts,
skirts and dresses. Her innovative
and colorful designs are to die for.”
Living in the south, Lilly’s impact is always
noticeable. With everything from
Carolina Cup to Easter, southern belles are always donning their best
Lilly’s all weekend long as often as they can.
Not only made for southern belles, but for sorority
girls. Pulitzer made a fun, fresh
and timeless fashion that’s been worn by sorority women for generations. A sorority girl is a Lilly girl after
all.
In Pulitzer’s own words: “The Lilly girl is always full of
surprises, lives every day like it’s a celebration, never has a dull moment,
and makes every hour happy hour”
 |
| A peak into the Lilly Pulitzer Spring 2014 collection Photo Credit: Google |
“We live for Lilly,” said Alicia Gruber, a senior sorority
girl at High Point University.
“The day after she passed every single sorority girl on campus was
wearing their best Lilly in honor of her. It was like that for the rest of the week.”
Though she had passed, sorority girls everywhere couldn’t
think of a better way to celebrate the legacy of this iconic designer than by
showing off their favorite Lilly prints all week long. It’s the perfect way to pay homage to
one of the country's and especially the South’s, favorite fashionistas.
Dressing in Lilly's brightly colored clothes can’t help but
bring smiles to you and your surroundings, and every one should know that.
As Pulitzer used to say, “we focus on the best, fun and
happy things, and people want that.
That’s what life is all about:
Let’s have a party. Let’s
have it tonight.”
Lilly Pulitzer, the iconic southern fashion designer, is
survived by her unique sense of style, the happiness she brought and the closets
filled with her clothes.
 |
| A quote from Lilly Pulitzer, a mantra she lived by Photo Credit: Google. |
No comments:
Post a Comment