ABOUT
Baptism is the religious rite of sprinkling water onto a person’s forehead or immersing an individual in water. Christians believe that it is the death of the old life of sin and the beginning of the new life. This ritual symbolizes purification or regeneration and admits the baptized into the Christian Church. A white baptism dress is usually used in this ceremony. A baby wears this type of dress when she is a year old or less. Parents take their baby to the church and the priest washes the baby’s head with Holy Water. For Kiersten Walker, her baby’s baptism dress is a powerful object because baptism signifies an act of obedience and identifies a person with Christ and the church. Kiersten was never baptised when she was a baby, but she started this tradition with her daughter Janae Nunes, who was baptized at First United Church of Jesus Christ, Brooklyn, New York on September 1, 2019. During the ritual, Janae wore this ivory silk mid-length dress, decorated with a translucent floral shell decorated with rhinestones in the middle of each flower. A silk white bow encircles the middle of the dress and drapes down the back of the garment. Janae also wore a semi-transparent newborn christening bonnet that tied under her chin. Baptism dresses are made of materials such as silk or cotton, which means that people can save them for many years. The baptism dress is beautiful and meaningful for Christian parents, meant to remind others at the christening of how Christ died to wash away sin. It represents purity, as well as a renewed innocence.

— Sharmin Momtaj and Sonia Sultana