New Yorkers display their over-the-top Easter hats during annual parade

(Image credit: Victor J. Blue/Getty Images)

published 6 April 2015

The annual Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan showcases the handiwork of creative New Yorkers who turn bonnets into masterpieces. "It's all about versatility," milliner Mary Anna Smith told KPCC. This year, she spent half a day to create a hat with a ship floating on sea foam, and also went to work making creations for her friends, including a headpiece that had an umbrella anchored to a nest with human hair. The parade goes back to the 1880s, when rich New Yorkers wore their finest outfits to Easter services on Fifth Avenue. Today, it's still about who can stand out the most, says attendee Kristen Lee Sergeant. "It's Easter and I don't want to be too garish," she said. "But then again, I do have a huge butterfly on my head." —Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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