A Halloween Adventure in Autism (11/12) New Thread Begun on TR Board!

[KathyRN137]

Glad to hear you are an inch or two closer to having the costume dilema solved!

Aren't DISers GREAT????!

Love 'em!!


Kathy

 

[jordanyosh]

Leggings are thicker than stockings but tighter than pants....

Example:

Always happy to help... but, we're trying to stay away from "hubba hubba!!"


Kathy

You learn something new everyday...

Yeah....I reserve my hubba hubba for Sandra Bullock...just saw the Proposal today with many women...I think I was one of 2 out of 6 that cried.....

 

[KathyRN137]

You learn something new everyday...

Glad you got to see the picture before it got deleted...


Kathy

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Glad you've made some progress in the costume department!

So fun to be dressing up together!

 

[mom2mek]

SOunds like you are making some headway on the costume thing! I do NOT envy you on that one, but think it's great that you are so dedicated to making sure she looks age-appropriate! I saw too many pre-teen and teens that obviously did not have as dedicated a parent and let them go with whatever they wanted. I don't understand some parents.

Sara

 

[KathyRN137]

Glad you've made some progress in the costume department!

So fun to be dressing up together!

I think it will be fun once we get to the party... the way I'm feeling right now, I'd trade one girl for three boys in a second!!!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

.... I saw too many pre-teen and teens that obviously did not have as dedicated a parent and let them go with whatever they wanted. I don't understand some parents.

Sara

I just keep getting flashbacks to "sassy" Snow White and "sassy" Alice from the P&PP!! I don't want people staring at (and whispering about) my DD the way people were staring at those two!!

Yikes! Why do all the young girls want to look so provocative... at that age I was wearing Levi's and Polo shirts!!!

Kathy

 

[GlassSlippers]

Hi!
It's me, the Co-Knower And Planner Of All Things Disney! Sorry it's been a while.

Anyway, I know what you mean about age appropriate costumes, but I do have a suggestion or two since I've been "costuming" at science fiction/fantasy conventions and renaissance festivals for years.

The boot issue is easy to solve. You can get boot toppers, which are actually fake boots. They're like a sleeve that goes on the lower leg and over the top of your own shoe. It looks like boots, but you're wearing your own comfy shoes underneath.

For those pirate-y shirts, go to e-Bay and look for a women's short chemise. A good key wording would be "Women's chemise Renaissance", "Pirate Shirt" or something along those lines. The neck line is usually either elastic or drawstring and can be worn on or off the shoulder. They're usually long enough to cover a person's behind, especially if you buy it a little big and cinch up the neck line. Go for a small men's pirate shirt if they want a collar. They're also really easy to make even if you're not much of a seamstress and patterns are readily available at any fabric store. If they wore one of those chemises with a sash (perhaps one of those long scarves that are in style now, re-purposed as a sash) dark leggings, a pair of boot toppers they'd look cute, pirate-like and age appropriate. Add a pirate hat pinned up on one side and ostrich plumes from the craft store tucked in the fold and maybe some thrift store jewelry they'll be all set. If they really want the vest look, try eBay again. Look for a renaissance bodice. It will be more expensive, but if the girls wear it the right way it will be attractive without being too revealing. Afterward, the bodice is really cute with a long sleeved blouse and jeans so it wouldn't be a one use garment.

If you go the eBay route, remember that you have time so you can watch the going rates and don't pay more than you feel is reasonable. I got a chemise for about $10 by watching and waiting. You'll want to finish before September though or the prices will sky-rocket because everybody will be thinking Halloween.

Another possibility for finding costume pieces would be going to a Renaissance Faire or Festival. They always have period costume wear for sale. Check the children's costume sellers first. Some of them have pretty large sizes. I have an outfit that's a girls XL. I'm 5'4" and weighed about 120 when I bought it. It was far less expensive than the same thing in an adult small. It might be worth a try.

I'm going to have to live vicariously through you for the Halloween party, btw. We were going to be in WDW for the first night of the party, but the school district here changed the start date for school. The kids go back a week earlier than we thought and we had to change our vacation dates!

Anyhow, I hope this helps a little!

Very Scary Halloween Costumes!


Okay, I know that it's June. School ends for my kids next week and my thoughts should be focused on afternoon baseball games, backyard BBQs, and trips to the beach. My biggest concern right now should be making sure no one in the family gets poison ivy, a really bad sunburn, or eaten alive by mosquitoes.

But instead, I find that I am stressing about something that I'm sure no other woman on my block is concerning herself with...

What on earth is my daughter going to wear for Halloween this year?!

Tricia and my DNiece, Catie, (both 13) have decided that they want to dress up as Pirates. On the one hand, I'm very pleased because I love the idea of the whole family having co-ordinating costumes in the same theme. On the other hand, I am having mild anxiety attacks just looking at the female pirate costumes that would fit both Catie (very tall and thin) and Tricia (average height and curvy.) Because of their sizes, they will need adult size costumes, so commercially-offered pirate "lass" costumes are no longer cute... they are "sassy," which is just a more ambiguous term for "slutty".

Remember me telling you about the inappropriate Snow White and Alice costumes we saw at the Pirate & Princess Party?? Well, here is a sampling of what is offered for female pirates:

"Sexy Swashbuckler"... "Booty-licious"... "Playboy Scandalous Pirate"... "Captain's Mistress"
... and (my personal favorite)... "Captain Booty Sexy".

Mind you, I'm not a prude. But these costumes are more appropriate for couples' bedroom fantasy activities, not Halloween costumes! (IMHO) My DSis is of the same opinion and has also vetoed any "sassy" costumes.

One thing that is working in our favor is that the girls have decided that they do not want to wear short skirts because they will be getting on and off of rides all night. (Whew!) Great news, but that leaves out about 85% of the costumes shown.


So they are looking at a costume with a knee-length skirt or some sort of pants or leggings and, have their hearts set on wearing boots. Not high-heeled boots like the "Booty-licious" model is wearing, but boots just the same. (That's going to be a whole 'nother discussion because they need to be able to walk around in them for 7-8 hours!) Okay, forget the boot issue for now, let's get back to the main costumes.


I suggested black ragged-legged pants and striped shirts with big belts, boots, and bandanas...

No. "That sounds ugly."

I suggested brown pants and white ruffled blouses with lace sleeves, long vests, boots, and hats with plumes...

No. "That sounds ugly."

I even got desperate and suggested the POC Elizabeth costume...


http://www.buycostumes.com/Pirates-...e-Adult-2007-Costume/31521/ProductDetail.aspx

No. "I don't like it."

"But why?"

"It's ugly."

Oh. For. Heaven's. Sake!!!


So... I need an age-appropriate pirate costume(s) that is "pretty" but not sexy and comfortable but not "ugly". Tricia is being im-poss-ible. (In other words, a typical teenage girl.) Finally, I told her that unless she wanted me to try my hand at sewing she and her cousin would have to find their own costumes and her aunt and I would retain ultimate veto power.

Annoyed, she scrolled through the pages herself and came up with two costumes she declared not "ugly". They would certainly need a bit of tweaking to make them more age-appropriate (to which she agreed), and so I agreed that she could discuss these with her cousin. These are the choices:


Choice # 1: http://www.buycostumes.com/Rustic-P...t-Collection-Costume/19282/ProductDetail.aspx

(Not only is this costume very expensive, it would need a different blouse unless this one could be altered. Either that or she would need to wear a cami underneath it.)


Choice # 2: http://www.halloweenexpress.com/south-seas-siren-adult-costume-p-11808.html

(This costume is very inexpensive... so the material and construction is probably cheap and flimsy. I'm not crazy about this blouse, either, but again... appropriate substitutions or the addition of under-layers are always an option.)


This is not going to be easy....


Kathy

 

[GlassSlippers]

We had a not so fun experience with a costume dagger at a Pirate and Princess Party. The Mr. was dressed as a pirate with a dagger that looked real. We had it what's called "peace tied". It's a safety practice used at Renaissance Faires or anyplace else people might have artificial/costume weaponry and it means that the blade, pistol, sword, etc. is tied down into the sheath or holster and the whole works is tied to a belt, sash or whatever. It's done with one long leather thong or clear fishing line. The weapon can't be accidentally dropped or drawn by some fool who thinks he's being funny. Not possible. Unfortunately for us, the security fella at the MK bag search area had never heard of peace tying and didn't want to know. It took us forever to get it untied and out of the sheath so he could look at it unassembled. He wasn't nasty and he didn't embarass us, but he made my husband check it like you'd check a coat. He had to go with a security person who was dressed in regular street clothes and fill out the little form with the claim check. When we were ready to leave, he picked it up and was escorted out of the park by another plain clothes security person. They were very discreet and nice about it so I doubt anybody else even noticed, but it was kind of a pain.

The funny thing to me is that the toy swords etc being sold in the park were probably more dangerous than the Mr's going-nowhere-tied-down-good-looking-fake-blade was. Kids were running all over waving those things in people's faces and whacking one another with them. Personally, I'd never let my kids do that.

Moral of the story: Any swords, knives or pirate pistols need to be very obvious toys!

 

[MinnieNurse]

I think it will be fun once we get to the party... the way I'm feeling right now, I'd trade one girl for three boys in a second!!!


Kathy

My DH has 2 sisters and his Mom has always told me she would rather raise 7 boys than those 2 girls. She said when DH was in High School all she had to worry about was him, but when his 2 sisters got in High School she had to worry about ALL the boys.

I came from a family of 3 girls so didnt know any different until I had a boy of my own.

 

[eandesmom]

Shhhh! Hollister is still okay here!!! I just have to make sure she doesn't get her tee-shirts two sizes smaller than they should be!!


Kathy

LOL! thankfully DSD has been ok with the size thing when we push back (and we have) and will even let us know if she thinks something is too small. Hollister is still ok but she's definitely migrating to cute dresses that push the fingertrip rule issue at school. But it's the first time it's never been on her birthday list. Some of the PacSun stuff isn't so bad (not my taste but, whatever, I can see the hoodies are kind of cute and some of the jeans are ok) but Wet Seal? Ick.

Scary though, one of her Hollister sweatshirts from last summer, that was HUGE, is tight and only her abercrombie bermuda shorts fit (and they are tight but were huge last year). I hope it slows down soon. She went up 3 sizes in a year, mind boggling. And she's not a big girl!

There is a new store at the mall she likes, I can't remember their name. Half cute and half...slut wear. Not forever 21 but kind of similar. Sigh. I'm ignoring her requests. She asked for a juicy jacket and I'll stick to that as her only gift. That I can live with.

 

[mousescrapper]

Hi Kathy,


I'm bummed I missed out on the majority of the "scary Halloween" costume debate for your DNiece and Tricia....

But I guess I should be more for what's coming in my near future....w/ a pre-adolescent DD (Aldine) and 2 other girls....

Yes girls can be a tricky parenting stage in life for both mother & daughter...but the end rewards should be wonderful!

I agree w/ most a little store bought, a little hand-done alterations and some re-use of things you may already have can do wonders for the costume.

We have a tough one too this yr, not in looking sassy but boy this is gonna be a doosie to put all togehter. (Luckily my DSIL and DMIL both sew quite well)

Aldine wants to be a WAAC

Can't wait to see the end results of all the Pirates....

 

[KathyRN137]

Hi!
Anyway, I know what you mean about age appropriate costumes, but I do have a suggestion or two since I've been "costuming" at science fiction/fantasy conventions and renaissance festivals for years.


.....Another possibility for finding costume pieces would be going to a Renaissance Faire or Festival. They always have period costume wear for sale.

The funny thing to me is that the toy swords etc being sold in the park were probably more dangerous than the Mr's going-nowhere-tied-down-good-looking-fake-blade was.

Moral of the story: Any swords, knives or pirate pistols need to be very obvious toys!

Funny you should mention about the swords b/c Ed did ask if they were allowed... then I reminded him about all the sword-wielding "pirates" we had encountered at the P&PP!

We have a Renaissance Festival that comes to the next town over every summer... we took the kids last year and they had fun! I remember all the costumes for sale... I will definitely check that out!!

Thanks!

Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

....She asked for a juicy jacket and I'll stick to that as her only gift. That I can live with.

DD still likes Hollister but DN is into Juicy....

...DSis and I both insist that they can't wear anything with writing across the chest or the back of their shorts. They don't need to advertise whether or not they are "sweet" or "juicy!!"

Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

We have a tough one too this yr, not in looking sassy but boy this is gonna be a doosie to put all togehter. (Luckily my DSIL and DMIL both sew quite well)

Aldine wants to be a WAAC

Well, at least you don't have to worry about modesty issues!!!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Pirate Teen Lassie Comes Home...


Okay, so we've all experienced that wonderful phenomenon of looking and looking for something and not finding it... only to come across it when you're focused on looking for something else, right?? Well, it happened to me yesterday when I was looking around various websites for costume ideas for myself!

I found this really cute "Pirate Teen Lass" costume which seemed very appropriate on top... a bit short on the bottom... but nothing a good pair of black leggings couldn't fix!! Daddy liked this one for his little girl a whole lot better than "South Seas Siren" so we actually convinced Tricia to try it...


http://www.costumeexpress.com/Pirate-Lass-Teen-Costume/61943/ProductDetail.aspx

My only concern is the size... it comes in Small/Medium and Medium/Large.
It's so hard to judge "teen" sizes because everything runs so microscopically small, so I went with Medium/Large.

Oh, I really hope it fits!!


Kathy

 

[moparop]

Pirate Teen Lassie Comes Home...


Okay, so we've all experienced that wonderful phenomenon of looking and looking for something and not finding it... only to come across it when you're focused on looking for something else, right?? Well, it happened to me yesterday when I was looking around various websites for costume ideas for myself!

I found this really cute "Pirate Teen Lass" costume which seemed very appropriate on top... a bit short on the bottom... but nothing a good pair of black leggings couldn't fix!! Daddy liked this one for his little girl a whole lot better than "South Seas Siren" so we actually convinced Tricia to try it...


http://www.costumeexpress.com/Pirate-Lass-Teen-Costume/61943/ProductDetail.aspx

My only concern is the size... it comes in Small/Medium and Medium/Large.
It's so hard to judge "teen" sizes because everything runs so microscopically small, so I went with Medium/Large.

Oh, I really hope it fits!!


Kathy

Love it! You could totally get on and off rides while wearing that.

It gets the two thumbs up from Mop!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Super cute costume and it'll be PERFECT with leggings!

Very age appropriate as well. Good find!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I think that costume is a great fit! Oops.. No pun intended... but I do hope it fits!

 

[maroo]

Looks perfect!!