Lilly Pulitzer
| Lilly Pulitzer | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Lillian Lee McKim November 10, 1931 Roslyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 7, 2013 (aged 81) Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Finch College |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Known for | Lilly Pulitzer brand |
| Notable work | The Lilly Shift Dress |
| Home town | Roslyn, New York |
| Spouse(s) | Herbert Pulitzer (1950-1969; divorced; 3 children) Enrique Rousseau (1969-1993; his death) |
| Website | www |
Lillian Pulitzer Rousseau (born Lillian Lee McKim; November 10, 1931 – April 7, 2013), better known as Lilly Pulitzer, was an American socialite and fashion designer. She founded Lilly Pulitzer, Inc., which produces clothing and other such wares featuring bright, colorful, floral prints. As the brand is popular with high society, she was called the "Queen of Prep".
Lillian Lee "Lilly" McKim was born to socialites Robert V. McKim and his wife, Lillian (née Bostwick) in Roslyn, New York in 1931, the middle daughter of three. Her elder sister was named Mary Maude, and her younger sister was Florence Fitch. Her mother, Lillian Bostwick McKim was an heiress to the Standard Oil fortune. Robert and Lillian McKim divorced, and Lillian remarried, to Ogden Phipps, in 1937.
She attended the Chapin School in New York City, along with Bouvier sister Jacqueline Lee. In 1949, she graduated from Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. She attended the college-finishing school Finch College in New York City, but left after one semester to work as a midwife assistant with Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky {according to townandcountrymag.com} and as a volunteer at the Veterans Hospital in The Bronx.
Lilly and husband Peter Pulitzer settled in Palm Beach, Florida, shortly after their marriage. Born to an heiress of the Standard Oil fortune, she married Herbert Pulitzer Jr. (known as Peter), the grandson of Joseph Pulitzer—the publisher synonymous with the Pulitzer Prize. They owned several Florida citrus orange groves and with produce from the groves, she opened a juice stand on Via Mizner, just off Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. In the course of working at the juice stand, Pulitzer found that squeezing juice made a mess of her clothes. Seeking to camouflage the juice stains, she designed a sleeveless shift dress made of bright, colorful printed cotton. She found out that customers loved her dress, so she produced more in order to sell them at her juice stand. Eventually, she was selling more dresses than juice, and decided to focus on designing and selling what had become known as her "Lillys".
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Wikipedia