Halloween costume idea - railroad engineer outfit

[bcla]

My wife is bugging me about getting a costume for our 3 year old, and I figure a train-crazy kid would do great as a railroad engineer. We've already got Osh Kosh striped overalls, but don't quite have a proper size engineer's hat. I'm hoping maybe they have those at costume shops, but I know of places I can get one this weekend. I figure a red paisley bandana is typical, but I'm not sure if it goes on better as a triangle tied in the back or worn as a neckerchief. I suppose any T-shirt would be fine, but I'm looking for that light or light-medium blue work shirt in a kid's size. Any ideas where to find that kind of shirt? I know adult-sized shirts like that are sold in work clothes stores or even Wal-Mart, but for a kid will I have to find something close?

This is sort of what I have in mind:

 

[JessicaR]

Years ago when my son was 4 he was an engineer. Thomas was very popular back then. Maybe still is? I found the costume on Amazon - ebay and a few costume sites.

http://www.amazon.com/Train-Engineer-Child-Costume-Toddler/dp/B000WK8V9A

You can also just get the hat - separately.

 

[Southernmiss]

My wife is bugging me about getting a costume for our 3 year old, and I figure a train-crazy kid would do great as a railroad engineer. We've already got Osh Kosh striped overalls, but don't quite have a proper size engineer's hat. I'm hoping maybe they have those at costume shops, but I know of places I can get one this weekend. I figure a red paisley bandana is typical, but I'm not sure if it goes on better as a triangle tied in the back or worn as a neckerchief. I suppose any T-shirt would be fine, but I'm looking for that light or light-medium blue work shirt in a kid's size. Any ideas where to find that kind of shirt? I know adult-sized shirts like that are sold in work clothes stores or even Wal-Mart, but for a kid will I have to find something close?

This is sort of what I have in mind:

I did this when ds was 3. It was the cutest easiest outfit ever. Osh kosh overalls, red longsleeved shirt, red bandana as a neckerchief and found a hat at kmart.

I then made a train car out if a couple of boxes and spray paint and put it on his wagon.

He got so many compliments.

He's now 19.

The next year he and his brother were a doctor and patient another easy and cute costume.

 

[bcla]

I thought of online shopping - especially for the hat. However, we've already got the overalls, which are about as "authentic" as you're going to find. For several years the Disneyland Railroad engineer's uniform included Osh Kosh hickory striped overalls and hats. And we're worried about shipping time.

Besides that, the big detail is the shirt. Most of the costumes don't come with a shirt. I'm looking for a work style shirt - preferably with two pockets. I know I'm probably going overboard with the details, but my wife wants it to be just right.

 

[Southernmiss]

I thought of online shopping - especially for the hat. However, we've already got the overalls, which are about as "authentic" as you're going to find. For several years the Disneyland Railroad engineer's uniform included Osh Kosh hickory striped overalls and hats. And we're worried about shipping time.

Besides that, the big detail is the shirt. Most of the costumes don't come with a shirt. I'm looking for a work style shirt - preferably with two pockets. I know I'm probably going overboard with the details, but my wife wants it to be just right.

Ds' s shirt was a red Henley style thermal look shirt. With overalls over it it worked just fine.

 

[Piglets Mommy]

How about a light blue button up Oxford shirt? Walmart or Target would have it.

 

[bcla]

I went to Walmart looking for appropriate stuff. Started with a bandana. I suppose red is the traditional color, but the only red version they had was paisley with a repeating skull pattern. Seemed more outlaw biker than railroad engineer. The yellow and blue ones seemed more appropriate so I bought them for $1 each. I'm going to look around to see if I can find a proper red one somewhere else.

So there seem to be two ways to wear them. Adults seem to do it as a neckerchief, but sometimes it's a triangle around the neck. Most kids dressed up as railroad engineers/firemen do it this way. I suppose this was because a steam locomotive could be a dirty environment and this would cover the neck and maybe protect it.

And I couldn't find any sort of dress shirt in my kid's size. There were oxford uniform shirts in older kids' sizes. However, I just got a blue plaid flannel shirt. Seems close enough, and I suppose real railroad workers wore whatever they needed to depending on the season. It's going to be cold on Halloween night, and a jacket would sort of ruin the look.

 

[wiigirl]

Years ago when my son was 4 he was an engineer. Thomas was very popular back then. Maybe still is? I found the costume on Amazon - ebay and a few costume sites.

http://www.amazon.com/Train-Engineer-Child-Costume-Toddler/dp/B000WK8V9A

You can also just get the hat - separately.

 

[bcla]

Just ordered this for pickup at a local Toys R Us for a bit over $6:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11773804

Comes with the hat, small red bandana, and whistle. Now I've got a couple of adult sized bandanas, but my wife things we can use them for assorted stuff. I still want to see if it's a full sized bandana and not just some sort of clip-on thing. I've heard that some kid's costumes have bandanas that are just a small triangle of material that clips on like a clip-on tie.

 

[lynxstch]

He will look so cute! Please post a picture of him (or the 3 of you) if you have no 'phobia's, about putting personal pics on the DIS, we'd love to see how it came out!

 

[zoemurr]

Just wore a white t shirt and it was very cute. We made a train out of a box that looked like Thomas. I believe Michaels sells adult bandanas in every color. Have fun!

 

[luvflorida]

Comes with the hat, small red bandana, and whistle. Now I've got a couple of adult sized bandanas, but my wife things we can use them for assorted stuff. I still want to see if it's a full sized bandana and not just some sort of clip-on thing. I've heard that some kid's costumes have bandanas that are just a small triangle of material that clips on like a clip-on tie.

My grandson was a train engineer for Halloween a few years ago when he was two years old. I purchased the same hat/bandana set you ordered from Toys R Us. He wore Osh Kosh striped overalls and a long-sleeved, dark blue, thermal shirt. His shoes were red Keds. I figured they'd look good with the red bandana.

Here are a few pics of him in his costume. I made the Thomas the Tank Engine out of a cardboard box. Three years later and that "train" is still in good condition!

Here is a close-up of the hat and bandana. The bandana was made to look like it tied, but it was really velcro that attached one end to the other. The hat and bandana were perfect for his costume and I thought both pieces were of good quality.

 

[bcla]

It's pretty complete now.

I picked it up and the hat is just right. I mean - I could try and get all crazy and try to track down a vintage kid's sized Osh Kosh B'Gosh railroad hat from the 60s/70s, but this is pretty much what I had in mind. Kid loves the whistle but can't quite blow it properly. The bandana actually doesn't look too bad but just doesn't fit. The hat looks fine loose, but the psuedo-bandana is about an inch too big at the velcro. I wanted a regular one that could be folded over then tied down in the back. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I really don't want it to look like my kid is wearing a store-bought costume.

I picked this up at a Toys R Us Express location at a mall, and then tried to track down where I could find a traditional red bandana. There were actually quite a few places, including one novelty store where they were $3.99 but the other stuff they sold included baby clothing with assorted phrases (think four letter words) designed for shock value. So who actually buys this stuff? If you've ever seen that Comcast commercial where a guy's daughter becomes a punk and dresses her newborn in leather with a spiked dog collar - I guess that kind of parent. I also saw some clothing stores and some girls' accessory stores, which had bandanas but in bright colors like pink.

In the end I actually found traditional red ones (two different shades actually) at a Japanese discount variety store ("100-yen store" in Japan) called Daiso. They haven't branched out in the US beyond Washington and California. Almost everything they had was $1.50. I got maybe three since they were pretty cheap. I liked these because they were plain and didn't have any labeling on the edge of the fabric like the ones I got at Walmart.

http://www.daiso-sangyo.co.jp/english/products/index.html

The one I got was like the ones in the center.

 

[bcla]

Found a denim work-style shirt at Walmart yesterday. It's somewhat of a grayish medium blue with two pockets, and looks just like a work shirt that a railroad worker might wear.

Now what I'm looking for to complete the setup is small work gloves.

 

[bcla]

OK - Halloween was last week, but it worked out pretty well. It was a real two pocket work shirt, which I guess is for kids to play dress up. I opted for a real red cotton bandana. The one that came in the kit was cotton/poly and the pattern wasn't dyed in but some sort of silk screen. The hat was fine. I had a trial run the day before to see if my wife could figure this out. I've also got a great photo, although my wife would get ticked off if I posted it. No fake smile or hamming it up for the camera. Just looking straight at the camera looking like someone who just got off a shift running a steam locomotive.

So I got home on Halloween and didn't see anyone home. When my wife and kid got back I saw it was pretty much what I was going for, although my kid wore a pair of Adidas sneakers in day-glo colors, which sort of looked out of place. Most of the neighbors got it, and my wife said she ran into another family with a kid dressed in a similar getup, but with a blue bandana.