I was writing this post about Lilly Pulitzer Rousseau this morning and just found out she had passed on. We have lost a national treasure. It is a very, very sad day for the happiest, almost violently happy colors and prints on the planet. I love Lilly Pulitzer with all my heart. For one thing, she claims to not have worn shoes in 35 years, just pads around Palm Beach with the best pedicure on the planet. She began her business after recovering from a nervous breakdown in her youth.  The young socialite was advised to work as therapy, and opened a freshly squeezed orange juice cart in the middle of Worth Avenue. In order to disguise orange juice stains on her dress, she hand made incredibly bright frocks which people wanted to buy off her back. She started selling them and, viola!… thunder storms of cash.  I hope they commission massive live floral reproductions of her prints up and down Worth avenue and have Lilly Pulitzer parades every year on her birthday forever…..