What kid doesn’t like to dress up? Particularly in early childhood as children’s imaginations are BOOMING, dressing up is super exciting to kids. What’s more exciting than dressing up, you ask? Dressing up to match your destination. No lie, when our daughter found out we were going to be spending a day in Disney Land during a family vacation, she immediately planned on bringing her Minnie Mouse dress.
When we made it to Disney Land, she wore that Minnie Mouse outfit like. a. boss. A boss in polka dots. (Seriously though, do you see the confidence in the picture above? It was like girlfriend owned Disney Land).
This was the occasion that truly led to the light-bulb moment for me about how awesome themed outfits can be on vacation. I wish I would have known this earlier, and I haven’t forgotten it since!
Themed outfits also don’t have to break the bank. Let’s be real, my daughter wore this Minnie Mouse dress no less than 498 times before we handed it down to her younger cousin… but it also wasn’t cheap.
My lesson in taking a creative approach to themed outfits was in honor of a very special/amazing little girl’s Star Wars/Princess-themed birthday party. (For real though, can you imagine a cooler kid than the one who requests a Star Wars/Princess party?) Our daughter didn’t want to dress up like just a princess. Or just a Star Wars character. Clearly, she needed to dress up as a Star Wars Princess. So, I surrendered to the vision and broke out some old fabric markers and a plain white t-shirt and tights. Well, the result was actually pretty darn cool.
Maybe it’s growing up as one of five kids and just accepting the reality of defaulting to creativity and hand-me-downs, or maybe it’s my own drive to be creative (or frugal/practical), but I have totally embraced the “how can we make this work with what we have?” mentality. Bonus? My. daughter. doesn’t. care. that. it. didn’t. come. from. a store. In fact, she LOVES having some ownership of making these outfits/projects together. She’s so proud of the fact that she helped to make her cool outfit!
Take home message? Kids love themed outfits. Embrace the madness. Help them to make all the outfits. Invest in some fabric markers and plain white clothes. You’ll thank me later 🙂