Dress Ups

Hi S.,

My daughter lives and breathes dress-up!!! Santa brought her a lot at christmas time that he happed to get right after Halloween for 75% off. Lots of mine comes from garage sales. I like to get dress up grown up clothes and cut some off at the bottom, or just fancy older kids dresses. Thrift stores are good for that too! Dollar General has boa's for $1. IF feathers around the house bother you get christmas garland in pretty colors and let them use that as a boa.

Have fun with it.
R.

My kids all love dress up as well. I check at local mom-to-mom sales and garage sales (though I am very selective about which garage sales) for old halloween costumes and accessories (shoes, jewelry, capes, etc.). Another great strategy is to hit the stores in the week after Halloween. Last year I bought each of my kids a full "dress up" outfit for very little money and gave it to them at Christmas as a gift.

Check out Kansas City Toy and Constructive Playthings, at 103rd and State Line. They have lots of hats, plastic jewelry, masks, and other dress up items in children's sizes.

S.

Thrift stores are a great place to find dress-up clothes. Take your daughter with you and allow her to choose. She will have her own ideas of what she can use and what she con't. She may also enjoy things that you would use in every-day life as props for her play.

L.

Hi S.,
The best place I found to buy dress up clothes is Goodwill. Especially on the last weekend of the month,they have everything in the store at half off. You can get a dress for .50. Just look for older girls clothing and for adult shirts. They seem to like those alot. Anything with alot of color too. Once she gets in her dress up clothes, have a tea party or let her set up all her dolls and stuffed animals and have one with them. If grandma is close by invite her for the tea party too. Other than that,if she is using her imagination, I would just let her roll with it. She seems to be having fun with what she is doing. You could also make a salon day and do her makeup and nails. They love that.
Have fun,
Denise

I get a ton of stuff at the thrift store. I also let them have some minimal makeup on days we do not have anywhere to go. It gets messy but my two girls, 3 and 2, have so much fun with it. I also let them pose for pictures after they have dressed up. I keep it all in a tub under the bed. I also bought some costume jewelry at garage sales and stuff.

I don't have any girls only boys, but I love lillianvernon.com and I've noticed in the little girl section that they have a couple of different dress-up trunks, prices range from $15-$40-depending on how much you add to it. You might want to check it out, also I don't know if she's a Disney fan but they even have a Disney Princess themed one. Hope this helps
C.

Goodwill, St. Vincent dePaul, or the Salvation army would all be good places to pick up dress up items--just wash the items first. Also, Michael crafts has all sorts of dress up related materials you could use to MAKE dress up accessories.

My little one loves this too! I check out any thrift stores, etc. Pick up pretend makeup and occasionally a set of jewelry from dollar stores (have to watch some of the jewelry - it can fall apart easily). I pick her up a new dress probably every couple of weeks....I get fancy girl's dresses too.

My husband and I collaborated and built a treasure chest to hold her dressup clothes. I bought some princess material from walmart and cut out the various faces to applique on purple broadcloth (her favorite color) - then I covered the box entirely, inside and out with the material. We keep it in her closet.

Hi,
I have a 5 1/2 year old and a 4 year old, both girls that love to dress up. Mydressuptrunk.com... is awesome!!! You know the dresses you can get at Disney store and at Walmart/target? Well, they can't be washed, they aren't finished at the bottoms, and tear easily? My daughter had to wear a leotard under one I bought her from Walmart for $25.00 because it itched her so badly. Well, this mydressuptruck.com, is great!!! Everything is hand-made, washable and beautiful! Every princess, including Barbie and Disney, nothing scratches, it is all well constructed to take a beating. I've had some dresses for two years!!! They are all elastic no buttons or zippers and will stretch. You can buy in bulk to save on shipping. My kids are getting the size 5-7 this year for Christmas. What we do to make it more fun, I set up my video camera and put up a sheet over their room door to make it like a stage. I announce them as the character they are dressed up as, and when they come out, I take video, then we watch it. They love that! Superstars!! :)

Well you could always go to a local thrift store,or childrens orchord.I always loved to get things at thrift store's to do whatever with when I was younger.Whatever you do have fun.

A great place I've found is resale places. My daughter loves the older girls clothes for dress-up and I've found some great costume jewelry at Goodwill (just be sure no little pieces can fall off and what not of course). Another thing is keep an eye out for day after Halloween sales-you can get great deals on costumes that work great for dress-up. :)

you can find great used lots of dress up clothing at ebay!

I was just at Tuesday Morning in Lee's Summit this weekend and near the entrance they have a display with dress up shoes, boas, dresses, etc. I did not check the prices, but they typically have really good deals.

Hope that helps! I have a 3.5 year old too and she dresses up quite a bit. I put all her dress up things in a small trunk. She can pull it out when she wants and it's easy to clean up since all we have to do is put everything back in the trunk.

I think that's great she has such an active imagination! Encourage her to "play" different roles...girls can do anything they want!!!!
Try going to Goodwill or any local thriftstore for cheap, fun and funky clothes and accessories. Ask your mom and aunts & other family for any items that would help her create a "fabulous" wardrobe for playtime fun!

S. - A fun time to find dress up clothes is a day before or the day of Halloween. Many stores have their costumes on sale. I've had great luck at Old Navy and Target.

B.

Wow, you've gotten a lot of great ideas here... My daughter is 3 1/2 and loves to dress up too. We have a "tickle box" which comes from a Canadian show I used to watch growing up called "Mr. Dressup". It's basically a trunk full of random things to dress up in, including accessories (hats, jewelry, etc) I also find it handy to have hooks on the wall so it's visible and easier to play with--they're just cheap hooks we got at Home Depot. Also, I think it's very important to have a mirror so she can check herself out!!

Have fun!
S.

Everyone had such great ideas! My 3.5 yr old also loves dress-up. I'm actually planning a tea party for her with a couple of her friends and all the ideas were a great inspiration.
When we went to Disney World in Florida we took my daughter to a place called bibidi-bobidi (i think) boutique where they dressed her up as a princess (outfit, hair, make-up, shoes, scepter, professional photgrapher...the works). So if you ever go there take your child. It was the greatest day of my daughter's life.

Ebay is always a great find for dress ups but I will tell you, if you can sew--or even just want to learn, my little girl loves stuff best made for her style and there are oodles of patterns available that are really easy to make all sorts of little stuff...And even if you don't want to sew, you can do a lot with the patterns and use fabric adhesives.

Lot's of ideas and very affordable embelishments in Simplicity books at your local Wal-mart.

I would go to Toys R Us They should have all kinds of stuff and Walmart has Princess dress up clothes too. Just a couple of ideas

Hi S.!

For christmas last year santa made my girls a playhouse with a kitchen, bedroom, and dress up parlor (its real cute, made from an old barn) any way, santa was on a budget! lol. i garage selled to find all the supplies i needed....but for the dress up, i went to thrift stores. You can find all kinds of things...ballet costumes, old prom dresses, fun clothes,,,lots of cheap jewlery and shoes... just remember to wash everything!!!

good luck!

My daughter loves dress up too. But we are mighty poor right now with my husband in graduate school. The only way she gets something new is if I have credit at Children's Orchard. She has grandparents that send her dresses that I would NEVER put on her in public, I just add them to her dress up clothes! So far her favorite hobby literally hasn't cost us any money, which is great for now!

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1:30 to 4 pm you can go to the Clothing Closet in the new building on the corner of Rt 4 and County Home Rd. Everything there is free and they have everything you could want,dresses, purses, shoes etc.

Halloween costumes make great dress-up clothes, for boys and girls. "Mom's" clothes are always a favorite. To add to the fun, you could dress up in your own costumes- be "Daddy", the cashier at the local store, or another Mommy. Thrift stores also carry inexpensive clothes that could be used for dress-up. Add different hats, scarves, purses, and jewlery and your daughter could have a full day of play.

My daughter was the same way - i was a big fan of yard sales and goodwill stores for dress up. there's no reason to spedn lot of $ on store-bought dress-up clothes, when all she needs is grownup stuff to play with. dont; forget shoes and jewelry - $5 at a yard sale and she'll be in heaven!

Hi S.!

My 3 year old daughter loves to play dress up too! It's so much fun. Try hitting garage sales and looking for old fancy hats, purses and gloves. That's always a blast. Costume jewelry necklaces are good too.

I also bought some fairly inexpensive costumes at walmart, like little plastic dress-up shoes, ballerina outfits, scarves and those sorts of things. Don't forget doctor's jackets, hard hats and fun stuff like that too.

Another idea is to add more accessories and tools. An old briefcase, notepads and pens, fake tubes of lipstick, whatever might add to the fun. We like to play restaurant a lot and my daughter is always the waitress and the cook! It's a blast!

Have fun!

Steff

I have 2 daughters that are now 10 (11 in a few days) and a 9 year old. They absolutley loved playng dress up. It lead to them both being incrediably interested in other cultures and times in history.

My oldest daughter became so interested in other cultures she made friends with girls from the countrys whose clothes she was dressing up in. One friend invited my daughter over to her home for a celebration. It was cool to walk in and find my little girl beinging the only caucasian in the room and being so welcome and comfortable learning about people who were different from herself. This was just last year when she was in the 5th grade. Another friend brought her a beautiful Sari back from India, she was upset when we wouldn't let her wear it to school for picture day. It was too nice to wear to school.

As for findng clothes for dress up, I like to do everything on a budget. We made a lot just with old sheets. There is a book on making costumes out of things around the house. I made a beautiful greecian outfit with a sheet, ribbon and fabric glue. It was used as a class project, Halloween costume and another project for a club.

Every time I am in Party City I check out the clearence bin.I got a beautiful Komono (geisha outfit) that my daughters loved. Be careful though the package was opened and the kids got lice
from the wig that was in the package YUCK!!!. So now the rule is we don't use anything that goes on heads unless the package is sealed.

The other places I can think of to get great cheap dress up clothes is from grandma. We have a several old dresses from my mom that the girls love to play in. Also second hand clothing stores and goodwill. We picked up a dress that was way to big for my youngest, with some alteration it was turned into a renaisance princess gown.

My kids tend to do total marketing effort, so when they choose a dress up theme they want to know about the customes and traditions for the era or country they are exploring. We have big lamanated maps on the playroom wall and we pick up books about what ever they are in to. It also gave me a good way to get them to try new foods.

Sorry to have rambled but dress up was a huge part of my kids play time and I really think using their imagination then has made a big difference in them now.Hope this helps. Also searching for all the pieces for some of these outfits made for some great times spent with my kids. Oh by the way I don't sew much but I have found some great fabric glue so I look like a great seemstress but I am just good with glue!

Good Luck,
J.

I also have a daughter 31/2 who loves to dress up.
I have found that yard sales, as well as second hand clothing
stores like good will are great places to get dress up clothes,
prices are always good and I tend to find really fun stuff.

Hi S.,
I know you must have a thift store or other wise known as a second hand store, near you. i love to shope there. And there are usually old fashioned clothes and jewelry. At the stores buy me items cost 75 cents 1.00. Heck, there is that much change in the cushions of the couch ! :)

go to marcs or secon hands stores
Godbless
Im 29 and only have a 2 year old toddler my daughter loves shoes and sandals.

I have a 8 year old who loves to dress up we let her have all the old halloween costumes and old clothes (shirts that i dont wear anymore) and when we have a few extra dollars we go to goodwill and the thrift stores deals galore, just wash them properly when you get home.I am also a single mom of two girls 14 and 8, i work full time out of the home so money is tight but we manage

Hi - I'm not sure how many you would find short enough to "fit" a 3 year old, but when I had a Brownie troop, I went to the Goodwill store and bought about 13 beaufitul gowns that were less than $5.00 with ruffles and "diamonds" on them, for them to "get elegant" in. They wore them and we all had had a tea party (and learned ettiquette and manners at the same time). That was fun.
Then my daughter would use them at home to play in too. I believe when she got older she even wore one to a dance once!!

They have "Dress-up kits' (I'm almost sure I saw it in Penny's catalog and it all came in a little trunk) that have crowns, little high heels, and doctor garb, etc., for the really little ones to play dress-up in. I saw it in a catalog a few years back, but it was like $25.00.
Good luck shopping!
R. from Toledo

I would try getting fun and cheap dress up clothes at garage sales and even better- try a good thrift store. If you have an affluent area of town, you'll probably find great stuff at the thrift store in that area. You can even dress up with her, have tea or a dance 'party' with music. Hope this helps!
L.

Well, I don't know if they do it down here but when I got married the stores that rented gowns would sell them after a season or two. Cute flower girl dresses and brides maid dresses. For Christmas that year I bought one of my neice a cople of really neat bundle packages for maybe $10.00 a piece with three dresses, hats, purses. Then we would use hair claws, safey pins, and cloths pins to make them fit her. See loved it. First she was the clothing desogner, then the model, then we would tea party or night club while dancing in the living room to music. When I was little I would have little get togethers with my friends and we would play dress up together...slumber parties, afternoon get togethers,, with my mom's and aunties' old prom dresses.

I have 2 girls and 1 boy and they all love to play dress up. I give them some of my old clothes that I know i will never wear again and we buy alot of dresses from thrift shops and garage sales because lets face it who wants to spend alot of money on play clothes. Get involved with her and let her do your hair or pick out something for you to wear my kids really like that. If you have some old high heels or even pick some up at a garage sale that adds to their delight.

S.,

I'm a mom of a 2 year old little girl and she likes to dress up in different clothes of hers and I would say try second hands stores or they have dress up stuff at walmart you can always try that.I hope this helps you out.

C.

My best idea on where to find dress up clothes is look at garage sales. I found 10 beautiful princess costumes for $10 total just last weekend! ANother thing to keep in mind is the awesome party place on Broadway in downtown Edmond called "Once Upon A Birthday". Your daughter is just at the perfect age to have a birthday party there. Go check it out. You will be amazed! I can't wait until my daughter's 4th birthday. That's where we'll be having it! The little girls get to dress up in princess outfits from head to toe,
then the hosts serve them a "formal" dinner at a table decorated from Alice in Wonderland. They also have other dress up theme rooms but that one is probably the best one for the little bitty girls. Hope that helps.

I made dress up clothes for my daughter. You can get the patterns cheap from sewingpatterns.com and material is cheap at WalMart. Another option is if you know anyone with kids in dance classes. My Mother-in-law got a bunch of costumes that way.

My girls also love dress up. I buy them halloween costumes after halloween when they are on clearance. I often buy them a size or 2 to big so they can wear them for a while. My girls often put on plays they make up using the clothes.

Hi S.,

I'm a daycare provider in Lancaster WI. I've had good luck at thrift stores and garage sales. You can get tap and ballet shoes and kids seem to really like a variety of textiles such as fuzzy, sparkles and satiny things. You may want to rotate dress ups and bring out according to season or theme. Right now, mine are into pirates - so we have bandanas, black hats, long feathers, paper towel tubes for a looking glass, eye patches, treasure chests, gold beads, freyed pants, and puffy shirts. Good luck! K.

Have a pretend ball, or tea party! Go to garage sales or estate sales.

Lillian Vernon has a 24 piece trunk of dress up costumes with wigs and shoes that are inspired fromt he disney movie (Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Cinderella, etc). Here is the direct link (if it doesn't work go to lillianvernon.com and click on Lilly's Kids then Kids Toy Box and then Toys 2-4 yrs). Good luck. http://www.lillianvernon.com/catalog/product_display.jsp?...

Have you tried a local thift/ Goodwill store? Garage sales??