Op-Ed by Hayden of Haute Table
An Ode to
Lilly Pulitzer
It is Lilly Pulitzer’s
birthday this month. She
died a few years ago yet her
brand lives on every day
through colorful prints and
a loving staff.
Lilly opened my eyes
to the world of fantasy that
I could live just by wearing
bright colors. Her world,
that started with a juice
stand, and ended with her
becoming a woman girls
from all ages look up to, is
awe inspiring.
There is something
about Lilly that really got
me on a personal level,
maybe it is because I am
a Florida girl through and
through or maybe I was
looking for a colorful escape from my boring high
school years, whatever it
was I am so glad I became
a “Lilly Lover” when I
did.
I remember my first Lilly.
It was a pink polo shirt that
my dad bought me in Winter Park, FL. I picked the
pink because it had a green
LP and I thought that was the
preppiest color combination
on Earth. From there my obsession with the brand only
intensified.
Since that fateful day I
have purchased vintage Lilly,
a prom dress, and I received
a Lilly present in the mail a
month or two a go from my
amazing parents.
My planner is even Lilly,
and it is not because I am
some preppy girl who just
wears/uses Lilly because she
is popular and expensive. It
is because the woman behind
the company inspires me. She
was just some housewife in
Palm Beach when she made a
name for herself and she never gave up who she was. She
led an incredibly colorful life,
one that I try to emulate dail