by Emma Willibey, photos by Taylor Steen

Thankfully, she had not experienced a nervous breakdown. But she needed a hobby to alleviate stress.

After visiting a New York doctor, Palm Beach, Fla. socialite Lilly Pulitzer returned to her three children prepared to adopt a pastime. Gathering produce from her husband’s citrus orchards, Pulitzer launched a juice stand whose spills threatened her pale clothing. Splotched with orange and grapefruit, Pulitzer created colorful shift dresses to disguise her stains.

In a heartbeat, Pulitzer’s limepeel and tidal blue prints splashed across Palm Beach country clubs. When former classmate Jackie Kennedy donned a “Lilly” for a 1962 magazine appearance, global high-society embraced the look as a uniform. Yet as Pulitzer’s work stretched the boundaries of elite women, the designer never strayed from her sundrenched lifestyle.

“Lilly herself was a ton of fun,” Mimi Markel, owner of Lilly Pulitzer signature store Under the Palm Tree and mother of STA freshmen Annie and Betsy Alderman, said. “Her door was always open—she had a big ‘L’ on [the door of] her house.”

The late style icon’s breezy outlook inspired 75 signature shops nationwide, Markel said, each a Palm Beach hideaway amid the bustling city. Palm trees, tickle-me-pink walls and tropical fabrics isolate Under the Palm Tree from its neighbors in Overland Park, Kan.’s Hawthorne Plaza.

“[At Under the Palm Tree], you just kind of live in a Florida state of mind,” Markel said. “I don’t feel like [I work at] a corporate store; [Under the Palm Tree] has the hometown feel of a Lilly shop.”

As a longtime Pulitzer fan, Markel said, she strives for Under the Palm Tree to embody the socialite’s persona. According to Markel, the boutique hosts events that range from “surprise parties,” which award a prize to one customer each hour, to a May anniversary bash.

“Lilly’s [shops are] always doing fun things,” Markel said. “We try to do [organized] events four to five times a year.”

Markel credited her “people skills” to a job at the Country Club Plaza’s Ralph Lauren. According to Under the Palm Tree employee Joy Fredericks, who worked alongside Markel on the Plaza, the Ralph Lauren salespeople bonded by projecting the friendly attitudes necessary to retail.

“It felt like we were all part of a family,” Fredericks said.

According to Markel, Under the Palm Tree’s staff also maintains a tight-knit dynamic that translates to shoppers. By chatting with, taking snapshots of and recommending dresses to customers, Markel generates the social atmosphere that she said is a top priority.

“You have to love the job [and] you have to love the brand,” Markel said of retail workers. “I wouldn’t have taken [Under the Palm Tree] up if it wasn’t [for] the brand.”

Since her mother hailed from Pulitzer’s generation, Markel recalled adoring the designer’s gaudy patterns as a child. Two and a half years ago, this fixation prompted Markel to purchase Under the Palm Tree after five years of persuading its manager to relinquish the boutique.

“I was one of [Under the Palm Tree’s] top customers [before owning the store],” Markel said. “The good thing about Lilly is the girl from six years old to [someone] my mother’s age can buy something.”

According to Markel, catering to all ages fortifies Pulitzer’s brand, as does applying tropical designs to accessories like iPad cases, Koozies (insulated beverage containers) and tumblers with straws. Even clever clothing names like “Chiquita Bonita,” “Spring Fling” and “Floral Line Dance” echo the brand’s ambition, Markel said.

“I think [Pulitzer has] just got it down,” Markel said. “[The brand has] teams of print designers who draw their own prints. [The designers are] always thinking of new things.”

Pulitzer’s empire will prosper despite her death Apr. 7 at age 81, Markel said, but fashion has lost the wit of its feistiest architect. According to designer Steven Stolman, who the New York Times cited as discussing Pulitzer’s designs at a reflective 2008 exposition, the socialite possessed a spirit that even her fluorescent prints could not capture.

“Lilly the lady was so much more than Lilly the label,” Stolman said. “In reality, her persona was far more colorful than the clothes.”

Markel agreed that Pulitzer’s career amounted to more than upper-class resort wear. The designer’s trademark dress electrified fashion with a shock of color that reverberates from coastal Florida to landlocked Missouri to chilly Michigan.

“[Pulitzer] was kind of an icon and she put Palm Beach on the map,” Markel said. “Her whole philosophy [was], ‘It’s a colorful life.’”