What is Lilly Pulitzer?
It started with a juice stand in Palm Beach. Lilly, a young, sassy New York socialite, had eloped with Peter Pulitzer, grandson of the Joseph Pulitzer, creator of the Pulitzer Prize, and settled in Palm Beach to live the life of the rich and famous. Peter owned several Florida citrus groves, but Lilly needed a project of her own. So in 1960, with Peter’s produce, she opened a juice stand on Via Mizner, just off Worth Avenue. Lilly Pulitzer’s business was a hit, but squeezing oranges, lemons, limes and pink grapefruit made a mess of her clothes. Realizing that she needed a juice stand uniform, Lilly asked her dressmaker to design a dress that would camouflage the stains. The result? A comfortable sleeveless shift made of bright, colorful printed cotton – pink, green, yellow and orange. The dress even had custom dressmaker details like lining and lace seam bindings. It was perfect for the job and became Lilly’s first Classic Shift. Although her customers liked Lilly’s juice, they loved h
