Lilly Pulitzer Rousseau, an iconic fashion designer who put a stylish mark on the fashion world with her colorful and chic Lily Pulitzer shift dresses has died, according to an April 7 ABC News report.
The 81-year old designer who made preppy tennis skirts the most covetable item for fashionable women died in Palm Beach, Florida, according to a post on the Lilly Pulitzer page. “Lilly has been a true inspiration to us and we will miss her,” the post reads, adding, “In the days and weeks ahead we will celebrate all that Lilly meant to us. Lilly was a true original who has brought together generations through her bright and happy mark on the world.”
Pulitzer did not set out to become a designer. Those stylish and “oh so fabulous” shifts were the product of juice stains. According to PEOPLE magazine, Pulitzer picked up a juicing hobby after landing in a mental hospital for six months. “I went crazy,” the beloved designer told PEOPLE in 1982. “I was a namby-pamby; people always made decisions for me. The doctor said I should find something to do.” The juicing led to juice stains, which in turn led to Pulitzer designing a shift dress to match the stains – a true fashionista, indeed.
That “flamboyant orange-yellow-and-green print shift” featuring a “slit on both sides” received many compliments and an idea for her first fashion line, which launched in 1959 with 20 dresses (in her iconic green and pink florals and red and blue print designs) at her juicing stand. “They took off like zingo,” she told PEOPLE. “Everybody loved them, and I went into the dress business.”
The immediately recognizable Lilly dresses are practically a way of life in the summer season. From Jackie Kennedy to Happy Rockefeller and modern-day fashionistas, the Lilly remains a stylish summer staple. From the colors to the cut and the silks and preppy style, the Lilly Pulitzer lives on the wardrobes of many fashion lovers.
Her philosophy on fashion and style was classic. “Style isn't just about what you wear, it's about how you live,” she remarked in 2004. “We focus on the best, fun and happy things, and people want that. Being happy never goes out of style,” she added.
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