Meet Elizabeth Eaton Rosenthal—A.K.A “The Green Lady of Brooklyn” or “Sweetheart”—the 83-year-old woman who has become famous for only wearing green for nearly 24 years.
Elizabeth started the process of going green decades ago when she began wearing the color on her nails every day. Loving the hue, she decided to dye her hair the same color. Then she bought a green wardrobe and green shoes. She decorated her home in green and painted her front door green, and she never went back.
“It’s the most positive color in the whole world,” she told Patch in 2011. “You can wake up really miserable in the morning and then you get dressed and turn green and it’s quite wonderful.”
With her eccentric look and warm personality, The Green Lady of Brooklyn quickly became a local celebrity. She said she’s met “just the most interesting people and children” around her borough, and she has “so much fun” getting to know everyone.
Elizabeth’s husband Robert told the publication that seeing her making her way around town is “just amazing.”
“People shout from cars, children flock to her on the train and tourists take pictures of her,” he shared. “The most diverse people call to her from across the street, give her thumbs up, call her ‘Miss Green.’”
The Green Lady of Brooklyn Hitchhiked to New York in 1964
Elizabeth’s backstory is just as interesting as her life as the Green Lady, too. As she told Trend Chaos, she decided to move to New York City in 1964, when she was 23. So she hitchhiked there with only a sketchbook, a pair of ice skates, and the clothes she was wearing.
Her sketches caught someone’s eye at the NY State Employment agency, and they sent her to interview as an artist in a textile studio. She got the job, and she’s been doing that ever since. But she eventually branched out to work for herself.
In 1987, she opened SweetPea Design Studio and ran that for 15 years. After that, she started a small art business that sold vintage textiles from her own collection. She also freelanced for “All the big manufacturers..like Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, American Eagle Outfitters.”
Thanks to her career in fashion, Elizabeth has gone through several phases before becoming The Green Lady of Brooklyn. She said she went through a decade of wearing all vintage dresses and homemade hats. She was big on horn-rimmed glasses paired with a beehive hairdo for some time, and she was a fan of bellbottoms for a stretch. But now that she’s realized her love for green, she feels like she’s come into her own.
“I really am addicted now,” told Patch. “It brightens all of my days. Like today, I’m a mess, but when you’re green it doesn’t matter.”
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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