Brooklyn Botanical Garden: cherry blossom festival

So when I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden for the last day of the cherry blossom festival and Sakura Matsuri.

I was super proud of myself for wearing my cherry blossom inspired headband and bangles, and pink chiffon shirt. I thought I would be the only one there who would think to dress the part.   “Who would ever think to get so decked out to come to a botanical garden to see trees?”

But clearly I know nothing about this event.

Much of the crowd was in full costume specifically tailored to the honor of the cherry blossoms.

There were pink scarves and floral printed dresses abound, each person taking the best of their personal collections to capture some cherry blossom-ness before even leaving the house.

Many appeared to have prepared for this day for weeks leading up to the event. 

They crafted their frothy baby-doll outfits months in advance with giant oversized bows, white petticoats and cupcake printed skirts and pinky winky lip-gloss and eye shadow.

Even the less dramatic folks got into the spirit of things.

I saw a middle-aged woman who simply wore a full-sleeved floral chiffon blouse and carried a Japanese parasol that she had purchased when she arrived. In my mind, I could see her pull that out of the back of her closet saying, “oh this blouse sort of looks like a kimono, right, honey?”  These lovely girls looked so pretty too:

 

There were a select few who looked as if they had been waiting since comic-con to resume life as their wild gothic alter egos.   Of course this makes sense since cherry blossoms= Sakura Matsuri Japanese festival= Harajuku fashion= whatever.

With such a simple theme, it was incredible to see the range of interpretation that people had for their attire.  And it was incredible to note peoples desire to attend the festival in a using clothing to connect to the events of the day that they related most closely to. Be it Japanese culture, modern or traditional for that matter, or just for the beauty of nature, most people used their clothing as a way to enter the event and transcend a visual interaction.

While I brought my camera – almost by accident-- to take   a few stray pics of some extraordinary cherry blossoms, the people who attended were all the more fascinating to me.