Dress Up Clothes

[Unregistered]

What do you all keep for dress up clothes for boys?

I want to keep away from commercial type stuff- like Halloween costumes

Have tons for girls but not much for my boys.

Any good ideas out there?

[Cradle2crayons]

I have old men's dress up shirts, size small or sometimes I can find youth at the good will.... Ties.... Men's hats..... And some size 7&8 khaki pants.... Big boys shoes... Youth socks.... Stuff like that

[Blackcat31]

ALL my dress up clothing (with the exception of a few tu-tus) are worn and played with by BOTH girls and boys. This is the most frequently played with boy clothing though:

• doctor scrubs
• chef jacket and hat
• BBQ aprons
• lab coats
• mail carriers
• fast food uniforms
• hard hats/safety vests
• suit coat/tie/fedora
• coveralls (mechanics/janitorial)
• flannel shirts/suspenders
• police hat/shirt with badge
• sports jerseys

[MamaBearCanada]

Everything I have is available to boys & girls so these are not "boy only" but

Fireman hat, construction hard hats, tool belts, aprons, capes, eye patch, tool kit, wallets, wild blue wig, small tote bags, pirate/captain hat,

Also scarves, tutus, skeleton costume, purses, tiaras, wands

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Those that have hats in their dress-up areas ... are you ever concerned about lice?
I feel too panicy about lice to include any head coverings of any kind.


Mine is very small and minimalistic. Play silks (they make these into EVERYTHING), ties, purses, scarves (they also make these into EVERYTHING and we use them for dancing), and a lone tutu :giggle:.
I'd love to eventually expand it but that won't happen for a year.

[kelsey's kids]

I have been concerned about lice with my dress up clothes. But the same as any toys I wash them. All the hats that I use are plastic. Constuction, crowns, fire, army. The clothes are adult construction vest, tutus princess dresses docters supplies and coat. Fire man gear, and wallets and purses.

[Blackcat31]

Those that have hats in their dress-up areas ... are you ever concerned about lice?
I feel too panicy about lice to include any head coverings of any kind.


Mine is very small and minimalistic. Play silks (they make these into EVERYTHING), ties, purses, scarves (they also make these into EVERYTHING and we use them for dancing), and a lone tutu :giggle:.
I'd love to eventually expand it but that won't happen for a year.

no not at all concerned about lice. I have enough experience with lice that I KNOW I would KNOW if a child had lice long before they ever got to dress up time...kwim?

[mamac]

I have made most of the Halloween costumes for my two ds's. So far I have made a cowboy, a knight and a police officer. The knight was the most elaborate (made entirely by me) but the other 2 were just button down shirts with accessories and pants purchased at a thrift store. I made a vest for the cowboy and added fringe and fabric to a pair of jeans to mimic chaps for the cowboy. I also made a kid size construction safety vest out of an old pair of safety pants that my dh wasn't using.

Next on my list will probably be a doctor, a carpenter, an astronaut and a train conductor. All pretty easy to make from regular clothing. Most just need a few add-ons to make it "real". My ds just graduated kindergarten so I'll be using his suit that he'll probably outgrow before he ever gets to wear it again for the conductor uniform. (could also double as a magician.) And somewhere I have a leprechaun top hat and vest that I made for the St. Patty's day parade 2 years ago.

And I also have the superhero costumes that I bought super cheap after Halloween.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

no not at all concerned about lice. I have enough experience with lice that I KNOW I would KNOW if a child had lice long before they ever got to dress up time...kwim?

I may just be overly paranoid. During my final month as a student teacher I wore my hair in a ponytail and sprayed tea tree oil on it because there was an outbreak. I've never been the same since then. ::

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I have made most of the Halloween costumes for my two ds's. So far I have made a cowboy, a knight and a police officer. The knight was the most elaborate (made entirely by me) but the other 2 were just button down shirts with accessories and pants purchased at a thrift store. I made a vest for the cowboy and added fringe and fabric to a pair of jeans to mimic chaps for the cowboy. I also made a kid size construction safety vest out of an old pair of safety pants that my dh wasn't using.

Next on my list will probably be a doctor, a carpenter, an astronaut and a train conductor. All pretty easy to make from regular clothing. Most just need a few add-ons to make it "real". My ds just graduated kindergarten so I'll be using his suit that he'll probably outgrow before he ever gets to wear it again for the conductor uniform. (could also double as a magician.) And somewhere I have a leprechaun top hat and vest that I made for the St. Patty's day parade 2 years ago.

And I also have the superhero costumes that I bought super cheap after Halloween.

Do you mind sharing more about how you make them? That'd be great.

[LK5kids]

I buy second hand stuff and find size 7 yrs and up. I have vests, button down shirts, clip on bow ties, jerseys, etc. I also made some simple capes. Some boys wear these non stop!

I also have those simple Velcro-backed fire fighter, postal carrier, & doctor sets from school supply companies. No hats, crowns or wigs for me!

[nanglgrl]

I buy costumes the week after Halloween at Wal-Mart. Target always has kid sized ties and bowties that have elastic on them an attach together with Velcro in their $1 section. The tie they have currently is 4th of July themed.

[MarinaVanessa]

ALL my dress up clothing (with the exception of a few tu-tus) are worn and played with by BOTH girls and boys. This is the most frequently played with boy clothing though:

• doctor scrubs
• chef jacket and hat
• BBQ aprons
• lab coats
• mail carriers
• fast food uniforms
• hard hats/safety vests
• suit coat/tie/fedora
• coveralls (mechanics/janitorial)
• flannel shirts/suspenders
• police hat/shirt with badge
• sports jerseys

My stuff also tends to be gender neutral with the exception of a few purses and dresses. My list of favorites is very simular to BCs list. These seem to be a big "hit".

I also add in props like laminated xray printouts, toilet paper tubes, cloth remnants, empty boxes etc and they make those into whatever they want.

[mamac]

Do you mind sharing more about how you make them? That'd be great.

Sure! I will post pics as soon as I can access the costumes. They’re currently buried in my remodel mess.

For the knight, I purchased all the fabric (velour type) and traced my ds’s clothes to create a pattern for the shirt and pants. I used my sewing machine to stitch everything together and then either glued or stitched the embellishments. I painted a store bought shield and sword and painted and added gemstones to match. (I also made a pleather bag for his trick or treat candy and attached it to the back of the shield.) For the knight “boots” I had a pair of ds’s old sneakers that I glued some black ‘pleather’ material that I stitched together to create the upper part of the boot. I just glued it on top and left a slit for the sneaker Velcro to be accessible. I also made this costume in an infant size for my youngest.

For the cowboy I bought cow print fabric, stitched it together with some fringe on one (looked like a pant leg without the butt) and added a belt to keep the 2 legs together. Slipped that over a pair of jeans for the chaps. I used the same fabric to make a little vest. Store bought hat and badge.

The police officer was the easiest. Just a button down blue shirt with a badge from the dollar store and some blue pants. I cut down an old leather belt from dh and added a mini Maglite holder, and various Velcro pouches from backpacks, etc for the utility belt.

The leprechaun vest was made out of green felt. I glued green felt to the leprechaun hat that was made out of cardboard and added black and yellow felt for the band and buckle on both the hat and vest. I glued gold sequins over the yellow “buckle”. I also made a small slit in the back of the hat that could overlap for size adjustment. There are different holes to choose from that were held together with those little brass thingamajigs that you can use to make a pinwheel. (I can never remember what they're called...)

For the carpenter I am going to get some sort of pleathery or suede-y material to make a tool belt. Thrift store for a plaid flannel shirt and overalls.

Once my youngest outgrows big brother’s suit, I will get some brass button covers to add to the buttons. I’ll probably buy a kid size police hat and make a large band with stripes to turn it into a train conductor/police chief hat. Paper and a paper punch for the conductor accessory items.

The only one I haven’t figured out completely is the astronaut. I know I want to use a tyvek or painters suit cut/stitched down to size with lots of add-on patches, hoses, etc. I’ll most likely use some 2 liter soda bottles as the oxygen tanks. I just haven’t figured out the helmet yet.

And here's a fun/easy costume for an infant if you wanted to dress them up for mom and dad at pickup. I used this for my ds's first Halloween. I dyed a white blanket red and knitted (very poorly, I might add) a green hat with a "stem" sticking out of the top. I swaddled him in the blanket and left the "tail" a little long. He was my little chili pepper.

As I mentioned before on this forum I tend to be pretty ch... frugal. Although sometimes making the costume myself costs the same or more than one I can buy, but it's usually a better quality and my boys love having a hand in designing their very own custom costumes. And fyi, I'm definitely no seamstress. The only training I had was 7th grade home-ec. I pretty much just wing it.

[mamac]

I was able to get to two of the costumes. Sorry for the flipped pics. They weren't uploaded that way... :confused:

[ATTACH]1733[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]1734[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]1735[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]1736[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]1737[/ATTACH]