Sunday, April 12, 2009

City Views, Country Dreams

Good afternoon from New York on Easter Sunday.

Some of you may know that each year there is a rather informal Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue. About ten blocks of the Avenue are closed to vehicular traffic, and folks stroll along. Some pose for pictures and some, like me, take pictures.

These ladies take their hats very seriously.

This lady, wearing lots of metal, even on her head, takes her cell phone very seriously.

This very entertaining couple on a segue were graceful dancers who never spilled a drop from the tea cups on their heads.

There were many visitors from abroad on the Avenue. Three traditionally dressed Japanese ladies brought along a young friend who'd traded her obi for a backpack.

Some of the blocks were fairly uncrowded, and it was easy to stroll along.


Of course, many folks brought their dogs along; however, few dogs endured bonnets.


The above bonnets were totally encrusted with jelly beans. Wish that I could have gotten closer, but they were walking pretty quickly.


This picture taken along the esplanade at Rockefeller Center, near the famous skating rink, shows a stylish, if over the top, diva in the doorway of an expensive candy store.

This gentleman's hat is very cheery. His face is not so cheery.


I saw very few parasols. I like this lady's gloves.


Isn't this hat grand?



Now here is a bon vivant.

Which did come first, the chicken or the egg?


There are many clever folks in New York City.


This lady is definitely going green.

Here is lovely family group who might just have gone to church this morning. Note how Dad is sharing his straw boater.

I do not think that this is a genuine senorita.

Some definitely have it and flaunt it. Others stick with the hoodie.

Here is a hat with a message.


I think that this choir boy might be late for church.


Hello!


Very sharp suits and hats. Are those called fedoras?

The hats this couple made were very clever, showing how Bernard Madoff had made off with their nest eggs.


That hat looks very heavy, and I surely do hope it is not.

This lady was telling everyone the name of the milliner who designed her hat.


This is a rather subdued ensemble, except for the bunny at the top.


These are two of a quartet of fashionistas wearing wonderful vintage outfits.

Here is the quartet. Sorry that the rightmost two are so much in the shadows. It was very crowded around them.


Here is one of the churches along the Avenue, and a girl who brought along her basket.

This may seem a very unremarkable picture. Please do look closely at the man in black with his bunny ears and cotton tail.



Flowerpots!

The lady in the foreground seems a bit dark for a sunny Easter. Also have a look at the top hat in the background.

What a little sweetie and what a kind Dad.

Flowers, butterflies and bees. Spring is in the air.

One rarely sees fur coats at this Parade. The hat is beautiful.


Mother and daughter.

This lady loved posing for photos in her swaths of tulle.

This is a hat and then some.
This couple was in such a good mood.
I am hoping that you all now have a bit of an idea of what it was like on Fifth Avenue today. It is a bit of circus, but such fun to see how creative folks can be.
There have been many, many photographs in my last few blogs. It may be time for me to return to more prose. Not sure.
Happy Easter to everyone.

34 comments:

  1. What a delightful selection of Photos,Frances.Isn't it great to see people taking time out, away from the stresses of life, being so creative and having fun.I can just imagine the activity last week getting them ready. I love hats, my favourite being a delicious straw hat bought in a Flower shop.I would love to see it all in reality.Can't decide which one I like best. Really enjoyed them all.

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  2. Delightful, thankyou so much for sharing the parade with us.

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  3. Frances you excel yourself! What an incredible collection of amazing shots. People know how to have fun! So many different ideas, so many strange and wonderful hats...or maybe headgear is a better word.
    BUT......what did you wear?

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  4. Fabulous Frances, we were only discussing this over lunch today, the kids reminiscing about our snowy visit in 2007.

    Looks like a much brighter day, and the mix of head gear as eclectic and imaginative as I recall it.

    Thank you so much for sharing, took me back to a very enjoyable day.

    Did you have a bonnet?

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  5. Happy Easter Frances. Your photographs are a lovely reminder of a family holiday we took one Easter and were lucky enough to see the parade at close quarters.We were laughing about this over dinner today,one of our sons remarked that it was like being caught up in a Fellini film!It looks like the sun shone for you today, it has been wonderful here also, warm enough to eat outside.

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  6. Oh Frances- What a fun day you had, in and out of the crowd. I'm glad that the sun was out for you all. It's impossible to pick a single favorite hat or outfit, although I am partial to tulle.

    Thank you for sharing your day.

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  7. What fun! But you didn't show us what you were wearing!

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  8. How wonderful! I wish I was there,

    GG

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  9. Happy Easter Frances - what wonderful photographs. It all looked very relaxed - fun in the sunshine.

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  10. Fabulous, it's so interesting we only live a few miles apart but across the mid-town divide, it becomes a different city altogether. Thanks, I would have missed the whole thing without your photographs!

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  11. What a lot of fun people were having! Thanks for giving us a glimpse of the Easter Parade. Now the song is running through my head. :)

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  12. What Joy.! thank you Frances for those gorgeous pictures of Easter Bonnets on Fifth Avenue and the Parade. As you know I adore Hats.! wish I could have been there sporting one, nothing so grand over here sadly. Love the Jelly Bean ones, thought they were fun.

    Thank you for sharing with us Frances.

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  13. Thanks for sharing-I feel I am walking beside you.
    Makes me feel a bit homesick for
    N.Y.
    However enjoyed our walk.
    xx

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  14. Another great post. You really do help us to see what New York is like and I think you did very well to get such photos in a crowded environment.
    Thank you, Frances.

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  15. Oh this is lovely - it's wonderful to see all these people participating in the parade and enjoying themselves. Thank you for sharing the parade with us. Warm wishes, Vxx

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  16. Hello Frances! Thank you for taking the time to comment on my first ever blog recently. I know I am going to enjoy reading yours as I am a huge fan of NY. I feel like I have been walking with you in familiar places - Fifth Avenue/Central Park. I might even post some pics I took of NY on my blog at some point since they are seldom seen these days. You may know that Tartan Week (celebrating everything Scottish) takes place in NY in April each year. It is promoted in Grand Central Station and various venues around NY plus a parade walks down Sixth Avenue (this year it was on Sat, 4 April) as part of the celebrations. If you ever catch it I would love to see some pics. Seems you haven't made it until you march down Fifth Avenue but Tartan Week is a fledgling celebration so give perhaps in time.... and maybe some support if you happen upon it. BB

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  17. I have learned more about New York, Frances, than ever I did when I went there. You open it out and make it come alive. A real fairy tale. Better still in your blogs there is no chance of being mown down by traffic whether pedestrian or vehicular. When I was there it seemed I was the only person not in a hurry. But you are never in a hurry either: so thank you.

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  18. Fantastic photos Frances. What fun. It would be wonderful to have something like that here. So many with eadibles on them I'm surprised they weren't nibbled.
    Thank you for shaing this parade in beautiful weather with us.
    CKx

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  19. Ɣh, Frances, that was a superb show (went well with my tea)! :-)
    Thank you for sharing all these pictures with us, such fun, I am floored by the good mood and humor all around and smitten by your witty comments. Now I feel as if I had come along with you, thank you thank you thank you! Such balm for a homesick girl, I miss the way Americans can take themselves not so seriously all the time.

    Every day now, when I look out the windows of my apartment on the street side, where all those daffodils and tulips are blooming now, I think of Park Avenue in the Spring, of the thousands of tulips ondulating there in the spring breeze, and the pear trees at the little plaza, on Fifth Avene, near the Plaza Hotel, opposite FAO Schwartz.

    Evening greetings from V.!

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  20. how fun..I loved seeing all the hats ...
    keep on showing us around NY..I love it...:-)

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  21. Hi there!

    Aww, everything looks so cute, sporting everything they are proud with!

    I especially adore those guys with the suits and hats! So vintage!

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  22. Sorry for duplicating my comment Frances - I'm new to blogging. Will try to do better!

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  23. I was hoping you'd have posted on this, frances - and, as ED says, you really have excelled yourself this year! Just fabulous, fabulous. HUGE thank-you. Oh, she's also pre-empted my question -did you have a hat?

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  24. Hello and thanks for your comments. Wishing all of you could have been by my side on the Avenue.

    My hat...not a spring bonnet, as it was so windy, and not really bonnet weather. I just stuck on my trusty old black wool beret, draped over on one side, leaving one ear open to those chilly breezed.

    My straw hats will have to wait for much warmer days.

    xo

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  25. Have been catching up...glorious Frances, as ever. Those hats! NY in the sunshine, beautiful! You have given me a wonderful break from a dull, foggy day in the Emerald Isle!

    IE

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  26. Have been catching up...glorious Frances, as ever. Those hats! NY in the sunshine, beautiful! You have given me a wonderful break from a dull, foggy day in the Emerald Isle!

    IE

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  27. Thank you for a little light relief at a rather grim time - so much to smaile at here, Frances. My favourite... the dog!

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  28. It all looks so wonderfully festive, i do hope a good time was had by all.

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  29. Wow, Frances, that was a veritable Easter feast even without the ability to consume chocolate!

    Thanks for a great post with an insight for this country soul to life in the Apple!

    xo

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  30. Happy Easter to you too even if a bit in late !!
    AnnaPaula

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  31. Gosh, I'm very late indeed to enjoy your Easter parade.
    You made me feel as if I was there.
    Some really excellent hat designs and everyone in the spirit of the day.
    I like blogs with lots of photos simply because I cannot concentrate long on lots of text on line.
    However since you don't post as often as some people we look forward to your thoughtful essays so
    the choice is yours.
    I liked the Madoff nest egg hat - -but a little sad for the gullible people who invested with him. Some were greedy - some merely badly informed.
    I led so many pictures but the family with the man with the boater sticks in my mind.
    Hope to see you very soon.
    Life quite consumed with the Dog......Hmmm

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  32. meant to write 'liked' in the post above..

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  33. Dear Frances,
    thank you so much for your extremely kind comments on my blog!
    Even the late tulips here are fading fast, way too fast if you ask me. The temperatures have climbed into the mid and high seventies for too many days, accelerating the spring show to an almost dizzying pace. It is almost impossible to capture all this beauty in time before it goes out and makes room for the next wave!

    I am looking forward to see images of New York's Park Avenue tulips! :-)

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  34. Hello Frances,

    I loved this post, your stories from New York are always so entertaining and absorbing!

    Thanks for your comment re the bag, it is so hard to strike a balance isn't it?

    Love to you x

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