Lilly Pulitzer: Five things you probably didn't know about this Palm Beach fashion icon
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Before she was a fashion icon and so famous that just the mention of her first name was enough of a reference for almost anybody, Lilly Pulitzer was a privileged youngster, a somewhat rebellious daughter, a devoted wife and mother, and a true Palm Beacher.
Here are five things to know about Lilly Pulitzer:
1. She was a Palm Beach Centennial ambassador, an honor bestowed on only 40 people.
2. Her protective parents tried to discourage her relationship with Peter Pulitzer — whom they considered far too adventurous for their sheltered daughter — to the point of forbidding her to see him. She and Peter eloped when she was still a teenager.
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3. Jacqueline Kennedy was not simply the high-profile customer who popularized the Lilly shift. She was also Lilly's schoolmate at Miss Porter's, a prestigious boarding school in Connecticut.
4. Her blood was bluer than a Ceylon sapphire. Between she and her husband, Lilly had blood or marriage ties to almost every Old Guard family in Palm Beach, with names such as Phipps, Munn, Amory, Bostwick, Baker, Armour, Boardman and Wanamaker.
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5. Although many of her early pattern choices featured it prominently, her least favorite color was yellow. She used in her living room because, she said, the hired painter wanted to get started and "I hadn't picked out a color yet so I told them yellow because it goes with everything,"
To learn more about Lilly Pulitzer and the woman behind the fashion icon, read the full subscriber-only story here: The woman behind the LillyPulitzer: Design museum features textiles by Suzie Zuzek