Crow Molting Season

To keep an eye on Mr. Pants year round is to witness a miracle of transmogrification.

If you didn’t know it was him, by the territory he guards and by the company he keeps (Mrs. Pants), you might think he was a different crow in each season.

We all first came to know him for his breathtaking breeches, his tremendous trousers, his peculiar pantaloonery … I could go on, but I’ll be merciful and stop now, letting a series of summer pictures of Mr. P at his most sartorially splendid tell the story.

Purple haze, all in my brain …

Splendour In The Grass

Mr. Pants with his summer hipster beard, cover model for the 2020 City Crow Calendar

The following video captures his fantastic pantaloons fluttering in the summer breeze.

But. like a perfect truffle, ice wine, or a pumpkin spice lattée, Mr. P’s trouserly splendour is a seasonal offering, and must be appreciated as such.

In winter, he really just looks likes your average pant-less crow.

Suave and handsome for sure, but minus the feathery kilt.

In particularly frosty weather he can, like all the other crows, deploy some feathery long johns, but they’re not the same as his summer finery.

Mr. and Mrs. Pants, January 2018

By spring … still just your normal dapper city crow.

Mr. Pants as seen in the May page of the 2020 City Crow Calendar

But we keep watching.

Around June the fashion miracle begins and the legendary leggings reappear …

But it is perhaps the autumnal transition from summer splendour to his streamlined winter look that is the most eye catching. For Mr. Pants the molting season is very, very dramatic.

It’s true that every one of the local crows looks like a rejected extra from a pirate/zombie movie, but Mr. P takes things to the extreme.

He does nothing by halves on the feathery fashion front, and the late summer/early fall molting season is no exception. Go big, or go home, seems to be his philosophy.

Here he is as photographed yesterday, September 10, 2019

By October he will be smoothly magnificent once again.

By mid-June 2020 we should see the beginnings of tremendous trousers.

It is the circle of life (and of feathery fashion) embodied in one magnificent crow.

Bringing you, direct to you from the runways of East Vancouver, the very latest in autumn fashion inspiration. I encourage you to leaf through the new trends and adopt some elements to create your very own signature fall look.

I can guarantee you will stand out from the crowd.

Eric and Clara model “dragged through a hedge backwards” look that is so of the moment.

The Statement Nostril

I really can’t over emphasize the importance this new must-have fashion staple!

A particularly severe molting season this year has left many a corvid nostril exposed to the elements. As with most things in life, if you got it, you might as well flaunt it.

Flaunt those nostrils …

Own those nostrils!

How To Wear It

This season’s look screams, “I don’t care what I look like!” along with a touch of “I’ve pretty much given up on grooming.”

A determinedly devil-may-care attitude is required to successfully pull off this somewhat challenging fashion trend.

So worth the effort though. Just look at the results when it’s successfully done …

Don’t be shy. Get out there and strut your tattered stuff.

Mabel, last year’s calendar cover model, demonstrates how the careful use of accessories can help pull off this look. A bit of hard old pizza in your beak makes you the indisputable Queen of the Runway.

Who you lookin’ at?

The Neck Ruffle

Hot from the fashion presses, this dynamic new look is a sort of mullet hybrid.

Quite the party in back, although not much business in front (see next trend below.)

The Indie Beard

This electrifying new trend is taking all of East Van by storm. Some humans even sport the look. While thoroughly of the new and now, we see in it a nod to the first beatnik hipsters.

Mr. Pants (such a fashion guru) was an early adopter of this bold new facial experiment …

But now some of the younger crows are hopping on the straggly chin bandwagon …

Marvin thinks he looks pretty groovy.

The Most Important Fall Fashion Question

Of course, these are only fads and foibles. What those of us in the know most want to find out is:

Will Mr. Pants regain his full trousered splendour after the molting season???

Here he was, back in early August when his Pants were at their most magnificent.

Things have been looking a little sparser of late …

But, take heart, Pants fans.

I checked a post I wrote this time last year and voila, our cover model was Mr. Pants himself, taken in August 2017 with a full set of glorious pantaloons.

This gives me great hope that His Pantship will be back in full regalia once the molting season is over.

We do hope you’re going to try some of these looks, brought to you by the Crow-dashians of East Vancouver. Do send us any photos of the results!

I have felt a bit like one of those fashion bloggers who photograph edgy street fashion over the past few days. It’s been quite a laugh.

Seriously though, the poor crows are kind of miserable and irritable during the molting season, so do be nice to them. If it’s still dry where you are, think of leaving them some water. Kind words are also always appreciated.

www.junehunter.com