Girl's blue shoes

These shoes are part of an outfit was worn by Maya Shaw, firstly when she was six years old and a bridesmaid at her grandfather's wedding in 2014, and then when she was christened at St Michael's the Catholic church in Remuera Auckland, in 2015. The outfit significantly represents two important family events in Maya’s life, as well as being an important signifier of Christian practices in New Zealand.

The family’s connection to St Michael’s was an important bond to make because it is the church most closely associated with Maya's future secondary school, and the family's school of choice.

The outfit is also significant in that it was purchased from two popular New Zealand stores - Farmers and Cotton On Kids. It represents an everyday retail and fashion experience familiar to most New Zealanders, and provides a contemporary point of difference to historical special occasion garments, which were usually custom made.

Maya is a participant in Te Papa’s Collecting Childhood project and Auckland University’s Growing Up in New Zealand study. As part of this project Maya and other children share their daily lives with us and donate items that represent key moments or the things they like doing.