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.
Thank you so much for taking a look and reading!
I hope that you found that at least somewhat interesting to read.
New posts every Monday and Thursday.
Please feel free to leave any comments you have down below, I love seeing them!
~Rachel
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