By Samantha Critchell
The Associated Press

Lilly Pulitzer, who has been dressing the likes of those in Palm Beach, Fla., and Nantucket, Mass., and Savannah, Ga., in bright, cheerful clothes for 40 years, says she has trouble putting her own outfits together.

"It took a team to put me in this," says Pulitzer, looking down at her neat black pants, a blouse, cardigan and bright printed silk scarf.

Pulitzer was all done up on this day because Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan was hosting a lunch and book-signing event in her honor later that day. Essentially Lilly: A Guide to Colorful Entertaining is more than a cookbook or party-planning checklist; it's a guide to help you live like Lilly: Be happy, fun-loving and don't care too much about what others think.

Uncomfortable as celebrity

But, on the way to the tony store, she acknowledges that public appearances make her uncomfortable.

"I don't get what the Lilly cult is all about."

That modesty is what makes Lilly Pulitzer Lilly Pulitzer.

Pulitzer - and the entire brand that bears her name - is approachable, says Jay Mulvaney, the co-author of the book. She has a way of putting everyone at ease, he adds.

When he went to Pulitzer's home for the first time, Mulvaney says, he had no idea what to expect. Visions of sitting by the pool, sipping cocktails surrounded by tanned bodies in floral attire might have popped into his head.

Truth is, he was put to work, just like everyone else. He now knows an "invitation" to Pulitzer's really means come on over and be ready to spread sprigs of dill on cream cheese-and-salmon toasts.

Still, Pulitzer's parties are legendary and that's what prompted the book. Mulvaney writes that it's not uncommon to find socialites sitting next to firefighters, and everyone is having a good time.

"That's what life is all about: Let's have a party. Let's have it tonight," Pulitzer says.

Entertaining, decorating, dressing, or any other domestic art, shouldn't be a burden, Pulitzer advises.

"Style isn't just about what you wear, it's about how you live. Clothes to me are just clothes," she says. "I'm not interested in fashion, so it's interesting I've fallen into this particular career, especially since I can't sew, draw or paint!"

There's no doubt, though, that Lilly Pulitzer, or at least her signature preppy styles, are deeply entrenched in the fashion world. Many of New York society's "Ladies Who Lunch" wore their best Lilly dresses to that Saks lunch, as did many fashion insiders.

But the legend of Lilly certainly is unconventional by traditional style standards.

Although she came from a privileged background, Pulitzer wanted to work. Since her husband (publishing heir Peter Pulitzer) owned orange groves, she started selling fruit to the cooks and maids of her friends.

But there was one stain on the business' success: juice and pulp on her clothes.

So she bought some fabric with bold prints and asked a dressmaker to make her a few shifts. Pulitzer reasoned that the bright and busy dresses would mask the stains.

Jackie made her a star

Soon, many of Palm Beach's elite were wearing the same mess-proof dresses, and then Jacqueline Kennedy wore one.

"Jackie wore one of my dresses - it was made from kitchen curtain material - and people went crazy," she says in the book. "They took off like zingo. Everybody loved them, and I went into the dress business.

"We (members of her company) focus on the best, fun and happy things, and people want that. Being happy never goes out of style ... and I like that people think of me as happy, but, truth be told, I do get grumpy sometimes."

---

Pulitzer tells how, where to go shop

Lilly Pulitzer isn't crazy about shopping; she lets her grown children buy most of her clothes. But in Essentially Lilly (HarperCollins; $30), Pulitzer shares with co-author Jay Mulvaney some shopping tips that makes such an outing bearable and more productive.

She also says that while she doesn't care to keep up with fashion trends, she appreciates trendy and tony shopping streets, which are good for an afternoon of sometimes free entertainment.

Her five tips for a power shop:

• Have a strategy. Make a list of your favorite stores and set a time limit.

• If you're clothes shopping, wear something easy to slip on and off - and the proper undergarments.

• Take a digital camera with you, so you can match styles from different stores.

• Carry a small, lightweight purse.

• Pick shoes for their comfort, rather than their style today.

The "great shopping streets of the world," other than Pulitzer's hometown favorite, Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, Fla.:

• Bond Street in London.

• Lincoln Road in Miami.

• Madison Avenue in New York.

• Maiden Lane in San Francisco.

• Newbury Street in Boston.

• The Rialto in Florence, Italy.

• Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif.

• Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore in Paris.

• Via Condotti in Rome.

• Via Montenapoleone in Milan, Italy.