The Woman Behind the Dress: Meet “Elle”

February 24, 2017 | Filed in: Humans of MM

Here at MM.LaFleur, we name our dresses after the brilliant employees who make this company great. However, sometimes the process isn’t so straightforward. For example, our whip-smart stylist Eleanor Tilton wasn’t the first Eleanor at MM, and an Eleanor dress was already part of the MM repertoire when she joined our team—so, when the time came to pick out her dress, she had to get creative.

“Choosing my dress was simple,” Eleanor says. “I wanted it to be a timeless, comfortable style you can wear for any occasion, and this design definitely checks those boxes. The real challenge was choosing which nickname of mine would be right. Among the various and bizarre nicknames my friends and family have given me over the years (Lilly, Leonard, and Lenny, to name a few), I decided to go with ‘Elle.’ It’s what my dad calls me, and the name always brings me a sense of comfort.”

Eleanor in the Elle dress.

In Eleanor’s own words:

What do you love about your dress? “I love that the trapeze skirt is flowy, yet structured. I prefer dresses with some flare, but living in New York City, you always have to be cautious of skirts that are too flowy. You know that feeling when you walk over a street grate right as a train passes below, and your dress goes up faster than your hands can go down? Thankfully, that has yet to happen to me in the Elle. The drop-waist panel on the skirt gives it just the right amount of weight.”

What is your favorite memory of the Elle? “I wore the Elle to my nephew’s baptism. I’m his godmother, so it was a special day.”

What is your dream color of the Elle? “Can it be a print? Cheetah!”

If you could put one woman in your dress, who would it be? “Amy Poehler.”