The Great Costume Debate.....

Victorya - posted on 11/06/2011

Seems that these days all the little girls costumes are ridiculous! It makes me sick. Can't stand parents who let their young children where mini skirts. SMH. Other costumes don't really bother me.

Sally - posted on 10/31/2011

Pinklalicious is a character from a book. She is a little girl who loves everything pink. The stories are quite cute and innocent. But the toy line from the book is now being marketed hard. It is everywhere. I love the books.

Amy - posted on 10/31/2011

Okay, I know who batman is, what is pinkalicious? IT just sounds skanky.

Schmoopy - posted on 10/31/2011

I'm sure I'll be in the minority here, but I think character costumes are so sad! We don't do much in the way of media in our house, so it's not much of an issue anyway for my family. But when all a kid can think of to be is Pinkalicious or Batman, I want to cry.

One kid in my daughter's class wants to his costume to be him piggybacking on a dummy. I thought that was so clever and creative! As opposed to my trip to music class last week, where every last 2-year-old but mine was planning to be some sort of media character from Mario Brothers to Curious George. it seems not even parents can think for themselves!

And, I'm sure you guess that, of course I think sexy little girls' costumes are unacceptable, too.

Amy - posted on 10/26/2011

Well, my son is a skunk this year and daughter is sleeping beauty - that means she is wearing a pioneer dress, has a shawl, and a basket with pretend wildberries in it and carrying her owl friend. So...Eh, whatever. I don't have money for costumes and it's cold. have to do what you have to do.

and I always say....if you're old enough to have a "Sexed up" costume...you're too old to trick or treat.

Medic - posted on 10/19/2011

We usually make our sons costume but he is more artsy like that. His first halloween he was only 1.5 months old but we took his cousin so we made him super baby....then when he was 1 he was hospitalized for halloween but we dressed him in red and made him a devil. At 2 he was a pumpkin (gotta love orange sweats and pillows)....at 3 he was a dragon tamer, at 4 we made a pirate costume that everyone loved and this year he is going to be a longhorns basketball player(local university). So all of his we have either made or like this year its just his favorite outfit. My daughter was a strawberry last year (mom made) and this year she is a longhorn cheerleader(to match her brother). I like costumes that take some thought and are not so common.

Stifler's - posted on 10/18/2011

we don't do halloween but i prefer them to not have a sexed up costume, weird that there are "sexy" costumes for kids wtf

Toni - posted on 10/17/2011

I like scary ish (the littlies aren't really scary their soooooo cute) costumes. My son has been a skeleton (he was two weeks old) - he had a sleep suit with glow in the dark bones; a Dracula and this year he is a spider; my daughter is going as a ballerina, she has a black vest with a pink tutu over it and stripy tights so cute :-)

Slutty stuff should be reserved for adults only and preferably adult parties!

I don't mind character costumes, I wanted my son to be fireman Sam this year (he already had a fireman Sam costume) but my hubby said he couldn't be cutesy.

Kristal - posted on 10/17/2011

I let my 4 year old girl wear whatever she wants, scary or a character...however, if the bottom is above the knee or the belly showing I don't let her. She loves those new monster dolls but the costumes were way too revealing so I didn't let her get it even though she wants to. We need to keep clothes on our little girls in public, you never know who is lurking.

Minnie - posted on 10/15/2011

I don't have an opinion much on costumes, as long as they aren't offensive.

I do like to see homemade costumes. They're usually so creative.

The girls are going as wizards (witches) and picked out fabric for their robes. They're so excited to dress up!

Good Day! - posted on 10/14/2011

Yeah, I agree with that Disney is way overboard. But we don't have unlimited funds and much of the stuff that gets handed-down to us is Disney-esque. The only clothes we've received that I've not allowed my daughter to wear have Justin Bieber or Hannah Montana on them. That's too much for a 3 year old.



And that brings me to costumes! I've done a mixture of home-made and store bought. I've never spent more than $10. I can't bring myself to spend so much on an outfit that will get worn once (maybe twice if little sister wears it in the future).





And sexy costumes are way to far. I don't even like them on adults unless it's an adult only party.



The past two years I've let her choose. And, of course, she choose a Disney princess! Trick or Treating is for the kids, so I'll just let her have her fun being a princess for the night.



If you are bored, read on:



The first year she was a skeleton. It was a $3 onsie that had a glow-in-the-dark skeleton on it. I paired it with black tights and a black bow in her hair and it was adorable.



The second year she was a spider. I stuffed black tights with pillow stuffing and safety pinned them to a black onsie. Again, paired it with black tights and black shoes and she was adorable.



The third year she wanted to be Snow White. So I bought a Snow White costume on e-bay. She was still adorable, especially because she was smiling from ear to ear all night...so happy that she was Snow White.



Last Christmas she received a Cinderella costume from an aunt. That's what she decided to be. Her baby sister is going to be a home made Gus Gus. I bought a floppy blue hat from the dollar store and I'm going to make big floppy brown ears and a tail from felt. She'll wear brown pants and a brown shirt. She'll have a tiny yellow shirt over that(because Gus Gus is chubby and his shirt was too small). If I really wanted to go all out...I'd pull together a godmother costume for me and a prince costume for my husband...but that probably won't happen.

Krista - posted on 10/14/2011

Sally, I know how you feel. They even put Disney on our kids' freaking DIAPERS. It's so pervasive that it just becomes maddening. I like some of the Disney movies, but just wish they didn't go so damned overboard when it comes to merchandising.

April - posted on 10/14/2011

I'm a big fan of costumes that are outside the box! My favorite costume ever was my sister's when she was 6. She dressed up as a heart. My dad got a big cardboard box from work and cut out a heart shape. They painted it red together. Then they punched holes and put string through the holes. She wore the costume over her shoulders! It came out so cute and i especially loved that it was a project she did with out dad!

Sherri - posted on 10/14/2011

That is funny Sally the only character costumes I will allow is the Disney costumes. Bought directly from the Disney store or e-bay.

Brittany - posted on 10/14/2011

I know how you feel Sally. It took us forever to find bedding for our daugther that didn't have either Dora (whom I can't stand), or the Dinsey Fairies.

I don't feel like I can tell her no you can't dress up as X character, when both my husband and myself cosplay. I don't like hypocrisy. But that is us.

Making costumes is totally worth it. I would have except that I'm 30 weeks pregnant and I don't want to be bent over a machine for the next 2 weeks.

Sally - posted on 10/14/2011

And September, we are about an hour+ SE of Seattle. Past Auburn but before Tacoma.

Sally - posted on 10/14/2011

We don't have character costumes. She has one Cinderella Dress & shoes that were a gift. I couldn't take it away and so got stuck with it. I don't buy character clothing ever. I figure if Disney needs walking Ads, they can pay for them. No way am I paying them to advertise.

I have no problem with dress up but prefer her to use her own imagination. She can be her own type of princess, her own type of fairy or Mermaid.

She wanted to be Ariel for Halloween, I told her she could be a mermaid. We looked and looked for a Mermaid Costume that was not Ariel & was warm enough for our climate. We did find one with long sleeves online but when it was pointed out she may still need a coat over it, she went back to a cupcake which she had talked about before she saw the Ariel Costume at the store. Whew.

Generic Princess, ect don't bother me. But the Disney stuff does. I am not anti Disney. I just wish I could go buy a bike or a scooter or a helmet without a character on it. Why does it all have to have a face on it? took me 4 stores to find a helmet for school that was plain. (they have bikes at school & helmets are required.) I get so sick of the Disney stuff being pushed, that I banned 90% of it. Just my thing. I wish I was more creative so I could really make her a costume. I might have to try next yeat as she is moved into the bigger sizes it is harder and harder to find nice stuff. Once they hit size 6, it goes downhill quick.

Brittany - posted on 10/14/2011

I completely over spent on my daughter's costume this year. But she saw it and wouldn't let it go. I figure that she can wear it and enjoy it as a dress up outfit and her brother can wear it when he gets to be her age. I normally like to buy things on sale.

No sexy outfits, ever.

I don't care about scary. If they want to be a witch, monster, or whatever. They don't really look scary often time for little kids.

My kids can't have masks or prostetics but that is because their father is allergic to latex and then couldn't be with in 25-30 ft of them (or more for some types).

Warmth will definitly be an issue here. But I can always put a long sleeved shirt and coat on them.

As for characters... meh. I don't like them often times, but I wouldn't stop them if they really wanted it.

Becky - posted on 10/14/2011

Either my mom or I have made may daughters costume every year . . . she likes them better than anything hanging in the stores and we have total control of how she winds up looking! Works out great & she's so far loved the results!

We've done thinks like Snow White in the past (mom is a seamstress and it was better than the cheep costumes at the store) - we've done witches, fairies and vampires . . . It's usually cold by Holloween here so the challenge is a coustome that you can layer up underneath with out ruining the effect or having to have a bulky jacket covering . . . revealing too much skin is rarely an issue! lol!

Starfish - posted on 10/14/2011

Nothing trampy is my big rule. If I can picture it on a stripper, it doesn't go on my child.

And nothing offensive, though I'd like to think that was a given.

But usually the request is for a Cinderella costume or Dora or a kitty or something. Totally cool with that.

Teresa - posted on 10/14/2011

We don't do scary or revealing.

This year I have an Incredible (Mr. Incredible, but he's got more of Dash's hair lol) w/ a 'homemade' costume, a gymnast, and a surfer.

Costumes at Walmart are $14-20 and there's no way I could ever justify spending up to $60 for ONE night.

The price of costumes would be what sends me over the edge. ;)

Keli - posted on 10/14/2011

I would say some costumes cross a line,such as 3 boys that dressed as "KKK" last year....i would hope that the parents didnt see them leave the house that way.

September - posted on 10/14/2011

Yeah we paid far too much for our son's costume, it was $39.99. I figured Halloween is only once a year so what the heck! :)

Krista - posted on 10/14/2011

Yeah, costumes are freaking expensive. I saw a nice warm lion costume today, which would be great for my toddler, but it was $30!

September - posted on 10/14/2011

The only thing that really bugs me is little girl’s costumes that are sexed up, that's just wrong! Otherwise I'm not picky at all. Our son decided he wanted to be T-rex this year :) Sally if you don't mind me asking, where do you live? We live in the PNW as well, in Seattle :)

Angela - posted on 10/14/2011

Character costumes are cool. I especially like the homemade ones. They tend to be more creative than the one on the rack.
I don't like seeing sexy costumes on a girl younger then 18. In my opinion it isn't appropriate. I have seen plenty of "prostitutes" at my door because teenage girls can usually throw something together from their closets. Most of the time they just want candy and feel the need to "dress up".

Sally - posted on 10/14/2011

I do the Ebay thing too. And since we live in the Pacific NW, Halloweens are cold and more often than not rainy. I did the Gymborree Butterfly one year and she was so cold. Last year she was Candy Corn. My fav was the fleece zip up flower costume she had. She was also a fleece kitty cat when she was really tiny (11 months). This year she is a Cupcake. (old navy, very warm).
I would pay $50, I haven't yet but I would. But I usually resell the costumes. So I don't think of the price so much.

Sherri - posted on 10/14/2011

They are indifferent to me. My kids are not allowed to wear scary costumes till middle school.

I LOVE halloween but I am practical so I go with cutsey very warm fluffy costumes till middle school. We have been Donald Duck, custsey dragon, Monkey, Dumbo for my 5yr old.

My older kids 13 & 14 now usually choose scary costumes but they also had adorable WARM cutsey costumes when they were younger. Last year my middle guy was a man eating shark with the half eaten guy hanging out of his mouth, my oldest was popeye

Teens in my opinion can wear whatever they want. I could care less.

The $50 costumes is what I buy my kids but I buy them used on E-bay and end up spending far less. Although last Halloween I got my husband his dream costume and I think it was $60 it was and original Grumpy costume.

Due to our weather we can't buy the $10 costumes they have to be super warm because it is so cold usually for trick or treating here. So I spend a tad bit more for quality and warmth.

Kate CP - posted on 10/14/2011

I'm with Krista. The Naught Nurse costume I saw the other day for teens is SO beyond inappropriate. I don't have a problem with character costumes, either. Pretty much I'll let the kids be anything for Halloween as long as it's not sexual or really frickin' expensive.

On that note, what's the deal with $50 toddler's costumes?! Who the hell buys that?!

Krista - posted on 10/14/2011

I loathe sexed-up little girl costumes. It's gross. Other than that, I'm fine. Character costumes don't bother me, really.