Take It From A Man: On Lilly Pulitzer And Personal Style

Mixing & mingling in Lilly this weekend. Who's in?! #CarolinaCup pic.twitter.com/5eVmcnh0ha
— Lilly Pulitzer (@LillyPulitzer) March 28, 2014

(This post is guest written by our good friend, Taylor Eubanks, who is responsible for this controversial post about what trends women love and men hate. Like that post, this post is in no way supposed to deter you in your future outfit choices, just to give you more perspective.) 

Lilly, Tory & Kors- oh my!

It appears that once again, I have been tapped by the lovely ladies of #ModernMagnolias to face the firing squad in the name of gentlemen everywhere. Some are called to lead their communities, states or nations but, clearly, I have a higher calling. Continue reading as I sacrifice myself for the entire male population (ok, at least on the East Coast...).

I digress...

Although I did not make it Carolina Cup this year, which leaves me with very mixed feelings as a post-grad, I have had more than my fair share of Lilly for the season. You know, the spring season that has literally been here for a week. Ok, maybe two if you're blessed enough to live in Charleston, SC (calm down Florida people, it's always warm there and no one cares).

Recently, I was walking down King Street on a Sunday afternoon and couldn't tell if I had woken up in Palm Beach (admittedly, not the worst place to wake up after drinking on a Saturday night) or if a White Girl convention (sponsored by Lilly Pulitzer) was in town. I ended up mentioning this mildly terrifying, extremely colorful experience to a handful of (male) friends to seek their opinion on this particular trend. Notice, I use 'trend' to avoid using 'cult'...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/fashion/remembering-lilly-pulitzers-bright-summertime-designs.html

Let me very clear up front, Lilly Pulitzer is an icon and someone whom I respect and revere. Lilly Pulitzer carried herself as a lady in the same token that the women who first wore her wears- Jackie and Caroline Kennedy, the Rockefeller's, the Vanderbilt's, carried themselves. Much like these women, Lilly developed a very distinct personal style, a style that is emulated and attempted by many to this day. This led the conversation with friends to the point that Lilly herself made in a 2004 interview- "Style isn't just about what you wear, it's about how you live."

Girls today, much like their male counterparts, feel obvious social pressure to wear the right things and look the right way. Much like when boys give up graphic t-shirts and cargo shorts for Sperrys and polos, many girls quickly adopt new closets full of Lilly dresses, Jack Rogers sandals and Michael Kors accessories as they prepare for college, particularly sorority recruitment. 

www.lillypulitzer.com

Whether we don specific brands and styles to aspire to be like personal style icons or simply to fit into a social group, we do ourselves a disservice. Many times I have heard girls say that they can't wait to wear their Lilly dress and pearls because it makes them "classy" or "Southern" (Editor's note: there is nothing Southern about Lilly dresses y'all It's time to accept that.). This is just as obnoxious to hear as some pimple-faced high school wannabe bro talking about how 'fratty' he looks in his new pocket tee. Clothes cannot make you anything you already are not, except foolish. Lilly Pulitzer, Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy- these women were not classy because of the clothes they wore. These women were classy because of the way they carried themselves; the way that they wore their clothes, not the way that their clothes wore them. These women were able to speak through their wardrobes because they knew exactly who they were and had something to say about it.

*It also helps that they almost certainly didn't throw up on themselves in their "classy" clothes a few hours, and mimosas, after putting it on.

Personally, aside from being a poor cook, there are few things worse than having no personal style. Though there is absolutely nothing wrong with wearing Lilly, Tory and Jack, wearing them to fit in with a social group or to achieve some level of status in one's mind is untrue to oneself and worst of all, boring. I think even Lilly would agree with me on that.

-T. Eubanks

"I didn't set out to be unusual or different. I just wanted to do things my way."   
          -The Queen of Prep, Lilly Pulitzer