In Your Easter Bonnet

Judy Garland and Fred Astaire in 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



Easter ushers in the season of rebirth and renewal...a celebration of the resurrection of nature and, most importantly, our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Growing up in a wonderful, Christian home, the Easter Sundays of my childhood are some of my fondest memories.  As a young child, I may not have fully understood the significance of the day, but I knew enough to understand it was a celebration of Jesus and His sacrifice for us.  It was also a day to be with family, to feast on wonderful, traditional food, to get dressed up in new, spring colored clothing, to wear my white shoes for the first time since the end of the previous summer, and to marvel at the brightly colored Easter eggs and all the wonderful chocolate treats and special gifts my mother and grandmother would place in my Easter basket.  My beloved "Granddaddy" would always bring me a beautiful corsage to wear to church, and I could not wait to put it on with my pretty spring dress.

But one of my favorite things about Easter Sunday (call it the girl in me) was seeing all the beautiful hats the ladies of the church would wear on that special day!  My grandmother always had beautiful hats and gloves to wear to church, but on Easter Sunday, she would always wear something extra special.  This may have been the origin of my fascination with hats and, especially, Easter Bonnets.

As long as I can remember, I have loved hats - so much so, that I have a collection of beautiful, vintage hats displayed on a coat stand in my home.  I have many others in boxes in closets or displayed in the top of a Victorian trunk in one of my guest rooms.  I adore them.  If I could get by with it, I would enjoy wearing a hat every day! 

Easter bonnets are top of the list for me as far as hats go...right up there with the beautiful hats women still wear to the Kentucky Derby...but those are for another post.  In celebration of the upcoming Easter holiday, here are a few photographs of a few gorgeous Easter Bonnets.  Enjoy!

Have a beautiful day!