Lilly Pulitzer

Hi there. I've been away in the New Forest for the past week. I can't wait to tell you about it, but first I want to take a minute to remember Lilly Pulitzer who died last Sunday. 

Lilly Pulitzer created my very first fashion memory. My sister Kimberly (age 5), our best friend Celerie (age 4) and I (age 3) were to be the crowd pleasing doe-headed finale of Lilly's fashion show at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach. Women were manically brushing our hair, feeding us cookies, and giving us walking and smiling instructions, all while trying to keep us calm and happy. We were wearing matching yellow floral smocked sundresses and we were meant to hold hands while walking down the elevated runway, smile, pause, turn around and walk back. Sadly I don't remember the actual moment - it was probably too much information for a 3 year old to take in - just the furious prep in the minutes leading up to it. I do however, have many more memories of wear the dress, which I got to keep, naturally, in exchange for my modeling duties. I remember being on the merry go round at Disney World in that dress, I remember my sister and I wearing them for our joint 4th and 6th birthday party later that year, and I remember getting an extra two years wearing my sister's dress when she outgrew hers. Of course these weren't our only Lilly clothes - I also remember a patchwork printed wrap skirt, blue Panda-printed shorts, and endless bikini bottoms (Lilly didn't even make the tops until age 10), but those yellow dresses had extra meaning because they were our "modelling dresses."

In Palm Beach in the 70's, everyone had an equally personal relationship with the Lilly's that they wore. Palm Beach felt like a much smaller place then - there was a group of families that lived there year round (not just for "the season"), and everyone knew everyone. Lilly loomed large - she had big, unique personality and style to match. 

For me the very definition of style is having a personal connection that the things you wear, and Lilly figured out the perfect Palm Beach wardrobe - classic, simple resort clothes in happy, colorful unique prints. Those clothes were made for those people, in that time, in that place. There was authenticity and integrity as well as an insane amount of creativity and originality in those clothes. By taking inspiration from her life and her lifestyle, Lilly paved the way for the Diane Von Furstenbergs, the Tory Burches and the Aerin Lauders of today. She will be greatly missed.

Here I am in my Lilly "modelling dress" at Disney World on my 4th birthday.

Kimberly, Virginia and me in matching Lilly patchwork skirts. Bronxville, 1979.

My sister Kimberly and me (left) with the Wallace girls, all in our Lilly smocks. Palm Beach, 1978.