YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTENED AN EASTER PARADE....

Easter Parade...

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,

You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.

Ill be all in clover and when they look you over,

Ill 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 lyrics

NYC Easter Parade - Fashion Meets Fantasy

"In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade!"

Irvine Berlin memorialized the event in the 1948 musical with Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Peter Lawford and Ann Miller, but the New York Easter Parade tradition goes back to a much earlier time.

The Easter Parade is a New York tradition that dates back to the middle of the 1800s. The social elite would attend services at one of the 5th Avenue churches and parade their new fashions down the Avenue afterwards.

The less well to do would come to see what the latest trends were. Many handy seamstresses found inspiration for their client's wardrobes at the parade. It was a combination of religious services and haute couture in the days before TV, when only the wealthiest New Yorkers could attend the hottest Paris fashion shows.

While there is still some fashion involved in the spectacle, the modern version tends to be more fantastic. Live birds nest in bonnets of real flowers and pets are dressed in the latest 5th Avenue doggy wear.

The flamboyant headgear and costumes are paraded down the Avenue to the delight of onlookers. You don't need a special outfit to join in the fun. Anyone can step out and stroll down the Avenue.

New York weather in April is anything but reliable. "Record April Snowfall, 10 Inches, and 60-Mile Gale Usher in New York's Easter," was a headline in the New York Times on April 4, 1915. While this is unusual, a rainy April day can make for soggy bonnet watching.

If good years, the weather is forecast will call for a wonderful spring day with temperatures around 60 degrees.

The Easter bonnet tradition derives from "olden times" when people dressed up every Sunday to go to church. Ladies purchased new and elaborate designs for particular church services, and in the case of Easter, taking the opportunity of the end of Lent to buy luxury items. Now, in a more casual society, Easter Bonnets are becoming harder to find, as fewer and fewer women bother with the tradition.

Modern Easter bonnets for children are usually white wide brimmed hats with a pastel colored satin ribbon around it and tied in a bow. It may also have flowers or other springtime motifs on top, and may match a special dress picked out for the occasion.

Until recently, it was popular in infant school to ask a child to design an Easter-themed hat at that time of year. The aim was to get their parents to wear it to Easter services.

You are invited to attend an Easter Parade
In celebration of the first official day of Spring and Easter !

Date:
Thursday, March 20, 2008

Where:
Quill Cottage

Hosted By:
Miss Sandy and Mister Linky

A give away will be held in conjunction with this event !

From the invitation above you will see that I am hosting my first ever blog event, an Easter Parade! On Thursday, March 20, 2008 I will have a special post for you to link to using Mister Linky. You will enter linking to a specific post that shares one of the following: Easter or Spring décor, Easter or Spring Crafts, Special Family celebration ideas for either of these, Recipes or Family favorites for this time of year, If you have an Easter Bonnet, please do post it, The first signs of Spring around your area, anything that relates to Easter or Spring.

I will be visiting blogs to give out invitations this week and if you so desire, you can cut and paste the invitation on your blog to announce it. The little graphic above the invitation can be cut and pasted on your blog as well to show you are a participant.

By linking up or leaving a comment on Thursday, March 20, 2008, you will be automatically entered in the give away. The give away goodie package will be announced at the first of next week as I am still working on part of it.

I hope you will join me in this fun promenade down Blog Avenue in the Easter Parade!

Hope to see you there,
Miss Sandy