Costumes for older girls? 11 years plus?

[DLPDreams]

We have just returned from a surprise Halloween trip to DLRP and had an amazing time. My DD1 is 9, and I managed to get her a gorgeous 'tween' Sally costume from the US - it looked great and she had the most amazing interaction with CMs and characters in it. Having been on the trip and seen the interaction she experienced, she seems quite keen to dress up for the odd day/meal at WDW.

Problem is she will be 10 and is on the larger side for sizes, so will probably be needing 11-12 years. Most DS UK dresses only go up to 9-10, only the Frozen ones are larger and she already has Anna.

Can anyone help with places to try - I've looked at standard fancy dress costumes but tween ones tend to look a bit 'tarty' imo and nothing special (the Sally one mentioned above was anything but - very cute!).

I am probably only looking at taking 2-3 for the whole time we are there as I can't see her wearing them much in the heat anyway. Although, as I said, perhaps for evening character meals she might want to put on.

Help please! I wish they did Disney dresses up to the age of about 12-13, not all children are petite and not all children stop dressing up at age 9, especially when they are in their happy place (I couldn't imagine her dressing up at home, although she recently attended her friend's 10th bday party where they all dressed up in Frozen costumes and sang the songs!!) . It's nice to feel that my little girl isn't growing up too much before her time.

 

[Azza1987]

Have you tried Tesco at all? They usually have costumes in and they looked like they went up quite big sizes as opposed to the little kids albeit I didn't check the sizing accurately!

Not as nice quality but cheaper & still disney

 

[Elise79]

Have you looked at the US Disney store? The American kids are generally 'larger' so there might be more demand for larger sizes. I don't know as I never have to look at costumes as DD isn't one for dressing up like that she would rather have a pretty 'normal' dress to wear

 

[Hipster Meg]

Rather than costumes at that age maybe introduce her to Disney Bounding - basically it involves dressing in clothes of similar colours to those of characters without being in costume. So for example if you were to bound ad Elsa rather than wearing a costume you might wear a simple dress in the same colours and acessorise in with a few snowflakes. Google should come up with a number of suggestions.

Failing that Etsy or a friendly local dress maker would probably be able to help.

 

[joolz1910]

I have a similar problem as my tall nearly-11 year old likes to dress up and there is very little out there. Have a look at Travis by Design dresses - they are really pretty.

 

[DLPDreams]

Thank you for all the replies. I actually had a look at some alternative sort of Minnie dresses, without them being Minnie iyswim and that might work. Problem is, she still loves Princesses and wants to look like them - I think the onset of Frozen has opened the doors to older girls dressing up again tbh.

Joolz - I will check out that link and google as well Hipster. I don't want to pay a fortune for things she probably won't wear again (if it were DS dresses then I would get away with it as DD2 would probably grow into them!).

Have to say, I was really impressed with the Sally tween dress - just wish the other Disney costumes were the same, but they aren't - as soon as you get older, they raise the hemline and drop the cleavage by several inches!!

Elise - I tried DS.com as I thought about getting them shipped ready for us over there, but they only seem to go up to 9-10 years . Not sure if that is UK similar sizing though. I am fairly sure 9-10 won't fit her next year - her Anna one may as it's a big fit (unusually for DS), but it's full sleeved so not ideal. It will be hot in August so we probably need to think of alternatives that look Disney in a vest/skirt/shorts kind of way.

 

[cjbcam]

Spirit Halloween has tween dresses for older girls. I got my 11 yo a Snow White one that is not exactly like the little girl dresses. It's nice for a tween.

 

[Marl]

I was gonna say the same thing as Hipster Meg - do a google search for Disney Bounding, there are some fantastic outfits that people have put together, you can pick appropriate clothing to suit your daughter's age and the weather conditions. From what I have read about Disney Bounding you get great reactions from the characters too.
My daughters are slightly older but are really interested in Disney Bounding for our next holiday.

 

[LeaversOnTour]

Have you tried Ebay? I don't know what sort of thing your after, but they may have something on there.

 

[cheryl.UK]

DLP used to sell costumes for 11/12 year olds which, when I was way slimmer, fit me as I'm only 5'1'. They didn't reach the floor but they did reach my ankles

 

[Ware Bears]

DLP used to sell costumes for 11/12 year olds

I was going to say the same, my youngest had a lovely Cinderella dress from DLP age 11/12 which fitted her from age 9 up until she (sadly) decided she was too old for it.

Elise - I tried DS.com as I thought about getting them shipped ready for us over there, but they only seem to go up to 9-10 years . Not sure if that is UK similar sizing though.

We struggled to get a Minnie Mouse dress bigger than age 8 here or at DLP however found one at WDW that fitted beautifully and she got a couple of years out of it. I'm sure it was an age 9/10 but was the equivalent of DLP's 11/12 so I'm sure you'll find plenty to fit her once you're at WDW.

 

[scottish mum]

They definitely have bigger sizes at WDW my dd is 10 and very tall, she was at BBB last month and had the choice of all the dresses. She got the 2nd biggest size, possibly age 12, the biggest one was age 14 I think

 

[DLPDreams]

Thanks all. Sounds like it might be best to buy over there then. I liked the idea of buying online then shipping to OKW but it definitely says 9-10 as biggest size for most non Frozen costumes.

I think I'll need new ones for DD2 as well as she'll be too big for hers by then. So probably best to do it all together!

 

[tinks_1989]

We have just returned from California and I bought a few dresses from Hot Topic. I had CMs and guests come up to me and ask me where they were from.

http://search.hottopic.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&lbc=hottopic&w=Disney dress

I had the tangled, beauty and the beast and Alice in Wonderland pictured skirt ones. They were also really comfy and light. I would have thought the xs would fit Tweens.

 

[DLPDreams]

We have just returned from California and I bought a few dresses from Hot Topic. I had CMs and guests come up to me and ask me where they were from.

http://search.hottopic.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&lbc=hottopic&w=Disney dress

I had the tangled, beauty and the beast and Alice in Wonderland pictured skirt ones. They were also really comfy and light. I would have thought the xs would fit Tweens.

Thank you - I didn't realise you were doing California - lucky you! Hope you had a great time.

I like Hot Topic but I think she's a bit young for it yet tbh. She's quite happy to wear traditional princess style dresses for the foreseeable so I'd like to try and keep it that way as long as possible - they grow up too quickly .

Azza is in WDW atm and has kindly had a look around for me, seems bigger sizes are easy to get hold of in several different character designs, so hopefully we can just wait until we get there.