Turning out a princess for Communion day!

The day of her communion is the first big glamour event in a little girl"s life: the first chance to dress like a real princess, to wear a veil or a tiara, and to get snapped by every photographer around.It"s hardly surprising that children are excited by the event.For months in advance, they"ve had preparations in both their schools and their parish churches; they face the ordeal of making their First Confession - and then they finally get to make their First Communion, and be the focus of their entire family"s attention for an entire day.This week, the Westmeath Examiner found three beautiful girls who agreed to model some of the loveliest outfits available in Mullingar for this year"s Communion.Kelly Ann McLoughlin, and her cousins, Sinéad Gallagher and Emily Murphy, are all, in fact, making their First Communion themselves this year - and judging by how they looked when they tried on a selection of dresses this week, they"ll all do their families proud.First stop was Freya"s Closet, on Mary Street, opened five months ago by Kim Kenny. Kim"s tip for the fashion-conscious Mum dressing her little girl for Communion this year is that bolero tops are very much in style this year, and to watch out: the rush to get the Communion outfit bought is already well under way!At Freya"s Closet, Kelly-Ann was delighted with the dress she tried, which had a bolero featuring embroidery studded with pearls, over a dress with a ruched waist and a beautiful embroidered motif to the front panel, while Sinead loved the ankle-length dress which she modelled, which had beading and embroidery detail, as well as a beautiful puffed sleeve bolero. A simple but beautiful flowered headpiece set the outfit off beautifully.At Minor Details, located in the Town Mall, owner Miriam McManus has been catering for communion customers for several years, and has the entire outfit, including shoes, gloves and parasols, as well as the bags, dresses, veils and headpieces, and she keeps a record of what"s sold, so that no two children from the same school will end up with the same dress.'Short dresses are out: it"s mid-calf, ballet-length, and even a little longer than that, that are currently in style,' says Miriam. 'White is the main colour, and the odd ivory, but with ivory, not to the extent that we would have sold them years ago. Veils are coming back: they were going, but they"re definitely coming back, and you can go for short veils, at 36', or long ones, which are 45'.'Miriam says you can dress a child for communion, dress, shoes and veil/headpiece, for around €200.At the store, Emily looked beautiful, in a long 'Little People' layered dress, with ruching and bead detail and bolero top, worn with a white tiara-style headpiece, and a handbag - and because she liked the look of it, a white parasol.Sinead"s dress was a 'Isaeblla', a very elegant semi-fitted dress with satin ribbon detail to the front, and tasateful embroidery, topped with a veil and headpiece - and for the finishing touches, beaded satin gloves.At Tots Paradise, on Oliver Plunkett Street, owned by Annette Wallace, both Emily and Kelly-Ann were intrigued at the amount of detail to the back of their dresses! Kelly-Ann wore 'Jodi', by Linzi Jay, a fitted full-length dress, with bolero top. The dress had some ruching to the side, and bead detail along the chest area, and the side, and with a beautiful beaded wide-sweep bow to the rear, while the bolero had beading along the edges, and attractive beaded motifs along the sleeves and front. The outfit was topped with a diamante tiara.Sinéad"s dress, by 'Jelly Tots', had a wide, tiered skirt, with a fine net overskirt, and a beaded top, which featured puffed sleeves, and satin ribbon detail to the neckline. For headwear, she wore a headpiece featuring beads and flowing ribbons.At Lollipops, in Mount Street, where owner Helen Purcell has been kitting out girls for Communion for 25 years, all three of our models got dressed up together.Emily wore a beaded tulle dress with matching bolero, which also had beading, and a matching bag, while for her hair, there was a lovely beaded headpiece.Kelly-Ann"s was a Mireio Couture dress, featuring a pleated satin bodice, with satin embroidery, and lovely button detail to the rear, topped with a tiara.Sinead"s dress was Shantung silk, featuring pleating to the bodice, and puffed sleeves, with a full skirt, and topped with a veil and parasol.'Dresses don"t vary much from season to season,' says Helen, but, she says different styles suit different body shapes, and trying on a dress is, obviously, the best way to ascertain if it suits a girl. She stocks gloves at €15.95, socks at €12.95, and a selection of tights.Our three models? Well, they loved trying on the outfits - and here"s a hint: all loved wearing veils!