Blossoms and Beauty: Lilly Pulitzer: Palm Beach's Queen of Prep

Hi Everyone!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today I thought that I would do something that I have never done. I am going to share with you a little bit about a designer that I find very interesting, Lilly Pulitzer. The reason I am doing this is because for one of my classes I had to do a designer report and I chose to do her. Basically what I will be doing is sharing my paper with you that I wrote about her. I did not go into very much detail but added a few fun facts. I find it to be interesting and I hope that you do too!

Let's Get Started!

“The Lilly girl is always full of surprises. She lives every day like it’s a celebration. Never has a dull moment and makes every hour a happy hour.” That is how Lilly Pulitzer describes the girl that wears her clothes. Lilly Pulitzer created a lifestyle brand and she never even set out to be a designer. She stumbled upon it when she had a problem with juice stains. I am going to share with you about Lilly Pulitzer, her background, how she got started, and the brand that she made as a designer.

First we are going to take a look at Lilly’s background. Lilly was born in 1931 as Lilly McKim, she was born in New York to a family prominent in the area of horse racing. She had a life of extreme privilege, a life where servants did everything for her and family trips were in a private railroad coach.

She was also educated at what was then considered to be the right schools and when she began at Chapin School in New York she was classmates with the Bouvier sisters Jackie and Lee who later on play a big role in Lilly’s career. After that she attended Miss. Porter’s in Connecticut, another East Coast elite school, where she graduated in 1949. But Lilly was far too laid back to conform to the norms of the high class society in which she belonged that when she attended college at Finch in New York she only lasted one semester, so she never graduated college. What has been said is that an education in preparing to be an elegant socialite was not her thing.

Moving on to a time when Lilly’s high society friends were planning their grand weddings, Lilly, being Lilly decided to elope at the age of 21. In 1952 she married Peter Pulitzer who is the grandson of the publisher Joseph Pulitzer and together they ran off to Palm Beach. At that time Palm Beach was the winter playground of the rich and famous as it still is today but during the summer months it was completely deserted. Once again Lilly proving that she never played by the rules or worried about doing things the normal way set up a year round home in Palm Beach. Lilly and Peter quickly became famous for their relaxed attitude, as no other wealthy couple walked around barefoot everywhere, and for their amazing parties. As it has been said many times by people, entertaining friends and family was a way of life for Lilly.

There came a time, sometime after her third child was born, that simply being that great hostess was no longer enough for Lilly. Lilly suffered from a nervous breakdown in which a doctor diagnosed her as having nothing but a case of being terribly bored, she was told to find something new to do. What she decided on was opening a juice stand with fresh fruit from her husband’s grove. Her husband actually flew out to his groves every morning, picked up the fresh fruit, and flew back to give it to her. She opened a tiny shop which not only became known as a place to get a glass of fresh squeezed juice but also as a place to hang out and have fun.

One problem that she did have though was by the end of the day her dresses were covered in fruit juice. To solve this problem she came up with a design for a simple, colorfully patterned shift dress, to have her seamstress make, which would hide the stains. With fabric remains she had left she had her seamstress make extra dresses so she could hang them up in her store as a sort of decoration because she liked the bright and colorful patterns. She began selling them to her friends in the juice shop who fell in love with the dresses and sold them for twenty-two dollars. The dresses were a great hit and she could barely keep up with the demand for the shift dresses that became known as “Lillys”. Before long, Lilly was out of the juice business and into the fashion business without even trying to be.

There is no question that Lilly’s social connections and charm helped her dresses gain popularity but it was fellow Chapin alum that really helped to launch the Lilly Pulitzer Line. In the early 1960’s another young couple spent time in Palm Beach, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy. The first lady took her classmates dress and was photographed wearing one on vacation in Life magazine. When the picture hit the newsstands, the Lilly Pulitzer craze took off.

The image of Lilly Pulitzer is always one that comes to mind when I think about her items. Lilly Pulitzer is iconic for the casual attire for East Coast prep and her line signified the Palm Beach privilege. Her dresses were very popular with high society and she had even been called the Queen of Prep. This can be seen as in 1964 members of the Rockefeller, Whitney, and Vanderbilt families were photographed wearing Lilly Pulitzer dresses and they even became the inspiration for one of the labels prints, in the slim.

Before Lilly introduced ladies to her shift dresses, Palm Beach high society always dressed to the nines in hats, stockings, and prim dresses even during the day. After Lilly came along the fashion scene of the leisure class changed. It is said that it is Lilly who inspired the concept of resort wear. Throughout the 60s and 70s Lilly Pulitzer was said to be the unofficial uniform of the wealthy at play.

When walking into a Lilly Pulitzer store you can always expect to find hot pink, lime green, and aqua blue which are the classic colors of Lilly Pulitzer. Other colors used are pops of yellow, a little purple and bright orange. In the beginning Lilly purchased fabric but it was not to long into the business that she began designing her own custom prints. Whimsical animals, beach motifs, and tropical flowers are typical prints that you can find in Lilly Pulitzer lines. A fun fact that one can look for in every print is the hidden “lilly,” in every single one of her prints she has her name written.

Later on in 1984 Lilly sadly shut down her business. It was a time when women were not looking for her brightly colored dresses. But, in 1993 the Lilly label was revived and a new generation of Lilly came about. It is said that it was revived by the grand daughters of the original Lilly wearers. The brand was reopened, but under a new head, where Lilly still remained on as a consultant. The new faces of the company were Lauren Bush and Amanda Hearst who still resembled the brands earlier image and it still upholds that image and lifestyle today.

Then in April of 2013 Lilly passed away in her Palm Beach home at the age of 81.

Lilly Pulitzer lived a life that people dream about, a life of privilege, extravagant parities, and living in Palm Beach. She has taken her life and put it into her clothes so that when a girl is wearing that Lilly Pulitzer dress she is a part of the life because as Lilly said, “It’s always summer somewhere.” Lilly had a huge impact on high society and resort wear and will always be known for her relaxed way of life and colorful prints.