Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Creative Mastermind for Week 3/17: Lilly Pulitzer

Top of the morning to you folks! I hope you had the happiest of St. Patrick's Day and celebrated the day (safely) with fun, food, and hopefully the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! I apologize for putting this post up later today than I had planned to, but I was constantly struggling with finding a good Creative Mastermind for this week. This is why I enjoy receiving the input from you, the readers, for ideas on different creative masterminds that need to be recognized. I try to be broad when searching for different masterminds changing it up from artists to photographers to movies, or other areas of creative development.

This week's creative mastermind came as a suggestion from a personal friend of mine. At first, I didn't really think too much about a creative emphasis on this suggestion, but after giving it some thought, I've decided to move forward with it and announce this week's Creative Mastermind: Lilly Pulitzer.
                                     











Now, for this particular Creative Mastermind I'm viewing her products from a different angle in terms of design, art, and even crafting. Lilly Pulitzer's products are centered around the "preppy" and "socialite" image which personally I'm not involved in, however I think of it more as sophisticated "trendsetters". If you're not familiar with the Lilly Pulitzer brand, allow me to educate you! Lillian Pulitzer Rousseau was a elite social lady of New York City who became famous for her bright and colorful dress designs. A true fashionista, she set the bar high for the well-dressed woman in the 60s. Her designs were worn by many influential women of the time including Jackie Kennedy. 

Many of her designs include beautiful bright colors and often times prints including floral styles or unique shapes. Lilly continued her business up until the mid-80s, and then it was revived in 1993. Since then Lilly Pulitzer maintains over 70 stores nationwide and also collaborates with high-end retailers to sell products with other major department stores. Today the Lilly Pulitzer company designs more than fancy dresses; they've expanded their products to include jewelry, accessories, bags, and even a special line of products for sororities. 

I actually had never heard of Lilly Pulitzer until they released a special design print for my sorority, Phi Mu, back in 2012. I instantly fell in love with Phi Mu print and out of curiosity I decided to check out the other products offered by Lilly. My first thought of the dresses was that while they were all beautiful in design, they also reminded me of some of the dresses I used to put on my Barbie dolls.  It could be that perhaps I'm not from an elite background that follows into such trends, but overall I think the designs definitely show class and sophistication to any woman who utilizes the Lilly Pulitzer brand.

So getting back to why Lilly Pulitzer fits the title of Creative Mastermind. I find a certain artistic beauty in her designs that aren't just creative and stylish, but they're also unique. Some people might compare these prints to other designers like Vera Bradley- fair enough. However, the styles are obviously different, colors differ in the patterns, and the Lilly brand has a different attractive vibe to fashion that is different from any other designer brand. In the artistic and graphic sense, I appreciate how there's an illustrated look to these prints. When I first looked at the Phi Mu print, I loved how it had the appearance of watercolor art and sketching.  Having the appreciation for art as I do, I like how these prints have the "drawing look" to them rather than a more realistic design. One final creative element to mention about Lilly Pulitzer is the inspiration factor. Among many crafting design projects I find, the one I constantly see is the Lilly Pulitzer print used for decorative pieces like jewelry boxes, frames, coolers, and so many other ideas. Any type of designer who can have that much of an influence of their fans is truly an inspiration. If you want to see examples of how people take these prints and give them their own flare, I suggest checking out sites like Tumblr or Pinterest. 


So there you have it my friends! With Spring just around the corner, what better to way to brighten it up than with the colorful and beautiful designs of the late Lilly Pulitzer. She passed away just last year, but her legacy of style and fashion will never fade. Her creative styles and designs live on through her company and will continue to be the trendsetter for women. If you know of someone or something that should be recognized as a Creative Mastermind, please share your ideas by commenting on this post or you can let us know on Facebook or Twitter. Be sure to follow The Creative Cabana on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for more creative fun! Have a great day everyone and enjoy the rest of your day!

*I do not own the Lilly Pulitzer brands, prints, logo or the company. I have no affiliation with Lilly Pulitzer or any of the company associates. All designs, logos, and products are the sole property of the respective owners. Images used in this post were collected from Google Images search results. These images belong to their respective owners and photographers. No Copyright Infringement Intended. 

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