So it’s Easter Sunday, and we are here to say “Happy Easter!” to everyone who loves Easter, and loves holidays, and loves Whimsies, and (most of all) loves any occasion for dressing up.
We Whimsies have seized this opportunity to put on our “Sunday Best,” which, we sadly realized, is not as “best” as it could be. For Christmas we have lots of fancy frills and velvets and satins, but when we went through our wardrobe, we discovered that though we have many cute and comfortable dresses, none of them are extremely fancy.
Well, that’s just fine with us, actually. Whimsies are by nature extremely innovative and resourceful, and who wants to be stifled in tight, stiff uncomfortable clothing, anyway?
So, in true Whimsie fashion, we have taken our somewhat plain Springtime dresses and dressed them up with bows and shoes and socks and hats, and when all is said and done, I believe our Easter Portrait is most becoming.
But let’s take a moment to break it all down and see what each one of us is doing to celebrate this season.
I’ll go first, and as you can see, I’m reworking an old favorite, our zebra striped dress. Who doesn’t feel simply fine in an animal print? So lively, so much fun! But you’ll notice I enhance my look with a pretty pair of patent leather shoes, and how could anyone possibly resist the lace trim on these fancy white socks?
It’s been so very cold here in Whimsieville for so very long this Winter, but now that the weather is warming up to Springtime temps, I’m perfectly willing to have my long unruly locks confined in a rather untamed high ponytail. The other Whimsies sometimes tell me that they envy my long and plentiful hair, and I can see how those who don’t have to deal with this crazy mane might think it a blessing. Well, to tell the truth, most of the time I do indeed consider my hair a blessing, but when the weather gets warm, getting it off my neck feels like heaven. So I complete my Easter look with a high crazy ponytail. I am ready to go!!
Now we look at Tootsie, who I must admit, took a bit of coaxing to get her back into a dress. You’ll remember that Toots has spent literally decades in the same dress, when what she really wanted more than anything was to wear her dungarees and run barefoot and climb trees. So asking her to put on a dress again for this portrait took some doing…until she saw this pretty pink shift, with the whimsical detail of several colorful ruffles.
As soon as she put on this dress, Tootsie declared that it was just as comfortable as any pair of dungarees she had ever worn! And not only that, but it paired so perfectly with this charming little pink hat, the closest thing to an “Easter Bonnet” that we could find in our collection of hats.
And hasn’t our new friend Tootsie so quickly learned how to work a hat? Look at that adorably shy expression, with just the slightest smile. It’s almost hard to believe that Tootsie has not spent the last several decades practicing her modeling looks in front of a mirror.
And oh! Did I happen to mention those sparkly pink sneakers? Now, sneakers are not usually though of as Easter finery, but with this outfit, don’t they look so perfect? If you ask me, this outfit says “Why can’t I be fancy, feminine and ready for fun and play, all at the same time?” Well, looking at Tootsie, I’m certain that anyone can clearly see that the answer to that question is a resounding: “Yes! You can!”
Tootsie wears the pink dress at Trixie’s suggestion. Yes, Trixie is being generous and kind to her new friend, but there is also a method to her madness. She has given the privledge of pink to Toots in exchange for permission to wear the creamy satin dress which Tootsie wore when she first came to us, several months ago now.
Actually, there was never a question that Tootsie would let any of us wear her old dress. She is only too happy to be out of it! And Trixie is only too happy to be in it! Here Trixie keeps it simple with the cream colored dress, a simple green bow, and golden ballerina slipper-type shoes. Bold Trixie has even opted to wear her shoes without socks, claiming the look is that much more elegant. Today, Trixie is our Pale Princess.
Finally, let’s look at Tessie, who revives the old classic of a Summer dress with a floppy, fringy bonnett. Not exactly an “Easter Bonnet,” but it works so well with this simple white dress. 
Wait! Did I say “simple”? Not so fast, my friend! You’ll notice that Tessies pretty little dress features tiny red polka dots, and more importantly, a jaunty gingham flower and bumble bee. Or is that a ladybug? Either way, this outfit screams, “Hello, Springtime! Hello and Good-Bye, because guess what? Already…I’m ready for Summer!”
And once again, how can I be forgetting to mention the shoes? Oh, the shoes! So cute, white patent leather with those huge festive white ribbon bows! If there was any doubt that this is a holiday outfit, you can put away all those doubts when you see the size of the bows on these shoes!
So that’s what it’s like to be a Whimsie at Easter—all dressed up and nowhere to go…except into the beautifully green fields of Whimsieville, where the bees are just now beginning to buzz (on more than just Tessie’s dress!) and the flowers are beginning to bloom, and the sun is shining so warmly today, that we will probably spend a good deal of our afternoon just running around and enjoying the outdoors.
Later today, I’m sure Tootsie will kick of her sparkly sneakers to run around in the grass, and start looking for trees to climb. The rest of us will take the dinosaurs out for a walk, so they can enjoy the fresh grass, and their favorite delicacy–-weeds. Mr. Squee will most likely spend a good deal of time with us outdoors as well, since he too loves to eat grass and weeds (even though he is not a dinosaur.) Here you can see how already, as we are attempting to have our Easter Portrait perfected, Mr. Squee can’t help but try to get himself in on the action!
By the end of the day, surely we will all be so tired, we’ll be glad to come in with the setting sun, and settle down to a treat of chocolate covered marshmallow eggs, and jellybeans and peeps. And if we’re very lucky, Miss Chrissy will save us some root beer to wash it all down with! How could Easter possibly get any better than that?
in Fashion! Of course, it’s been so very long since poor little Tootsie has seen very much in the way of Fashion. Back in the day, when she used to visit often with Tillie and her human, Jennifer, what she mostly considered Fashion would be a comfortable pair of dunagarees and maybe a soft tee shirt, and a sweater that didn’t bind around the neck or wrists. So! Imagine her surprise when we showed her so many dresses and hats and soft pants and jammies and every kind of accessory for the hair! It was just so overwhelming for little Tootsie that she practically broke down crying tears of joy!
Tillie chose a soft pair of baby blue pants and a bright red shirt to compliment Tootsie's choice of a mostly blue outfit, but then Tillie took it all one step further by adding a comical red cap. It seems Tootsie, though completely aware of the concept of "hats," has never really had a chance to wear one, and she was overwhelmed by the large selection of hats in the Wardrobe. In keeping with her blue theme, here she has chosen a simple blue beret, making her look rather French…no?
Finally, I get my chance to pose with Tootsie, and my Fashion lesson for our new friend is the Joy of Polka-Dots! As you can see, I’m wearing a pair of pink polka-dotted footie pants, but Tootsie, inspired by Trixie’s choice of brown as a Fashion Statement, has chosen brown polka-dot pants. Again, she wears the comfy socks, and also is working another hat, this one a crocheted beanie, in a pinky-peachy color, with a huge pom pom on top. I’ve put some simple colorful bands in my hair, hoping to persuade Tootsie that she might try the same, but the whole idea of hats has been just so fascinating for her, I wonder when we might see her pretty little ponytails again! 
Yes, we got out of the jammies, but decided that at this point, we were only willing to go one step beyond that, maintaining a very large margin of Comfort. In a word: Footie Pants! (Well, actually, I think that’s two words, isn’t it?) We knew we had a few pairs of footie pants in our Wardrobe, so we decided to challenge each other with the task of creating the most comfortable and stylish outfit involving footie pants. Because sometimes it’s not enough to simply wear clothes, you want to make it a fun game, a challenge! So that’s what we did.
Let’s start by taking a closer look first at Miss Tillie. It’s worth noting that Tillie is dressed mainly in pink. Yes, I know, we usually see Trixie in her traditional favorite color, but for this Challenge, Trixie was willing to step outside her comfort zone (more on that in just a moment…), and when she left the pink items behind, Tillie jumped right on them! Here she wears pink polka dot footie pants, whtih a plain pink top. All that pink is definitely the right way to go to brighten up a dreary Winter day when you’d rather be sitting around in your jammies all day watching old movies on TV. 
Now, let’s look at Trixie, who is clothed almost completely in warm Winter colors of browns, blacks and some orange. Trixie later revealed that she went against the pink when she found these adorable footie pants with little frog faces on the feet. At least she thinks they must be frogs. Of course, I have to wonder why in the world anyone would want frogs on their feet. It’s not really for me, but then our Trixie is nothing if not a Free Spirit, always seeking out the most outrageous “against the grain” looks. Her woolen cap, with stripes of orange, black and gray, make her look like a skateboarding chick! Of course, the frogs totally destroy any thought that those feet might engage in any kind of sport, but there you have it. Trixie, our original mismatched rebel.
And how about me? I’m going for a different look entirely. You’ll notice first of all that I too am wearing stripes, not only in my woolen cap, but also up and down the whole length of my stretchy footie pants! My colors are light and bright, almost Spring-like. So totally different that what Trixie has chosen, and also different than Tillie’s outfit. 
And yet, even having said all this, at the same time, isn’t it ironic how our great Whimsie minds landed on many similar elements? How many? Well, let’s count them:
A little while back, Tessie promised a Fashion Show, but then we got distracted by the final episode of SHIELD and just had to stop and talk about that, and in addition, there’s been so much Christmas-type activity going on here in Whimsieville, that it’s been a real whirlwind! But every whirlwind must die down eventually, and when it does….Fashion is still there. And Whimsies are are always BIG fans of Fashion! So without any further delay, we present to you some of our latest Fashions from the Thrift Store Boutique!
I call this the “(Not So) Fancy Pants” Fashion Show because in fact our new clothes are pants, and…guess what? They’re not really very fancy. But that’s okay, because in general, Whimsies would rather be comfortable than be fancy, if we had to choose one over the other. And while I must admit we all look terribly good and terribly fashionable in our new pants, more than anything, and most important of all, we look comfortable…because we ARE comfortable.
Tessie, on the other hand, is evoking all the comfort of an evening at home, hanging out on the couch with Mr. Squee, looking positively relaxed in her new soft blue “footies.” Whenever you find a pair of pants that have “feet,” you have to say they are “jammie” pants, and that’s just fine with Tessie, and with the rest of us, because hanging out in jammies is one thing we Whimsies are very good at! The blue of Tessie’s pants might be called “Baby Blue,” and though we Whimsies are not babies, we have no aversion to the color. Notice how nicely Tessie’s pants blend with the pale yellow and blue of Mr. Squee’s Couch Blanket. He doesn’t seem to mind her sitting there with him, as long as she doesn’t try to monopolize the light from the nearby lamp. Cats love lamp light almost as much as we Whimsies love comfortable footie pants! And so, if you ask me, this is a picture of everything being right with the world.
Now, finally, it’s my turn! And even though the theme of this Fashion Show is (Not So) Fancy Pants, I think you might agree that I look a wee bit fancy in my hot pink shirt and sparkly pink sneakers. That’s the wonderful thing about Fashion: sometimes you can combine things that don’t really seem like they should go together, but when you do, you come up with some new look that absolutely works! That’s what I’m doing here. You’ll notice that my new pants are brown, and soft, and loaded with polka dots. Polka dots are always so much fun! (Why are they called “polka” dots, I wonder? Isn’t the Polka some crazy Slavic dance?? Maybe somebody thought all the dots looked like they are dancing? Who knows!) Anyway, the pants are soft, the shirt is soft, the polka dots are crazy, and the shoes are sparkly. How many differnt things can you have going on in one outfit? And yet, it all works together in perfect harmony, and besides all that—once again, this outfit has that all important quality of being completely comfortable! 
subdued pastel colors that make you want to calm down and get a good night’s sleep. But at the same time, there’s also a place for the lively look of of hot pink and crazy polka dots. It’s a good thing there are so many different types of clothes in the world, to fit all our many different types of moods. 
