— Style —

IN MY EASTER BONNET AND NEW RED SHOES

JUDY GARLAND AND FRED ASTAIRE, 'EASTER PARADE,' 1948
pin it

Spring is just around the corner. Hopefully. I’ve been waxing nostalgic on my blog about childhood spring rituals. Skipping ropes and marbles and white rain boots. And of course, Mum’s opening the big cedar chest to unveil our spring clothes. Sigh… I always longed for winter to be over so we could swap our winter coats and mittens and heavy snow boots for rain boots and spring coats. Like the coat I wore when I was seven, dusty rose with chocolate brown frogging. At least I think that was mine. My memory might be playing tricks. Maybe it belonged to one of my older sisters, and I only coveted it.

Don’t all youngest sisters covet what their older sisters have?

Thinking of spring and mud puddles and skipping led me to think about Easter. Crisply ironed dresses with crinolines… and white straw Easter bonnets with ribbons down the back and an elastic under the chin.

That’s me, above, circa 1958, with my grandmother, brother and my two older sisters in their Easter bonnets. But where is my bonnet? I know I had one because I remember unpacking it from the cedar chest and holding it reverently in anticipation of Easter morning.

My memories of childhood Easter mornings are vivid, as they are for many of us I’m sure. Easter baskets and chocolate eggs. Easter bonnets. Maybe a new dress and shiny shoes. White gloves for Sunday school and a small bible with a white zippered cover into which we slipped a carefully folded tissue and a dime for the collection plate.

But Easter in Canada is not a guarantee of warm temperatures. And even if the snow has gone, the ground might not be dry enough for shiny new shoes. One year when the snow and mud in the yard made wearing new shoes impossible, I remember tap dancing on our cement front step in new, red mary janes. I recall a moment of perfect happiness, doing my little dance in my new shoes on that small square of concrete in the sunshine. Then decamping inside to put my old winter boots on before I dared to venture further. Funny how that moment in the sunshine in my new shoes has always stayed with me.

This is a picture of my sister’s three children taken on Easter morning, 1986. My niece Elisabeth, in her bonnet, is chortling merrily, clearly entertaining her brother. But what I love most about this picture is how Elisabeth’s older sister, Rebecca, is not amused. Obviously she feels that wearing one’s Easter finery calls for a bit more dignity.


10 Comments

  • Diane March 28, 2018 at 9:26 am

    I love these stories! I can just see your new red shoes. And totally know what it’s like to have too much mud to wear them. Although that may or may not have stopped me . . .

    • Sue Burpee March 28, 2018 at 3:45 pm

      Thanks, Diane. I had a long talk with my mum on the phone today about our Easter memories. She doesn’t remember my new red shoes. But she talked warmly about the Easter hats my grandmother used to buy us. Wish I had a picture of me in my hat:)

  • 1010ParkPlace March 28, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    The photos you shared are soooo cute! Easter Sunday used to be so special. My mother and/or my grandmother always bought me a new Easter outfit. I have a photo of me at about age 3-4 at an Easter egg hunt, then one in high school with black, cat eye sunglasses. That one’s a hoot! I look so stern and unhappy! Then there’s one that’s about 10 years old of me in a cream suit and a hat… I was the only woman in church with a hat, but lots of women approached me and thanked me for wearing one. They were afraid they’d be the only one!!! xoxox, Brenda

    • Sue Burpee March 30, 2018 at 3:14 pm

      That’s a shame that the other ladies didn’t wear their own hats. Bet yours looked lovely. You’re a ground-breaker, Brenda! xo

  • Adela March 28, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    Oh, Sue. Your memories of childhood and Easter are so much like mine. I’ll be publishing my memories on Friday. I hope you pop by. Michigan rarely promised a warm Easter for us, either. By the way, you were an adorable toddler.

    • Sue Burpee March 30, 2018 at 3:09 pm

      Thanks, Adela. I will be sure to pop by. Hope we at least get a little sunshine this year.

  • Rebecca Forstadt Olkowski March 28, 2018 at 11:51 pm

    What wonderful memories. I would have loved red Mary Janes and always loved how everyone would dress up to the nines.

    • Sue Burpee March 30, 2018 at 3:11 pm

      I miss my red mary-janes. And white gloves. I always loved the white cotton gloves we wore to church.

  • LA CONTESSA March 29, 2018 at 10:03 am

    YES, I too have fond memories of EASTER Mornings!
    I received a TEXT from my 28 year old yesterday confirming EASTER DINNER but wanting an EGG HUNT FIRST!!!!!!!!!
    THAT gave me the BIGGEST SMILE INSIDE!
    XX

    • Sue Burpee March 30, 2018 at 3:11 pm

      Ha. That’s lovely.

    You Might Also Like

    MAKE LIFE COUNT.

    Sign up to our list and we’ll send you our sought-after guide “45 Ways To Change Your Life”
    I'm happy you've joined us! If you like what you read, I'd love for you to stay and subscribe to our updates by email. We have a great community of like-minded women, and your presence can only make it stronger.