Getting dressed for 7-5-3 ceremony

My eldest daughter had a shichigosan (7-5-3) celebration yesterday. This was her second, she had one when she turned three. This year the celebration was for turning seven years old earlier in the year. Girls celebrate at seven and three years old, boys celebrate at five years old.

We are very lucky that we have a certified professional kimono dresser in the family. She dressed my daughter and did her hair. I had to laugh, because it took almost as long as it took me to get ready (excluding make up) for my wedding!  Some children do have make up done, each to their own, but its not for us. 

All in all it took 90 minutes for my seven year old daughter to get dressed and her hair done for her shichigosan celebration. The dressing is so elaborate with layers among layers. I had forgotten how much stuff goes on underneath the kimono. The obi also takes more time than you'd realise to get it in exactly the right position and looking as aesthetic as possible. Same with the hair. A lot of children go with more basic hair with less adorning, but our dresser wanted to give her a more traditional look.

She did really well wearing the kimono for the better part of a day. I remember when my niece had her ceremony she changed into casual clothes right after the ceremony. And those that hire their kimono need to get it back by a certain time. But as much as she relished wearing it, she was glad to get out of it by the end of the day. For the record: it took her the whole of five minutes to get undressed!