Dress Up Clothes

[Childminder]

I went to thrift stores and garage sale and bought cheap real life stuff, hats, jackets, dresses, small adult shoes, purses, costume jewelry, etc… Holds up well, the kids love dramatic play and help each other get dressed. One of my little guys wears the size 5 high heels every day all day.::

[harperluu]

If you don't like them start with accessories

Plastic hats - wipe with Lysol wipes (& no risk of speeding lice )
Purses, briefcases, wallets
Ties, beads, bangles
Large scarves - can use as skirts, capes, blankets etc
Aprons & tool belts - great for role playing

Then build from there

This is also what I do. I have a couple halloween costumes thrown in that originally belonged to my own children. Mittens and boots are also a hit.

Like others on the board, I only have the dress up clothes out a couple days at a time. If I notice they are playing with a few select items frequently I put those items in a smaller bin for awhile longer. I don't mind the mess of dress up clothes, but only for short bursts of time.

When the couple of days are done, I throw all that can be washed in the washing machine. Everything else is sanitized and put away. I do not have many hats other than a few plastic hats, a McDonalds visor, some plastic crowns and head bands with different types of ears. I do find the kids like to tie the scarves on their heads to have "long hair." If lice is going around at the schools, no dress up clothes out at all.

[Scout]

All of mine are old halloween costumes from dh nephews or ds's so most of the sizes are way off but, they do love them! I too will help one or two times max! All of the hats i have are plastic and came from the Dollar Tree so they were super cheap! I do not put out any necklaces or purses as I don't want to worry about strangulation!-but, I am a very cautious person!

[MarinaVanessa]

I hate the Disney princess dresses...they are expensive, fragile and not sized for bigger girls. When I had my old Dramatic Play, I had men's shirts, womens dresses cut off, jeans/pants cut off, tu-tus, etc. Real clothes. I didn't dress anybody...if something was stuck, I'd help.

I would just start out with button down shirts, big tunic like shirts and tu-tus, and accessories. I wouldn't waste any money on children's costumes.

Aww man ... okay, I tried ::.