Pink and Green and in the Red

When Socialite Lilly Pulitzer started selling flower-splattered print dresses in a Palm Beach, Fla., shop in 1962, her designs quickly caught the fancy of wealthy matrons from Bel Air, Calif., to Bar Harbor, Me. Pulitzer's trademark pink-and-green styles became the epitome of preppiedom and led to the opening of 33 boutiques across the country. But after nearly two decades of cachet, Pulitzer has fallen out of style and into the red. Last week her company, which had sales of more than $10 million a year in its heyday, filed for bankruptcy in order to receive protection from creditors. The firm will close six of its 26 remaining shops.

Pulitzer launched her venture while married to Newspaper Heir Peter Pulitzer, who made headlines in 1982 during a sensational divorce from his third wife, Roxanne. Lilly and Peter were divorced in 1969. Pulitzer tried to keep her fashions up to date over the past few years by switching to more formal, darker colors. But the designer was never able to find the magic that would capture the attention of today's smart set.