A Royal Visit at Lilly Pulitzer

By C. Greene

Monday, August 10, 2015 Permalink 54

The Greene Door At Lilly Pulitzer

The Greene Door is excited to introduce a new intern, Sharlotte. Although she and I look nothing alike, and are decades apart in age, we do have an awful lot in common.

We both Live. Life. Wonderfully. And a lot of the time we do that together.

She was recently really hyped about The Greene Door and offered {actually begged me to assist in any way possible}. Her audition monologue was too cute, like her. She stated that she is very handy with an ipad and photo booth {her images are crazy, funny} and she understands the fashion needs of the younger generation (hysterical) and she would gladly answer emails, texts and handle any computer issues as they arise {she’s in the fourth grade!} I mean, she meant it.

I thought it would be great fun to spend a little more quality time with her. She is part Madeline (my all time favorite childhood book), part Matilda (her all time favorite Broadway show – we saw it together) and a hint of Eloise {devilish and well mannered} all rolled up in a pretty little package – that is Sharlotte.

I thought about how to include her and decided to create a spotlight for her on The Greene Door. She became the inspiration behind “Sharlotte in the City.” A new photo series chronicling the adventures of this cute, smart, funny, playful, sweet and wonderful 9 year old who loves and lives a very colorful life in NYC. Fun fact, she also shares the very same name and birthday as the newest newborn royal princess!

For her debut with our magazine, we appropriately chose a super fun day out at the Lilly Pulitzer flagship store on Madison Avenue. I was given a great opportunity to fashion some of the women’s clothing line for The Greene Door recently and so I thought I would pass this invitation on to Sharlotte for a great time – the chance to shine, shop and model – the Lilly Pulitzer girls summer collection. She was like a Pink and green power ranger, racing all over the store with wanderlust, arms loaded with all sorts of amazing pink and green items – dresses, shifts, beach pants, shorts, and lots and lots of accessories and hair bows!

We had the entire store to ourselves, complete with a pink and white striped dressing room designated for this cherubic tween and a team of women that had so much fun styling Sharlotte, they were taking their own photos on their IPhones to capture the moment. They offered her pink M&M’s, sparkling water with striped straws and a royally generous pink and green gift bag for her to take with her.

Lilly Pulitzer is certainly one of our favorite designers – we’re beach girls at heart, born with sand between our toes. We refer to a day of shopping there as a day out for a little “luv of the lilly” – it is more than a likely coincidence that we also like the same prints, same Callahan shorts, same beach tees, same wraps, same overnight bags. We go for the bold – big, loud prints. She posed in hot pinks, dark navy, white jeans, terry cloth pants, classic tees, cotton beach coverups and gold sandals. {The shoes were mine, they don’t make them in a size 3 just yet.}

The Madison Avenue flagship store is hands down the prettiest Lilly Pulitzer store in the country. The interiors and décor are awash with preppy brights, colorful wall stripes and a plethora of Lilly hand painted prints garnishing the walls. There are splashes of decorative cartooned animals and deco rugs laid on top of whitewashed wooden floors, and of course, there is the beautiful winding wooden staircase which is just the penultimate entryway into this wonderland of happiness. A perfectly pink and green paradise.

Sharlotte mesmerized the sweet sales team with her winning personality and the specific choice of clothes she wanted to fashion – she also can bat the heck out of those crystal blue eyes, when need be. And it worked – before I knew it we were leaving the Madison Avenue mecca with a ton of swag, in many bags– all right sized for her! It was no surprise that we ended up eating chinese food at the glamorous Mr. K’s (another of our favorite haunts on Lexington Avenue) to celebrate her first day on the job. And so, a princess and a series were born!