Every other landlady follows lilac fashion — time to give up (4,2,1,3)
I believe the answer is:
call it a day
'give up' is the definition.
(I know that call it a day is a kind of give up)
'every other landlady follows lilac fashion time' is the wordplay.
'every other' means one should take alternating letters (every other letter).
'follows' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'fashion' indicates an anagram.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
The alternating letters of 'landlady' are 'aday'.
'lilac' is an anagram of 'calli'.
'calli'+'t'='callit'
'aday' after 'callit' is 'CALL IT A DAY'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for call it a day that I've seen before include "Set the style for a 24-hour period" , "announce decision to quit" , "Abandon work for now" , "sign off" , "pack up" .)