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:
The weather’s been a bit cold lately, so we’ve been hanging around in our snug Winter jammies, helping Miss Chrissy clean the house for the Holidays. As we’ve been cleaning and organizing, we’ve been running into a lot of stuff that is stuffed deep in closets, but now it’s time to take it out and look it over, and some of it has Seen Better Days and is ready for a trip to The Goodwill Trailer. Some stuff, I say…but not these hats!
Now, how about Trixie? Well, we all know what Trixie is like, so it’s no surprise that she has chosen to wear a baseball-type “cap.” This cap has an exceptionally long and large brim, for keeping the sun off your face when you are walking outside. Miss Chrissy used to wear this cap all the time when she went walking, but lately, she has discovered two other defenses against the sun—one: using a treadmill, indoors, or two: walking with a “
Moving on, I’ve saved the best for last! Not necessarily because this is a picture of me, but because I am wearing the most terrific hat of all! This is not one of Miss Chrissy’s hat, but instead, it belongs to The Man, and it is indeed a man’s hat, because it is a replica of the hat that was worn by Indiana Jones in all those Indiana Jones movies. How cool is that? We Whimsies love Indiana Jones movies (especially the first one) because they are so full of spine-tingling adventure! Well…we don’t like any of the parts with spiders …or bats …or snakes …but other than that, those movies are tons of fun! And that’s why I get such a kick out of wearing an Indiana Jones hat! And don’t you think it looks just lovely paired with my blue polar bear jammies?
We have some new shoes to show you, but we thought we’d take a break from the Shoe Show to get back to another one of our favorite fashion finds: hats! Miss Chrissy found a couple of cute ones at the Boutique recently, and we’ve also pulled one out from the back of the Wardrobe that we’re not sure whether or not we’ve already displayed this one. You know what? We have so many hats now, we can’t possibly keep track of them all, LOL! But that’s not a bad thing.
And yet doesn’t it work perfectly? Till also decides to show a fringe of bangs–though really, her bangs are more than just a fringe, aren’t they? With her long beautiful hair over her ears, held down in place by this snug little beauty of a winter cap, I’m sure she’ll stay plenty warm when the weather warrants a Winter hat!
Now Trixie, on the other hand, does not appear ready to let go of the Summer months—and perhaps a good thing, too, as we’ve been unseasonably high here in Whimsieville these past days, with October temperatures still climbing into the 80’s! Well, Trixie is ready for the temps and the sunshine with her sporty denim hat, newly arrived from the Boutique. Notice the jaunty angle of the brim! Oh, how like our Trixie! And yet the single decorative detail of a thin white ribbon, tied in a pretty bow…how feminine against the rugged denim! This big floppy hat will fit for any occasion, even going over Trixie’s full braids with no apparent problem! A denim hat does not stretch (like the wool ones Tillie and I are wearing) so too big is better than too small in this case. With denim, you don’t want to be snug and uncomfortable. You want to be loose and lazy!
