Time for Lilly!

Yesterday was the first day of Summer which means, it’s time to get the Lillys out! The photos below represent just a small portion of my collection. I am a HUGE collector of vintage Lilly Pulitzer. You could say that I am obsessed with collecting it. I am always on the hunt for a vintage Lilly “find”. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is about them that I am drawn to. It could be - the color combinations....

the whimsical prints....

looking for the hidden "Lilly in every print....

or the sumptuous guipure lace that so many of them used as trim....

Some of my favorite vintage Lillys are the atypical ones - the ones that are colored differently from the iconic ‘pink and green’ prints and the ones that have different subject matters. For example, I love the red and white print below of the ladies with long flowing locks of hair - so bizarre yet so great!

Or the print below from 1976 that was made to commemorate the Bicentennial. It comes from a ladies knit shirt and I actually also have a matching men’s tie. I keep trying to get my husband to wear the tie on the 4th of July when I wear my shirt but so far to no avail - maybe this is the year!

I also love this lemon print.

When collecting vintage Lillys it is also interesting to look at the different labels that were used. The labels that have “The Lilly” written in orange lettering are some of the oldest. They were used in the early 1960s until the mid 1970s.

Starting in the mid 1970s “The Lilly” started to be written in green.

In 1968 a Men’s line called “Men’s Stuff” was added.

In the early 1970’s Lilly Pulitzer began to make printed cotton and polyester knits. The knits had their own labels. The earliest were written in orange.

and later in green.

There was a line called “The Minnie” for little girls named after Lilly’s daughter, Minnie.

There was also a line called “Liza” for Juniors that was named after Lilly’s other daughter, Liza.

While I’m thrilled to be getting out the Lillys and I’ll be sad in a few months when they all have to go back into storage, I’ll be comforted by the fact that I have an amazing wide wale corduroy printed Lilly caftan with brightly colored yarn trim to wear throughout the cold months.

And as Lilly is famous for saying, “It’s always summer somewhere!”

Olsen Twins win CFDA Womenswear Award

Congratulations to Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen of The Row for winning womenswear Designer of the Year!

Diamond Jubilee Weekend

Tomorrow marks the start of the official Diamond Jubilee Celebration in Britain to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne. She acceded the throne on June 2, 1953 upon the death of her father, King George VI.

Queen Elizabeth at her Coronation on June 2, 1953.

Queen Elizabeth II's great-great grandmother Victoria is the only other British monarch to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee. The kick-off weekend will be packed with official celebrations as well as hundreds of street parties.

Queen Elizabeth today

And while I love the Queen's own sense of queenly style, I will be watching what the always fashionable, Kate Middleton is wearing. This past Tuesday she was spotted at her first Royal Garden party in honor of the Diamond Jubilee wearing a pastel pink dress by Emilia Wickstead.....

Kate Middleton and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall

and pink hat by Jane Corbett........

Kate Middleton

While I'm glued to the BBC trying to see what she will wear next,  I plan to break out my vintage Wedgewood Jasperware tea set made in 1953 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation and have a cuppa!

Wedgewood Royal Blue Jasperware made in 1953 for Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation

Happy 56th Anniversary!

Being from Philadelphia, I've always had a special place in my heart for Philly girl, Grace Kelly. Today would have been the 56th Anniversary of her marriage to Prince Rainier III.

The wedding took place in 1956 in the Cathedral of Monaco. During that time, Kelly was in the middle of a seven year contract with MGM. In order to get out of her contract and marry Prince Rainier III, she had to agree to let MGM film the wedding for worldwide distribution.

This also meant that MGM would pay for most of the wedding including the wedding dress. Kelly's dress is  what is most remembered about the event. It is often cited as being one of the most elegant and best-remembered wedding gowns of all time. The dress was designed by the MGM costume designer, Helen Rose (1904 - 1985) who also designed Kelly's costumes for High Society and The Swan. The gown was made by the wardrobe department at MGM in Culver California and was said by Rose to have taken 35 people working full-time six weeks to make.

The dress was exquisitely detailed. The skirt of the dress was a bell shaped ivory peau de soie that was supported by two petticoats.

The bodice had a high neck and long sleeves that were made from an antique Valenciennes lace that had been bought from a Museum and was then re-embroidered and embellished with seed pearls to appear seamless. Kelly's prayer book, shoes, and headpiece were also embellished with lace and seed pearls. The veil was a circular silk-net veil that was designed so that Kelly's face could be seen. 

The dress is still influential today and is said to have been an inspiration for Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen when she designed Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

Shortly after the wedding in 1956, Kelly donated the dress to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 2006 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the wedding, the Museum displayed the dress from April 1st until May 21st. It was reported to have been one of the Museum's most popular exhibits.

100 Unforgettable Dresses

Stuart Mesires and Hal Rubenstein

I just finished reading Hal Rubenstein's book, 100 Unforgettable Dresses. Rubenstein is a fashion writer and a founding editor of InStyle magazine. His book was published this past October but he was in Chicago a few weeks ago for a book signing event in conjunction with the Chicago History Museum's Costume Council.

The book and his talk were like a trip down memory lane. Where were you when you first saw this dress....

Elizabeth Hurley wearing Gianni Versace, 1994

or this one...

J Lo wearing Donatella Versace, 2000

Other dresses from the book are imprinted in our brains as iconic even if we weren't around to see them when they first made an appearance such as...

Diane Von Furstenberg 1978 in her own wrap dress

or this..

Marilyn Monroe wearing the "Happy Birthday" dress by Jean Louis in 1962 

Rubenstein said that the criteria for including a dress in the book was not if the dress was beautiful. He explained that the book was not called "100 Beautiful Dresses" and that he didn't even like all of the dresses in the book. Instead he decided to include dresses that changed our perception of beauty. The book is a great read and doesn't just include pretty pictures, it also contains amazing stories of some of the century's most significant fashion moments.

What's your most unforgettable dress?

Mad for Mad Men

I was beyond thrilled on Sunday night to see the season five premiere episode of Mad Men! It did not disappoint. The drama was great and the outfits were ah-mazing!

"Zou Bisou Bisou". Megan's mod dress, hair, accessories, and shoes were perfect.

I loved Peggy's dress with the black and white trim.

Pete's madras jacket and skinny tie were very hip, as was the pink psychedelic print on Trudy's dress - love the cuff treatment.

My favorite outfit of the evening was Megan's coral knit dress with the matching jacket - very reminiscent of a Marc Jacob's outfit and the color is very on trend for Spring 2012. Can't wait to see what's in store for next week!

Happy First Day of Spring!

I love this Slim Aarons photo of a Spring Garden Party in Miami from 1970.