Replies

1. 
   carolfresia | Oct 01, 2002 04:15pm | #1

   Lynn, that sounds just about perfect for a 4 1/2 year old fairy princess. I haven't looked at the pattern, but I wonder if you could just buy a few colors of cheapo nylon or polyester organza and cut bias strips instead of using ribbon. That ought to be less expensive and, while it won't last forever, should survive Halloween and some playtime later.

   Living in the northeast, we have to plan for costumes that can be worn over snowsuits, practically! Sylph-like fairies are tricky, alas, as are spandex-clad superheroes.

   Carol

1. 
   rjf | Oct 02, 2002 03:23pm | #2

   Good thinking!  Maybe you shouldn't plan to have it last a year.  Now that I think of it, some halloween costumes became the favorite item to wear.  But of course there were others that didn't make it through the night.  A newspaper-stuffed Great Pumpkin was one of those.  It began sagging around the knees and was too fat to get up some front steps.  But it looked cute if you just stood still!  Four and a half is a great age for Halloween.  Enjoy.       rjf

1. 
   carolfresia | Oct 02, 2002 03:31pm | #3

   I don't remember sagging as the main problem with that pumpkin costume (which had a very spiffy cap, if I recall), but rather getting stuck in someone's trellis-climbing roses. I think we had a gypsy girl costume that got worn a lot after Halloween, though.

   Carol

1. 
   LYNNBOYDEN | Oct 02, 2002 07:42pm | #4

   thanks for all the input...

   my mom made a crepe paper pumpkin for my brother that suffered a similar fate in bushes.

   but i've got the world's most prudent 4.5-year-old, so i'm figuring on getting several years wear out of it.  too bad she won't wear the fake fur tiger suit again this year!  it got us through three halloweens so far.  with another kid on the way, i'm figuring to get at least one, maybe two more out of it.

   thanks for all the input!  --lynn

1. 
   sarahkayla | Oct 08, 2002 07:24pm | #5

   Four and a half is a great moment in a little girl's life. this costume will probably be worn into shreds. The operative concept is more is more.

   I made several of these soets of costumes using sparkley tulle - again lots of layers, tons of gathers and lots of flash. If you do ribbons do tons. this is not the place for restraint and good taste. buy cheapo wings from oriental trading. my daughter lived in her wedding gown, various fairy costumes and other dressup stuff from the ages of 4 to 7. She wore wings to school for an entire year.

   now she is 14 and actually has good taste - no sparkles, no flash. she got all of it out of her system

   sarah kayla

2. 
   carolfresia | Oct 08, 2002 11:08pm | #7

   Wings for a year?! I like that in a girl. My son did not wear wings, but he did wear a Pinocchio hat for months on end, and then a green felt Peter Pan hat for quite a long while. We went through a lot of red feathers between those two pieces of headgear, before he graduated to various baseball hats.

   Carol

3. 
   sarahkayla | Oct 09, 2002 07:53pm | #8

   We are big on costumes in our house. Because we also celebrate Purim we all have to dress up2 days a year. two years ago my then four year old son decided he would go as jack benny. That was easy, a suit jacket & tie and a pair of glasses. I made a violin out of corrogated cardboard and wood toned contac paper. as we were about to go out the door he decided that he needed a violin case. He didn't get that one.

   this year my 14 year old is going as Miaka, a character out of japaese Anime. My 11 year old is going as a greaser from the outsiders, ( I think that means wearing his regular clothes minus his baseball cap) my six year old is going as a jack-o-lantern for the umpteenth year. he is missing alternating teeth so it is particularly appropriate this year. i usually don't make anything too elaborate, the kids are pretty good about putting stuff together from the weird assortment of stuff lying around the house.

   Afterall, we are a household that owns several rubber chickens - my kids always dress up in costume. it is just what they do. it isn't just limited to halloween.

   sarah kayla

4. 
   carolfresia | Oct 09, 2002 09:59pm | #9

   The last time we celebrated Purim, my son (then 3) was Pinocchio--his choice and a very adamant one, too. He really looked great and was very  much in character. There were many, many little Esthers, as I recall--a nice opportunity for a "beautiful lady" costume that isn't all about Disney.

   I played dress-up a lot as a child with my sisters, and we had the best collection of dress-up clothes in the neighborhood. It's probably well past time for me to create some for my own kids, now that I think of it. Capes and tutus and breast plates and the like. Which is not to say that my littler kid isn't satisfied wearing big brother's Superman briefs over her street clothes, and a pair of my shoes. It's definitely a look.

   Carol

5. 
   sarahkayla | Oct 09, 2002 10:37pm | #10

   My daughter's birthday is on halloween, and one of the best parties i ever threw her was the year she was five. We live in New York, so i went to the fabric district and got lots of flashy fabric. i bought tons of candy & gave it out to neighbors in our apartment building. Then we made each child a costume, most of them were simple tunics with belts ( I hired a college student to work with me). After they made their costumes, we took the kids trick or treating where the kids collected collected all the candy i had bought. It was entirely satisfying.

   sarah kayla

2. 
   sewphaedra | Oct 08, 2002 10:07pm | #6

   If I were doing it for my child I would thread the ribbons onto elastic instead of another ribbon. That way she could put it on and off herself without me having to tie it.