A Little Lilly in My Suitcase

I can't believe I am packing again, this time for a family vacation in the Hamptons where we go every year (we leave tomorrow and will be back on the 15th). I know that it is a good thing (packing = vacation) and I shouldn't complain but this year our summer has been punctuated by a trip every two-three weeks and I feel like I have been living with my suitcase open all the time. Also, the fact that my MIL has been staying with us for almost two months felt like a vacation for me. Is there a thing like too much vacation?

Anyway, besides the "usual suspects" (JCrew, Calypso, Loft) I have a new entry in my summer suitcase: Lilly Pulitzer. I have never been a Lilly girl but in my opinion this year they had the best prints around, hands down. I have been swooning over their dresses since the first spring collection and I have been visiting the store almost as much as JCrew. Halas, their price points are pretty steep even for the most simple day dresses, as you probably know, and without any special occasion it was difficult to justify a purchase (I looked at their maxis for the beach wedding but they were too maxi for me and too expensive). As some of you will remember I broke down during the Bloomindgale's F&F back in the spring and bought this dress for a deeply discounted price but I had to return it because it was too snug in the XS and I couldn't find a S on sale. Plus, I had honestly nowhere to wear it at that time and I was afraid that it would just hung pretty in my closet.

So last week when they started their summer sale I went on the first day, determined to buy something from the summer collection. The dresses that I had been eyeing were pretty much gone in my size and at this point I don't need any other summer dress anyway but they had a cute skirt in one of my favorite summer prints. A skirt is something that I can easily throw on and wear in my everyday life (it doesn't need an occasion) and I don't have anything like this one so this skirt satisfied my print envy while filling a (little) hole in my closet.
It's the lovely Roselyn skirt in the extremely cheerful "Hotty Pink Skinny Dippin Mini" print that also comes in a lovely sundress very reminiscent of old Jcrew IMO and a classic shift. The skirt was 50% off, so a pretty good deal and I wore it right away yesterday to take my daughter to a Broadway show (it goes surprisingly well with the Delaney eyelet top that I had a hard time to wear with anything so far):

While I was scratching my head to find something other than white to wear with it on vacation, I remembered that I had the JCrew retro shell in the popsicle pink color, which turned out to be a perfect match. Don't you love when all of a sudden a cloth that was pretty much neglected because you didn't know what to pair with it, finds a soulmate?

If their dresses are quite expensive, their accessories are more affordable and SO summery. Just before my trip to St. Maarten I found a lovely necklace on sale that I was planning to wear with my wedding outfit (I actually took a few pics of the outfit before leaving but in the end I didn't wear the scarf nor the necklace at the wedding, but I wore the necklace with other outfits, it goes with pretty much everything):

The other day when I was at the store I bought another similar necklace that I had been eyeing, the Starstruck necklace in the ginger orange colorway (the turquoise is lovely too but I have many turquoise necklaces). By the way, for some reasons these show as still full price on the website but they are $29.99 or less in store.
Here is on me, with an old BR tee in the same color:

Finally, I just acquired on ebay an old Lilly dress that has been on my mind for two years. This style is called "Petula" and they make it every year but this print, called "Limeade Coral Me Crazy" is from 2010 and pretty unique (I just LOVE those colors). I had actually bought a dress for my daughter in this print because I couldn't afford it for me. Even on ebay it has always sold for much more than I could justify but this summer it popped up for a reasonable price and I could snag a XS after a couple of fails. The irony is that I was bidding on it just before the wedding in St. Maarten, hoping that I would win it and it would arrive in time for me to wear it at the wedding but I was outbid at the last minute (I had decided on a firm maximum price and didn't want to bid again). A day later I was given a second chance but it was too late for the wedding and it arrived once I was back. Oh well, I just need another invitation to a beach wedding (in the meanwhile I will wear it on vacation. BTW, I have it shortened to a weareable lenght since these pics were taken):

OK, I have to leave you to put all this stuff in the suitcase. I have scheduled a post for you while I am gone, so stay tuned!

Did you buy anything at Lilly Pulitzer this season?