Lilly Pulitzer

"If you haven't any charity in your heart,
you have the worst kind of heart trouble." - Lilly Pulitzer

When Lilly Pulitzer died on April 7, 2013, at the age of 81, the world of fashion lost an icon and a savvy businesswoman, but more than that, women across the world lost a wonderful role model. In reading, researching and talking to people that knew her, one thing is for sure: everyone loved Lilly, the woman best known for creating a fashion empire based on easy styles and bright colors, especially pink and green.

Born into New York City privilege and wealth, Lillian Lee McKim always wanted to taste more of what life offered than the very restrictive choices she was born and bred to make. "That kind of life wasn't for me," Lilly once said, adding, "I wanted to do something."

After several jobs working for the Frontier Nurses Service and serving as a nurse's aide at the Veterans Hospital in the Bronx, Lilly eloped with her first husband, Peter Pulitzer, around the age of 21, and they moved to Palm Beach. From the very beginning, the Pulitzers became known for throwing the best parties. Theirs was an affluent life, but it was also famously unstuffy. Her dinner parties were very casual, where everyone pitched in to chop and slice, everyone dancing and singing. The likes of the Van Der Kamps and Doubledays were guests at her parties, where they would slick down the kitchen tiles with water for dancing. It was always relaxed, casual, welcoming, and fun. An invitation was not necessary.

Peter owned orange groves to which he flew each morning, returning with bags of oranges. Lilly began driving around to the back of all the big Palm Beach homes, selling fruit out of her station wagon. Eventually, she booked so much business that she opened a tiny shop selling oranges on the Via Mizner. Out of this tiny shop, Lilly launched her 40-year reign as a "major force in Prep resort wear," lauded by everyone from the New York Times to the Preppie Handbook.

In this tiny shop, there was a little juice and fruit bar in the back. Lilly would slice the oranges and squeeze the fruit to make the juice. But, boy, was it messy. At the end of the day she was covered in pulp and dribbles of orange juice. Her solution: "I used to have this wonderful old Swiss lady make shifts for me. I found this bright, bright  fabric, the same colors as the fruit, so that the splashes and mess wouldn't show. People would say, 'Oh, they're great. Why don't you have them in the shop? So I went down to Woolworth's, got some fabric and had 12 dresses made for me, and I just hung them haphazardly around the store."

Jackie Kennedy bought and wore one of the dresses-made from kitchen curtain material- and people went crazy. "They took off like zingo. Everybody loved them, and I went into the dress business."

The Lilly Pulitzer line expanded throughout the 1960s, although Lilly divorced Peter and later married Enrique Rousseau-"this divine Cuban man." By the mid 80s, Lilly had her fill and called it quits. However, women still clamored for more Lilly. Revived in the 90s, the brand came back just in time to be an antidote to a monotone, grunged-out fashion world. While Lilly was gladly no longer the matriarch of the company, having licensed her name and line, she was still a "consultant" for the brand.

Kay Emmert, owner of S.M. Bradford, the Lilly Pulitzer Signature Store located on Hilton Head Island and long-time friend of Lilly's, told of a time when she was having dinner with Lilly and others in Palm Beach. When Lilly left the table, Kay asked if she really still picked out the patterns. A designer explained that soft-spoken Lilly would come at the beginning of each season to look over the fabrics. The one's she liked, she would say things like: "Ah, Nice;" "Cute;" "Ah, I like that." If she ever said, "Ahh, Geez!" that meant she didn't like it, and it was usually cut from the line.

Known as much for her parties as her clothing line, Lilly's way of entertaining, with her effervescent personality, valued serendipitous fun over fastidious planning; it's about going with the flow and not being tied down to schedules. It's about laughing when the poached salmon slips off the platter and falls to the floor just as your friends arrive for dinner (follow Julia Child's example and put it right back on the platter). It's about kicking your shoes off and being yourself.

An important thing to know about Lilly is that her life measured way beyond her business. She didn't have a "lifestyle," she had a life, and there's a real distinction between the two.

Lilly Pulitzer has left a legacy for all women, and men, too. She changed the way a lot of people dress. When I asked Kay what she thought Lilly did for women, she thoughtfully responded, "Lilly released women to have a personality of their own, without thinking they had to look a certain traditional way. She paved the way for women to express themselves in different colors and styles and freshness." Lilly once was quoted, "You feel happy wearing a bright color. It makes you smile. And who doesn't want to smile a little bit more these days?"

A CEO in a time when female executives were practically unheard of, a wife and a mother, Lilly made a life out of being true to herself and open and loving to others. She will be missed in this world, where happiness is so needed. Devoted fans have been known to leave firm instructions that they must be buried wearing their favorite Lilly.

"And why not?" Lilly once asked. "You know they're headed somewhere fun if they're wearing one!"

We know you are too, Lilly. You are gone, but your brilliance will always shine.