Children's Costumes....when did your children stop dressing up?

[3boymthr]

My Oldest DS did dress up last year but it was with found items. He wasn't going to dress up, wasn't going to go TOT but when he saw the other kids going he got excited and went TOT and had a blast, but I agree I'd never buy a $100 costume thats only going to get worn once. Plus new boots at WDW

And I totally agree you can't give in all the time.

I agree with PPs have her buy them or pay half if she really wants them.

I would point out that one way to buy this costume and make it more budget is to re-sell the items when she's done with them.

 

[Shleedogg]

She's homeschooled so no.....she doesn't wear it anywhere else. And I don't think I'm being unfair, she had pretty much stopped wanting to dress up before we adopted our 3 youngest. Now I feel like she's regressing...playing with Barbies and wanting to dress up again. I'm not denying her a costume, you can read my OP and see that I did buy her a 20.00 pair of cow print chaps to go over her jeans and a nice yellow shirt and bandana so she could go as Jessie. That's not enough though, she wants 50.00 red cowgirl boots and a 20.00 cowgirl hat. If I'd went with an adult Jessie costume it would have been around 50.00 plus the cost of boots and a hat too, I'm not spending over 100.00 on a costume she'll wear one time...how is that unfair? I purchased costumes for under 50.00 for the three youngest...we're all going as Toy Story characters. I even had some really cool shirts airbrushed for her dad and I, but she didn't want that.
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Now that there are more specifics, it makes more sense. I would do the math; whatever you've spent on the costume so far and subtract it from the $50 you've spent on your other kids costumes. Then send her to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. Many years, that's where I got pieces or my entire costume that my mom would then doctor. Last year DH's Snow Prince (Snow White's prince) costume came completely from the Salvation Army and cost under $10. Just spell it out, I spent $50/pp on the other kids, you get the same. Perhaps she could return her other purchases? She could then get the full adult size Jessie costume? But I bet she'd have no problem finding a pair of cowboy boots at a thrift store. I'd also bet she could find a cheaper cowgirl hat in the Halloween depts. Probably not of great quality, but good enough for one night.

Good luck! I'm not looking forward to the teenage years at all, especially remembering what a handful I was .

 

[TheRatPack]

Just spell it out, I spent $50/pp on the other kids, you get the same. Perhaps she could return her other purchases? She could then get the full adult size Jessie costume? But I bet she'd have no problem finding a pair of cowboy boots at a thrift store. I'd also bet she could find a cheaper cowgirl hat in the Halloween depts. Probably not of great quality, but good enough for one night.

Good luck! I'm not looking forward to the teenage years at all, especially remembering what a handful I was .

LOL, I think you misunderstood. I spent around 1.00 on my youngest sons costume as I had a credit left and sold his last years costume for 25.00 so really I guess I spent 0.00 on his....I actually made money if you consider the money I got from selling last years. My middle sons costume is from last year....he didn't quite fit in the pants last year so he wanted to give it another try this year LOL My youngest dds dress was handmade, 50.00 but again I also sold last years costume so it cost me 40.00 if you factor that in.

The adult size Jessie costume is 50.00....and I'd have to order it, leaving in 3 days, not going to happen. Plus it doesn't come with boots or the hat...just the jumpsuit costume. So I think the 20.00 chaps, yellow shirt and bandana actually make a more unique and cute Jessie....pair them with her black crocs (no one will see them she wears her jeans dragging the ground LOL) and I think it'll be GREAT. I'm sure no one will mistake who she is....especially surrounded by Bo Peep, Buzz and Woody. Dad and Mom are Mr and Mrs Potato Head (airbrushed tshirts)....again, I'm sure everyone will know who she is LOL

I may run to the thrift store today though, see what shoes/hats I can get. Or maybe just a cheap felt cowboy hat from the costume/party store? Wonder if I could spray paint it with some fabric paint.

 

[mjkacmom]

After 6th grade, they're on their own. Even this year, they will have the halloween parade at school, but we'll be on vacation for the actual holiday, so they're making their own costumes, or using old ones.

 

[KittyHellstrom]

I'm nearly 30 and i still dress up. I love halloween

I'm not denying her a costume, you can read my OP and see that I did buy her a 20.00 pair of cow print chaps to go over her jeans and a nice yellow shirt and bandana so she could go as Jessie. That's not enough though, she wants 50.00 red cowgirl boots and a 20.00 cowgirl hat.

Is she set on these particular boots? Maybe you could find some similar red boots/hat for cheaper. Try ebay or amazon or even a local consignment shop.

-Kitty

 

[DebMcDonald]

My oldest is almost 17 and she's still dressing up.

 

[auralia]

I am 28 and I still dress up, though now i'm handing out the candy I was 22 last time I WENT trick or treating with my husband and my neice and nephew i'm short so everyone thought my neice and I were about the same age (she is 10 years younger than me) and my husband wore a mask and hunched down so we wouldn't look like idiots... now please mind we did this for the kids, they had a blast and thought it was great fun and since they don't see us often we got to spend some time with them (we live across the country from family). We hadn't gone before that since we were about 16. But we still dress up if a friend is having a party we will go (so long as it's not crazy drinking). We love halloween probably more than christmas and I have VERY expensive costumes (were talking 100$'s here) but I have about 4-5 of them and reuse them every year... also they are all renaissance so I use them a faires.

Anyway I would buy it for her if it was less than 80$ or so because this is probably the last year she is even going to want to, and no offenese but you bought costumes for the little ones, why should she be excluded? Maybe she could pick a cheaper costume? you can alway save it for next year and sell it on ebay maybe get 25-30% of your cost back if you do that.... Lots of options! Come on there is nothing funner than running around disney in a costume MNSSHP is so darn packed and the lines so long (when i was there last year) that 80% of the part for us was being in costume!

 

[NVDisMom]

LOL, I think you misunderstood. I spent around 1.00 on my youngest sons costume as I had a credit left and sold his last years costume for 25.00 so really I guess I spent 0.00 on his....I actually made money if you consider the money I got from selling last years. My middle sons costume is from last year....he didn't quite fit in the pants last year so he wanted to give it another try this year LOL My youngest dds dress was handmade, 50.00 but again I also sold last years costume so it cost me 40.00 if you factor that in.

The adult size Jessie costume is 50.00....and I'd have to order it, leaving in 3 days, not going to happen. Plus it doesn't come with boots or the hat...just the jumpsuit costume. So I think the 20.00 chaps, yellow shirt and bandana actually make a more unique and cute Jessie....pair them with her black crocs (no one will see them she wears her jeans dragging the ground LOL) and I think it'll be GREAT. I'm sure no one will mistake who she is....especially surrounded by Bo Peep, Buzz and Woody. Dad and Mom are Mr and Mrs Potato Head (airbrushed tshirts)....again, I'm sure everyone will know who she is LOL

I may run to the thrift store today though, see what shoes/hats I can get. Or maybe just a cheap felt cowboy hat from the costume/party store? Wonder if I could spray paint it with some fabric paint.

Sometimes keeping the peace with a teenager is worth a few extra bucks. I'd hit up the local thrift store today looking for cowboy boots in her size and the Halloween section of your local store for a hat, even straw would work. I'd pick up some red stain at the hardware store and have her stain the boots and hat. Then the cost of those items would be deducted from what would have been her souvenir money while on vacation or she can pay you back from her funds or through extra chores (like ALL of the laundry when you get home). Whatever works best for you. And most important...HAVE FUN! It is Disney after all.

 

[allison443]

I just wanted to add that I think having your whole family dress as Toy Story is a neat idea! I'm sure it will look cute.
I think it's nice that your teenager still wants to be part of it.

 

[princessmom29]

I think you are being completely fair about it. She has a costume, and if she wants to buy boots and a hat , she can. IF she would rather save her money, then that is her choice. My DD6 is doing Jessie, and i gave her the choice of store bought boots and hat and mom made costume, or store bought costume with no accessories. We bought the boots and hat, and i appliqued cow print ot a pair of almost too small jeans, and added yellow fabric and red braid to a $2 thrift store white shirt. IF she wants to get ahat on the cheap she could buy one of th plastic costume ones and sand and spray it red. Sohe covers would be a less expensive option than the boots.

 

[pixiewings71]

She's homeschooled so no.....she doesn't wear it anywhere else. And I don't think I'm being unfair, she had pretty much stopped wanting to dress up before we adopted our 3 youngest. Now I feel like she's regressing...playing with Barbies and wanting to dress up again. I'm not denying her a costume, you can read my OP and see that I did buy her a 20.00 pair of cow print chaps to go over her jeans and a nice yellow shirt and bandana so she could go as Jessie. That's not enough though, she wants 50.00 red cowgirl boots and a 20.00 cowgirl hat. If I'd went with an adult Jessie costume it would have been around 50.00 plus the cost of boots and a hat too, I'm not spending over 100.00 on a costume she'll wear one time...how is that unfair? I purchased costumes for under 50.00 for the three youngest...we're all going as Toy Story characters. I even had some really cool shirts airbrushed for her dad and I, but she didn't want that.



She's in 9th grade....LOL I'm not in a hurry for her to grow up....I'm just saying that $$$ expensive costumes should stop at some point.



She'd never be a princess....that's her little sisters job LOL As far as past costumes, I've always went out of my way to buy or make their costumes and they've always been a big hit. I'm just not feeling the pricetag for this years costume when it's a one time deal. Especially when they'll be tons of stuff she'll want to buy at Disney when we get there.

My DD14 is in 9th grade, she's got 2 costumes and we aren't going to any Disney Halloween party this year. She has a Cheshire Cat costume and a witch costume, who knows what she will wear where but she's got them. She also has her costumes from last year, last year she went to school all in black with kitty ears and whiskers drawn on her face, last year we also went to the Trick or Treat Party at DCA, she was Constance there, we got her a dress from Goodwill, some black and white flowers and a veil from Michael's, she used 5 of my costume jewelry rings to represent her husbands and she had a GREAT time. The whole costume was under $10.

For the ToTP DBF and I also dressed up (I dress up every year and I'm 39), we talked about Woody and Jessie, if we had done that I would have worn my own boots (yes I have cowboy boots), got a red hat and worn a skirt with cow print tights. Instead we went with Hercules and Meg but had we gone with Woody and Jessie my costume would not have been that expensive. I would give her a budget, tell her if she can stay in that budget she can whatever she wants for her costume. Keep in mind she's not going to want to do family costumes for long.......it might be fun to do one last time.

Our family loves Halloween, we decorate the house and yard and we all dress up, I would never dream of telling any of my kids they were too old to dress up or too old to get a costume. Good luck OP.

 

[TheRatPack]

Boots are not happening....they would hurt walking through Disney and again her jeans cover her shoes so I don't see the point LOL I did manage to snag the very last Jessie hat at the costume store though....and that's IT!!! While I agree you pick your battles with teenagers, we also have budgets and rules and they have to abide by those when they live in our house. I hate sounding so harsh, but we've always managed with home made costumes or I've pieces stuff together...bought them second hand, on clearance...etc. This year was no exception and while I realize she wanted to dress up, our budget will not allow 100.00 costumes....it just doesn't. While some people see it as unfair that the younger 3 dress up, I've explained that as well. Our older 2 were pretty much done dressing up....my oldest still only wants a tshirt...etc for the MNSSHP. On many levels (Christmas presents, Easter gifts...etc) I keep the children as even as possible....but truth be told, children aren't even. My 7 year old can not go to the movies with friends just because her older sister does. And likewise....my oldest can't expect me to buy her costumes for the next 6-8 years just because her younger siblings still TOT.

Our children are very good children, they help around the house and manage to save much of their money. They are respectful and responsible (most of the time LOL)....this was just one area that we were butting heads and I just wanted to know when most children stopped dressing up. I think the last time I dressed up was 12 or so....and then I ran around the neighborhood when I was 18 with friends and we 'dressed up' but not with costumes or anything..just stuff we'd thrown together from our closets. I don't think 12-13 is an odd age to stop expecting a full blown costume, unless you're going to wear it for many different parties/years.

Thanks for everyones input....I appreciate hearing the different point of views and experiences I think I went middle of the road with the solution....she gets the hat, but due to comfort and budget reason (and the fact that you won't see them LOL) you won't get the boots. I think she's happy that I met her in the middle and I'm happy that I didn't spend that extra 50.00 on boots LOL

 

[Lucky4me]

I have four kids and we all love Halloween and costumes. I stopped buying costumes when they were around 12-13, but my girls still got dressed up and trick or treated straight through High school. The boys stopped around 13 or so.
Now my adult kids in their late 20's buy or make costumes and go to house parties and bar contests a couple weeks before Halloween. They start planning their costumes in the summer! I would never spend $100 on a costume for myself or my kids, but I bet they do. Which is fine, it's their money, not mine.

Last year myself, my sil who has since passed away and dd dressed up as Ghouls Gone Wild for MNSSHP. I am so glad I went to the trouble making those costumes, as the pictures and memories of how much fun we had that night are priceless to me right now.

 

[TheRatPack]

Aww I'm sorry about the loss of your SIL It's nice that you did go through with the costumes so you have those memories...that'll mean a lot to you I'm sure over the years to look back on those and think of all the fun you had.

 

[sk!mom]

DD14 and DS25 both still dress up. I don't know whose kids they are this time of year- I hate Halloween!

Of course, their growing up years were completely different than mine so maybe it's my fault for indulging their Halloween dreams and making award winning costumes when they were in Elementary.

At least, now I only have to help DD come up with hers. The years of getting two together just about did me in.

 

[fallcolors]

Dressing-up for Halloween seems to depend on what is happening with peers and in the community.

 

[Hannathy]

My Dd at college just texted me this evening with I know what I am being for Halloween and then described it to a T and wondering if she could find a sewing machine on campus!

I think she dressed up more the older she got. She probably dressed up least in 7-8th grad and then once HS came and she started going to more parties it started getting more elaborate again!

She didn't go out trick or treating after 7th grade. She did take her brother when she was in High school but she didn't get candy. Except a few houses she knew insisted sh take a piece

 

[TheRatPack]

DD14 and DS25 both still dress up. I don't know whose kids they are this time of year- I hate Halloween!

Of course, their growing up years were completely different than mine so maybe it's my fault for indulging their Halloween dreams and making award winning costumes when they were in Elementary.

At least, now I only have to help DD come up with hers. The years of getting two together just about did me in.

LOL, I remember sewing so many costumes and classroom winning valentines boxes...etc Then it seems like fabric got so expensive and I was spending more on it then buying a nice costume at Disney Store...etc. Still, there is something to be said for handmade things....I think the kids always remember those too. Maybe I'll plan better next year and break out the sewing skills LOL

 

[Shleedogg]

LOL, I remember sewing so many costumes and classroom winning valentines boxes...etc Then it seems like fabric got so expensive and I was spending more on it then buying a nice costume at Disney Store...etc. Still, there is something to be said for handmade things....I think the kids always remember those too. Maybe I'll plan better next year and break out the sewing skills LOL

It really has! I made DD's Snow White costume last year. I bought a few yards of cotton broadcloth and only enough satin for sleeves and appliques. With that, zippers, thread, I spent $50 on an infant costume!! Thank god I mistakenly made it too big so she can wear it now for dress up. When we were in Disney 2 weeks ago we decided to just buy DD a Belle dress w/ our AP discount. It ended up being the same as sewing one. Pg mommy doesn't have the patience to sew one on her terrible sewing machine this year, lol.

Glad you guys found a compromise! Btw, where do you sell your old costumes? That's a great idea!

 

[TheRatPack]

I usually post them on Craigslist or I wait and sell them at the Just Between Friends resale dates throughout the year. I've made clowns, skunks, fairies, headless man...etc I'll have to watch for sales on fabric this year....stock up and start planning early With homeschooling and regular day to day stuff I'll have to do it a little at a time for 5 kids LOL