The Minefield that is Fancy Dress Costumes
I love the opportunity to get dressed up, but I know it is not everyone’s cup of tea and for some there is a real feeling of dread when their child is invited to a themed party. However, there are so many options out there for sourcing costumes, so never fear!
Buying Secondhand
Whether you want to buy secondhand to reduce costs or to protect the planet, there are so many great costumes being sold with so much life left in them. Great places to look are Facebook Marketplace, Vinted, Olio. On the Olio App there are costumes being given away for free, or ones that you can borrow and you can also post ‘wanted’ ads. If you are short on time, you could also use Rumage, where you can shop all your favourite second hand marketplaces at the same time.
Buying New
An easy place to start your search is your local, large, supermarket, as most of the major supermarkets have a range of fancy dress costumes. You can also find a number of costumes at H&M.
If you would like to widen your search or find something a little more unique, then there are some ideas below to get you started.
Mimi and Lula – pretty and great quality
Stych – lovely accessories
Scandiborn – great for some European brands
Kidly – again good for some European brands
Children’s Salon – a good selection of high quality costumes
Smyths Toys – for Melissa and Doug costumes
John Lewis – a really good selection of costumes
Selfridges – fabulous costumes from Animal Antics.
Wolf Pup – a British company focussed on quality. they even have a ‘mums and daughters’ section!
Party Delights – a good selection of popular themed outfits
If you need some ideas on choosing a theme for your child’s party, then take a look at my blog post on Children’s Party Themes.
