Easter Parade

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.
I'll be all in clover and when they look you over,
I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter parade.
On the avenue, fifth avenue, the photographers will snap us,
And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet,
And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter parade.

                                     Irving Berlin

 

 

Image Source

Image Source

The Manhattan 5th Avenue Easter Parade has been going on a long time.  it started in the 1800s, at least  70 years before Irving Berlins popular 1933 song that later became the basis for the classic musical staring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland.

 

Image Source

 

 

The tradition of dressing up for Easter has deep routes in Christian tradition, Roman Emperors in the early days of the Catholic Church instructed their followers to wear their best clothes on Easter in celebration of Christ's resurrection.  However, by the early 1900s fashion has surpassed the religious content of the parade, which caused some critics to deride it as an unchristian display of wealth.    Milliners where taking orders months before the parade and crowds where lining up to watch the parade and see what was current in fashion.

 

Image Source

 

image source

The popularity of the parade reached its apex in the mid century, with the 1947 parade drew a crowd of over a million.

Image source

However it has been on the decline since the 1960s. Never the less it still remains a New York tradition with each year a large crowd attired in outrageous hats gathering between 47th and 59th streets to pay tribute to an era when people took the time dress up and hats and gloves where an essential component of ever ladies outfit.   

Considering that I'm a vintage lover  who lives right outside New York you would think I made a yearly pilgrimage to the event, but in fact this was the first year I decided to attend.  First of all I knew I needed a marvelous hat.  I didn't want a hat that was to gigantic because I wanted something I would be able to wear again and  I knew I wanted a 1940s style hat since I am a big fan of the 1948 film.  (The film was ostensibly set in the 1900s but the costumes where decidedly forties).  For my Easter Parade outfit I choose a 1940s style dress from Hey Day Vintage and a beautiful reproduction hat from Lady Eve's Millinery on Etsy.

The dress, like all Hey Day items, represents the best of vintage reproduction.  Its period accurate and figure flattering, but also super comfortable and very easy care. Made from modern fabrics it is machine washable and there is no need to iron it. 

The hat meanwhile, has fast become my favorite hat, which is saying something since I  have quite a few.  Made from an original 1940s pattern it looks just like 40s hat but in perfect condition.

 

 

I didn't want to hog all the dressing up for myself, and luckily thanks to Matti Online and Pug Possessed on Etsy, I didn't have too. 

 

 

 

We packed Ping and Weasley into their stroller and took the train into Manhattan.  The firth avenue parade is much smaller then it used to be, but it is still impressive.  My lovely friend Sara helped us take some pictures:

 

 

 

Weasley and Ping were not the only dressed up dogs, there were quite a few:

 

Unfortunately despite the dozens of pictures taken of them Ping and Weasley did not make the Daily News.  Here is a link to the slide show of dogs and hats that did make the paper: link.

 

It was a wonderful event and we will definitely be back next year.

 

 

Today I am participating in the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop hosted by Ruckus the Eskie: