Behind the Scenes of My Vacation With Lilly Pulitzer

Back in January, I got the opportunity a million girls would die for: a three-day trip to sunny Palm Beach, Florida, with a couple of girls from Lilly Pulitzer’s King of Prussia headquarters. Heaven, right? Almost. You see, I’m not exactly a fan of Lilly Pulitzer, so going on the trip felt a tad unfair, like a gluten-free person getting an all-you-can-eat bakery tour, or a vegetarian winning free burgers for life.

But I went (journalism!) and, well, I had fun. A lot of fun. We toured the Lilly Pulitzer design studio, awash in hot pink and shiny white lacquer, and the famed Breakers hotel, where many of the staff uniforms are Lilly. We dined on the patio at Renato’s, which is a coconut’s throw from Lilly Pulitzer’s first boutique. We hopped aboard the Lilly Pulitzer boat for a champagne-soaked cruise around the island. And when we left, I was … well, read the whole story here.

And for those millions of Lilly fans who weren’t on the trip with us, here’s a peek into the Lilly Pulitzer world and where it all began. With, yes, a juice stand. 

I wasn’t alone in un-Lilly wardrobe. The photog on the left – yep, the one wearing the black tee – is our very own Lauren McGrath, who came on the trip and snapped pics. We popped into the Lilly Pulitzer store at the Breakers, where I checked out on of the fabulously colorful hand-painted dressing rooms (center). And, naturally, we rode around town in the Lilly Pulitzer jeep.

Lilly lookbooks and sunshine.

I got a sneak peek at the spring collection at the design studio, and a lesson in the brand’s storied history from Lilly Pulitzer’s endlessly friendly and cheery Eleni McCready and Caroline Wright.

The Lilly team hides the word ‘Lilly’ in each print. (Finding it is much harder than it looks, as proven by my flummoxed expression.)

The spring collection features crop tops, cut-outs and scallop-hemmed shorts, in Lilly’s signature (and custom!) bright colors.

I fell in love with the large-scale Lilly paintings – and that blazing-pink velvet sofa – in the design studio’s front sitting room.

Each pattern is designed by one of the on-staff print artists. Many of them are hand-painted, and the studio is filled with in-progress paintings and sketches, all whirls of color and bursting with energy.

As we departed for our sunset cruise around the Intracoastal Waterway, Lauren and I posed for a quick picture; (right) our crew as we set off.

Monogrammed (pink) napkins and glasses of champagne.

Cheers!