Forget about New York Fashion Week or the Paris runway. In Sydney, Australia, well-dressed ducks steal the scene at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. It’s here that the waterfowl are outfitted in elegant pink, green and yellow gowns, and even have tiny matching hats, too! They waddle down the catwalk at the Pied Piper Duck Show, and the adorable sight is considered one of the highlights of the annual event, which overall attracts an average of 900,000 visitors.
Brian Harrington, a quirky Australian farmer, is the man behind the fashion show. He’s run it for the past three decades, and works with a professional dressmaker who individually styles each duck to a theme or era. They’ve covered daywear, evening attire, bridal outfits, and more. Currently, they’re showcasing costumes from the 1800’s era as well as favorites from the past.
Haute couture isn’t the only waterfowl-related event that you’ll see at the Easter Show. Duck racing also has crowds laughing and cheering their favorite contender onto victory.
12.
Elizabelle
Not finding anything recent about this Duck Show. I hope it is still A Thing. But stories are 6 to 8 years old.
This year, the ducks would have to be in masks and PPE.
13.
MomSense
Oh my god.
14.
Bonnie
Wow! Great fashions. Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy would have loved this.
15.
laura
My eyes! The cute, it burns! In a good way. Just made a King Arthur’s apple cake with brown sugar frosting with fresh Gravenstein apples and walnuts. Its resting comfortably on the kitchen counter and the smell is lovely.
Hard work day – a Member who is an industrial supervisor in one of my prison assignments called concerned about laundering San Quentin’s inmate laundry with inadequate safety measures and ppe for him, and his inmate workers. I’m filing a health & safety grievance and am beside myself with worry because they are essential workers this is a necessary service, the virus is rampant and the presumption that CV19 positive was acquired on the job has expired. I try to keep up with as much information as possible and while current opinion is that surface transmission is not prevalent is that the case with fabrics that are used by those with active illness.
16.
NotMax
Sydney Preenstreet.
17.
Mo Salad
Of course, the irony would be that if they went there, TaMara would have to quarantine for 14 days, but Penelope only 7.
This makes me happier than I’ve been in a long while…
33.
Jay
Breaking: Around 40 individuals on USC's fraternity-filled 28th Street have contracted the coronavirus. Both UCLA and USC have reported over 150 positive cases. https://t.co/dTR56XmDTi— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) July 30, 2020
34.
bcwbcw
I always have ducks with dressing…
35.
Orange is the New Red
Somehow I am picturing a row of Handmaid’s Tale ducks.
OH. MY. GOSH. Cheryl, you have no idea how much I needed a thread like this. Thank you!
(And if anyone plans on sending me clothes…send bandages, too. Ducks have death claws).
37.
namekarB
Duck Strut. Wonder if they could teach them to goose step?
38.
opiejeanne
The hats! Oh my goodness, those hats!
The first panel with two ducks in flower prints reminds me very much of the two very tacky women in NannyMcPhee, one of them engaged to the papa. This isn’t the exact outfit I was thinking of, but it’s close:
SiubhanDuinne
TaMara totally has to do this.
Baud
That dog is in disbelief.
trollhattan
Amazeballs! If Aussies didn’t exist we’d have to invent them.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I’m not sure about that. To me, the dog pose says “game on, bitches!”
Let’s play.
debbie
They seem awfully compliant. Didn’t one of TaMara’s ducks keep ripping off her scarf?
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
The ducks look kind of stunned, too.
japa21
The odds are the dog is there to keep the ducks from running wild. That breed is used for herding ducks as well as sheep.
Betty
Would she want to do that to Penelope?
dmsilev
@japa21: So the dog is the fashion critic then?
randy khan
Clearly I need to go back to Australia. I totally missed this when I was there.
Elizabelle
What did we do before the internet? And when can we bring this to the US?
My Modern Met website, from 2014:
Elizabelle
Not finding anything recent about this Duck Show. I hope it is still A Thing. But stories are 6 to 8 years old.
This year, the ducks would have to be in masks and PPE.
MomSense
Oh my god.
Bonnie
Wow! Great fashions. Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy would have loved this.
laura
My eyes! The cute, it burns! In a good way. Just made a King Arthur’s apple cake with brown sugar frosting with fresh Gravenstein apples and walnuts. Its resting comfortably on the kitchen counter and the smell is lovely.
Hard work day – a Member who is an industrial supervisor in one of my prison assignments called concerned about laundering San Quentin’s inmate laundry with inadequate safety measures and ppe for him, and his inmate workers. I’m filing a health & safety grievance and am beside myself with worry because they are essential workers this is a necessary service, the virus is rampant and the presumption that CV19 positive was acquired on the job has expired. I try to keep up with as much information as possible and while current opinion is that surface transmission is not prevalent is that the case with fabrics that are used by those with active illness.
NotMax
Sydney Preenstreet.
Mo Salad
Of course, the irony would be that if they went there, TaMara would have to quarantine for 14 days, but Penelope only 7.
mrmoshpotato
OMG! LOL!
arrieve
Clearly I’m going to spend the rest of the evening looking for old duck fashion pictures.
J.
@SiubhanDuinne: Agree!
eclare
So adorable and joyful, thank you!
HeleninEire
OMG. This is great!!!
John Revolta
Ooooooo. I needed this real bad.
I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was disgusted and you gave me a duck fashion show. Yay!
Kristine
I retweeted those ducks because they are wonderful.
Some of the comments are great, too. I love Miss Marple.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Those are incredibly elaborate costumes.
MoxieM
(Awww I thought we wanted more, like last time. Welp, it’s here) the ducks are fabulous.
Newfoundland (a Brown Clown!!) vs Lifeguard Challenge: The water is cool!
Luciamia
Pearls? In the daytime? Co. Klinger would be incensed!
raven
Pretty decent NBA game to start off with.
rikyrah
Pearl would beat them senseless????
Benw
Absolutely ducking adorbs!!
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Aflac!
Salty Sam
This makes me happier than I’ve been in a long while…
Jay
bcwbcw
I always have ducks with dressing…
Orange is the New Red
Somehow I am picturing a row of Handmaid’s Tale ducks.
TaMara (HFG)
OH. MY. GOSH. Cheryl, you have no idea how much I needed a thread like this. Thank you!
(And if anyone plans on sending me clothes…send bandages, too. Ducks have death claws).
namekarB
Duck Strut. Wonder if they could teach them to goose step?
opiejeanne
The hats! Oh my goodness, those hats!
The first panel with two ducks in flower prints reminds me very much of the two very tacky women in NannyMcPhee, one of them engaged to the papa. This isn’t the exact outfit I was thinking of, but it’s close:
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/341640321710031496/
rikyrah
@Jay: ???????
LeftCoastYankee
Maybe I’m reading into it, but it seems like putting “High Tea” fashions on ducks is the down under way of poking a little fun at the motherland.