Easter Bonnet
“Some hats can only be worn if you’re willing to be jaunty, to set them at an angle and to walk beneath them with a spring in your stride as if you’re only a step away from dancing. They demand a lot of you.” Neil Gaiman, Anansi Boys And who wears a jaunty beret better than the French? For some reason this confetti toss of chapeaus hearkens back to Mary Richards from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Whether you’re tossing your hat in the ring or straight up in the air like a graduation mortar bard, the message is clear – “Game On. Count Me In. I’m going for it!” “A...
Read MoreEaster Rabbits
“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” William Shakespeare Much like the colorful eggs showcased in Easter Eggs, the rabbit too, symbolizes fertility and renewal. Hares and rabbits were deemed prolific procreators, thus an apt representation of rebirth, spring and the Easter season. Some believe the custom of the Easter Rabbit originated in Germany, where mention is found in literature as far back as the 1500s. German settlers, arriving in Pennsylvania in the 1700’s, brought with them their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws.” Children would line...
Read MoreParasols & Summer Sun
Ah, the ubiquitous umbrella – from British Bumbershoot to Parisian Parasol – one shelters from the rain; one shields from the sun. We reviewed their rainy day renditions in April Showers. It’s now time for the sunny side of summer with its plethora of parasols. Rather than ducking and dodging sleet and showers, we flirt and flutter with carousels of color. Just being in the sun evokes smiles and happiness. A parasol seems less of a shield, and more of a sidekick, protecting us while joining in the fun. The Latin word umbra means “shade” and historians claim the cooling canopy formed by...
Read MoreHats Off to Sally Victor
What do Queen Elizabeth II, First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, and Mamie Eisenhower, Hollywood’s Judy Garland and Elizabeth Taylor, Broadway’s Helen Hayes, and even the Gabor sisters all have in common? They all were crowned in hats designed by Sally Victor. That’s quite an entourage to count among your stable of admirers. Included among luminaries Lilly Daché and Mr. John, as one of America’s leading millinery designers, The New Yorker magazine (1954) described Victor as “a magnificent sculptress of straws and felts.” She was actually credited with reviving the Ecuadorean...
Read MoreThe Prairie
The Prairie “… a region so quiet and pristine that we have the sense of being the first human beings ever to set foot in it. We fall silent ourselves in its midst, as if conversation in a place of such primeval solitude would be like talking in church.” Jim Fergus, The Wild Girl We began our cross country junket in Kansas, and as we trek across the prairie, we soon encounter cowboys for this is their terrain, filled with long dusty days and cool starlit nights. Often filled with songs around the campfire… “Where the leather is scarred, there is a great story to tell.” Jimmy Tart...
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