EASTER PARADE 2017

It's that time of year again! We joined the Easter Parade celebrants in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral.  As for our colleague? Somehow, this was not our mental image that comes to mind when hearing the lyrics "Here comes Peter Cotton Tail, bouncing down the bunny trail", but he was quite jovial and charming.  (Hard not to be when wearing such an outfit and bunny tail.) Fun facts about rabbits: They have an excellent sense of smell, hearing and vision - essential for survival from predators. When happy, they exhibit a behavior known as "binky", in which they jump up in the air, twist and spin around.  A baby rabbit is called a "kit", a female is a "doe", a male is a "buck", a group of rabbits is a "colony" and a group of domestic rabbits is a "herd". Go figure. While hares are born with their eye open, hair covering their bodies and can run within a few minutes of birth (like Guinea pigs), rabbits are born blind, naked and remain in a fur-lined nest for the first days of their lives.  Sounds like a Hollywood celebrity baby.

A reminder of the world outside Fifth Avenue on Easter morning was the visible presence of NYPD - aka "New York's Finest". This officer and his Belgian Malinois (no, he's not a German Shepherd) were vigilant and professional, walking that fine line between being reassuring and non-threatening while remaining watchful and ever-professional.

We joined our posse who gathered on East 50th Street off of Fifth Avenue for group photos. Arlinda, Carol, Andre, Carola, Carol (Femme et Fleur)  Elke, Dayle (Artful City Style)  and Valerie. Look quickly - this is one of the few full-length shots in which you can see Valerie's footwear!

Aleksey Federov ran into our group, and joined in the fun.   He towers over everyone.  Aleksey is a super fan of Easter, and made his own outfit.   We pride ourselves on finding a variety of people at Easter, but Aleksey puts us to shame.  See his fabulous video of the Easter parade here.  From his vantage point, way above the crowd, he has a great view of everything.

This color-coordinated couple joined the throngs of well dressed New Yorkers and out-of-towners on Fifth Avenue while managing to look cool and chic in unseasonably warm 87-degree weather.

One of the treats each year is running into friends and 2017 was no exception. Linda, Marianne, Helga and Xtine always promenade together and then retire to Bob's Burger, their traditional post-parade hangout.

True to form, we didn't consult the night before about what we'd be wearing, other than to complain about the warm weather forecast, so the extent to which our outfits coordinated so well was a source of amusement.

Videographer and pal Lina Plioplyte and her friend Jacob stopped by to visit and take photos with us. Pink is definitely Lina's color!

Loved this stylish couple. Her red dress and his colorful scarf worked well together. And we also love the fact that Jean's shot of them and Valerie included her shoes!

Debra Rapoport topped off her multi-color, multi-texture outfit with a parasol to fashionably shade her from the strong sunlight.

M&M!  Marja Samson and Martina Deitrich joined us on East 50th Street, along with Marja's pug, Bibichibi.

Zondra Foxx opted for fishnets, mini-skirt, off-the-shoulder top and a blue-black bouffant wig for the occasion. Jean wore the black and white IF (Idiosyncratic Fashionistas) necklace and pin -- on her Ignatius hat -- which were designed and made by Zondra.

This woman had her own unique take on headwear.

Quite a few people made political statements.  Here's one:

In our Instagram feed, we showed "twins" in polka dots; here's another pair of colorfully - almost psychedelically dressed - "twins", in this case, mother and daughter.

Suzi Redhead was among the first people we ran into.  GREAT costume!

Here's her calling card:

This young woman wore a green dress and hat from the '50s.

This woman loves everything green.

Loved this paradegoer's ensemble.  When she put her jacket on, it looked like she was wearing a completely different outfit.

Our friend Lydia, her husband and two children.

This woman wears her own artfully hand made gorgeous huge pink paper flower hat.

A really good photographer would have taken this woman's picture against a better background.  But people disappear into crowds so easily, one has to seize opportunities when they arise.

We had run into Tallulah a few weeks ago at the Manhattan Vintage Show, where she said she was opening her own vintage shop in San Antonio.  Funny how, in a city of eight million people, you can still come across someone you know.

We looked up and down and high and low for Elaine and her husband Steve at the parade without success, so we were thrilled when they tracked us down at our post-parade hangout, The Modern, for our traditional post-parade cocktails!  Elaine's theme for her hand-painted hat was the Q train and the new East Side subway line whose stations feature skylights and airy, open stations with art-covered walls. At the left is Shiho, who joined us in an earlier parade a few years ago, and caught the eye of our beloved Bill Cunningham.

We took photos at the rear of the restaurant against the large photo of the great outdoors.  It was a great backdrop for showing off our graphic outfits. (Ahem. Once again, Valerie's two-tone shoes were cut out of the picture!)

As she and her companion were leaving The Modern, Mary Anna Smith - aka The Tipsy Topper - stopped for a photo of her Easter basket bonnet and his Magritte-inspired top hat.

Rogue's Gallery: Valerie, Steve, Shiho, Elaine and Jean took our waiter up on his offer to shoot a group portrait.

Until next year ...