Lilly Pulitzer's Secret to a Great Party
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Lilly Pulitzer, the real-life woman behind the preppy fashion brand, was many things: mother, designer, entrepreneur, monkey owner. She also loved a martini, loathed underwear (in fact, her iconic shift dresses were designed to be worn sans-drawers), and threw fantastic parties at her home in Palm Beach.
“I have never in my life needed a reason to give a party,” she once wrote. “They just sort of happen—some with a little bit of planning, some because I want to empty out the icebox and some because people just keep showing up and you can’t not feed them.”
And in her 2004 guide to entertaining, Essentially Lilly, Lilly let her legions of pink-and-green wearing fans in on her go-to secret to a vibrant soirée. Apparently it's all in the menu. “One trick to give a party some juice is to always serve some ham and biscuits,” she wrote with her co-author Jay Mulvaney. “Ham is salty and it will make people thirsty and they will drink more. If they drink more, they’ll have a better time and the party will be a hit.”
Of course, if you have vegetarians on your guest list, it sounds like any salty snack will do. Think: olives, pretzels, mixed nuts, anything savory that might satisfy your guests' munchies and inspire imbibing. But even without the alcohol, there's something charming about serving simple ham sliders as finger food at a fancy fête.
So go ahead, pair a little prosciutto with your favorite party dress.
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