It’s official: Summertime is here! Time for summer dresses and shorts, and time for delicious slices of watermelon! We Whimsies have combined the best of Summer and put it all together in one glorious Fashion Show for you! So let us begin.
First, here is our Group Portrait, all of us hanging out on our snazzy Adirondack chair, about to dive into the aforementioned delicious slice of watermelon. As you well know, we Whimsies are very fond of Sugar, and while we usually prefer the more elaborate treats of pastries, candies, cakes and cookies, every once in a while, we like to indulge in Sugar in its most natural form. And what could be more natural than a slice of watermelon in the middle of Summer?
You might notice that there are four of us and only one slice of watermelon, but that is no problem, as Whimsies love to share with friends! And besides, we are very small, and in comparison, that slice of watermelon is actually quite HUGE, so after the photo shoot, when we cut it into four very perfectly distinct wedges, it turned out to be just enough fruit for each of us.
It’s often been said that Whimsies have “watermelon smiles,” and we really do, if you think of a full half slice of watermelon, as seen here. Maybe one of the reasons why you can’t seem to wipe those watermelon smiles off the faces of any Whimsies is because we are always dreaming of the next time we might get to eat a delicious slice of our favorite fruit!
Tootsie in particular could not bear to part with the watermelon when it came time for our individual Portraits, and insisted it be incorporated into her photo. For all the world I would say it looks as if Tootsie is just about ready to devour this whole slice of watermelon by herself! At least that faraway look in her eyes seems to indicate that is what she is daydreaming about.
And isn’t this the most appropriately Summer-themed outfit in which to be eating watermelon? The red bandana print of her dress, with a shirred top and tie-straps exemplifies the best of everything you associate with Summer.
The only thing more summery, perhaps, is her hat. It might be hard to tell from this photo, but on one side, her hat is a delicate white cotton eyelet, but on the other side, a white terrycloth, such as you might have for a beach towel. We Whimsies have of course never been to a beach, but we have seen plenty of pictures of it on The Internet, and of course seen it in movies such as one that Mr. Russ and Miss Chrissy watched just a few weeks ago, called Where The Boys Are. This is a 1960’s movie, from the decade in which us Whimsies had our beginnings, when everything in the world was so much simpler than it is today. In this mostly frolicsome romp (yes, we watched it with them), a bunch of boys and girls leave their colleges in the snowy north and go to Fort Lauderdale Beach, hoping to have some fun and maybe find somebody to marry. At least some of the girls are thinking about getting married. But now I am getting way off track! I can say this, though: while it’s true that we see a lot of the beach in this movie, from what I remember, we don’t see anyone wearing a terrycloth/white eyelet hat like the one Tootsie is sporting in her Portrait. And I also don’t think we see anyone eating watermelon. So, you know what? The more I think about it, the more I have to wonder how accurate this movie actually is…
But let’s move on!
After prying Tootsie and the watermelon out of the Adirondack chair, Trixie stepped in for her photo shoot. As you know, Trixie is Whimsieville’s #1 Fan of the color PINK, so she rummaged through the Wardrobe especially looking for Summery items in her favorite color, and ultimately paired together a very casual short-sleeved shirt with soft pink shorts. But the pièce de résistance, as the French like to say, is her little pink ruffled hat, with a brown flower adornment on the brim. Generally you would not think a brown flower would sound very attractive, but brown is generally such a complimentary accompaniment to anything pink, and in this case, it works out perfects, wouldn’t you say?
I guess I’ll go next, in my flowery green outfit that fits somewhere right between Spring and Summer. You may have noticed that Tessie was wearing this very same outfit a couple of months ago when we did our Fashion Show Complete with Dinosaurs. At the time, I very much admired how bright and lovely Tessie looked in this outfit, so I kept it in the back of my mind that someday I wished to give it my own spin. And that’s what I’m doing here with a little green stretchy cap on my head.
Since everyone else was also choosing to wear hats, I didn’t want to be the oddball, so I searched for just the perfect headpiece to accompany my green and flowery outfit, and tried on several from our Wardrobe, but in the end I decided, as they say, to “Keep It Simple, Stupid!” Now, I’m not saying I’m stupid, or anyone else is stupid, that just happens to be the saying. And the meaning of the saying is that in the end, the simplest solution is very often the best solution. And so, here you see me, in simple green pants (which just a touch of drama in a ruffly hem), a simple green hat, and big expressive flowers all over my dress.
And now at last we come to Tessie, looking positively adorable in aqua! Like Tootsie, her dress has a shirred top and thin straps, as well as a ruffled hem. The juxtaposition of pale pink and pale yellow accents in her aqua dress make for a fabric that simply screams of all the hazy, lazy joys of Summer. With those large armholes and open neckline, I would imagine that no matter how hot it might get, Tessie will be staying cool in her choice of Summer dress.
But we must pause for a moment to talk about her hat. To the naked eye, it appears to be a simple aqua cap. But in fact…it is not! Tessie is in fact practicing a bit of Fashion Deception on you! (And I say Deception in the nicest way.) You will notice from this photo of Tessie and Tootsie waiting on the side for their chance to be sit for their Portraits, that Tessie’s hat actually has a cleverly disguised secret! It is NOT a pure aqua hat, but on one side, sports a sporty orange and yellow Hawaiian flower pattern! 
Very nice for some outfits, but this would not do at all for the gentle aqua plaid dress Tessie had chosen. So, rather than appear in something so jarring to the senses, this clever little Whimsie simply made the decision to tuck the entire brim of her bucket hat up under the “bucket” and simply pretend this was a completely aqua hat.
Sometimes you have to think on the fly, and that is exactly what Tessie has done here, and I applaud her for it. And I just hope I have not offended you too much by showing you this “behind the scenes” photo of her crazy mixture of gentle plaid and mismatched bright Hawaiian flowers! If I have offended you, I apologize. But I think you will get over it. Because it’s Summer, and everything is so relaxed, nothing to fret about. Go have yourself a delicious slice of watermelon, and before you know it, you’ll be feeling quite yourself again.
