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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To request costume alterations to work independently?

20 replies

LucyK9 · 10/05/2020 17:05

I work at a soft play (closed just now obv) and we have a bear character that is a mascot costume we wear at parties to entertain the children. It sounds awful but it's great fun!

A few weeks before we closed we were thrilled to get a new suit... but it has the hands (big paws) permanently attached at the ends of the sleeves so the person inside can't use their hands at all, and can't work the zip by themselves. The old suit was easy to get it on and off by yourself.

Once in and a colleague has pulled up the zip at the back, you are basically stuck until somebody lets you out! Trust me.. ive tried

I wear the suit more than anyone else and it really bothers me. It's usually the same person who helps me and he's great about it, but a bit younger than me and it feels infantilising and humiliating.

Am I being strange being bothered by this? It doesn't seem to be a problem for anybody else

I haven't shared my issue with the owners yet but after lockdown I am going to ask if the costume can be adapted to make life easier... it feels silly though as there's never been an actual problem, just me not liking the feeling. Would that be unreasonable? x

OP posts:

Di11y · 10/05/2020 17:10

nope seems sensible. presumably just need to slightly detach the paws and have Velcro or something to close up again. possible a longer bit on the zip so can reach round

aLilNonnyMouse · 10/05/2020 17:10

It sounds like a normal request. It just needs the hand parts turning into gloves so they can be slipped off easily.

Try and frame it as a safety hazard - if you were struggling to breathe or overheating and were unable to remove the suit it would be a big risk.

Sparklesocks · 10/05/2020 17:11

I think it’s sounds reasonable to ask, and they’d most likely want their staff to be comfortable.

JuniperBeer · 10/05/2020 17:14

This should be flagged on the risk assessment. You definitely should be able to to take the suit off independently

Suzie6789 · 10/05/2020 17:15

I would share your concerns and I think you would be sensible to ask the owners for alterations for your own comfort and peace if mind.

Elouera · 10/05/2020 17:19

I wouldn't want to have to ask a male colleague to undress/unzip me every time I wanted the loo

Did he need to dress up in the previous outfit, or just the new one? I too would ask for minor alternations as mentioned- a slit at the wrist so you can get your hand out, if not completely separate paws, and a long ribbon on the back zip which you can zip up yourself.

user1635482648 · 10/05/2020 17:19

I would hate that. Lots of ways it could go wrong even before the pandemic. I'm surprised nobody has thought that through or raised it as an issue already.

ChandlerIsTheBestFriend · 10/05/2020 17:23

Oh god! I feel claustrophobic just reading about it! I definitely couldn’t cope with being trapped inside it.

YANBU OP!

Original poster

LucyK9 · 10/05/2020 17:34

The old suit was fine, separate hands and we had a thing on the zip so you could grab it by yourself

My colleague is great really, he understands and is really helpful but he obviously knows I'm basically dependent on him. And yes I would need his help to go to the loo but we don't normally wear it long enough for that.

He deliberately doesn't clip the head on now so I can get that off by myself (with some difficulty) but then I have to go and ask to be let out of the suit itself and I think that's the worst bit. When we first got it I spent a good 10 minutes trying to find a way to get the zip with the paws but it's just impossible :( can't even reach it to be honest

Everyone on here seems to agree with me though so I'll be asking for changes as soon as we go back.

Last year I wore a jumpsuit on a night out and needed help to unzip every bathroom trip, and had to get a drunk husband to get me out of it on return home too. I immediately binned it and vowed never again!

OP posts:

iwampix · 10/05/2020 18:47

I'm getting claustrophobic just thinking about that OP yanbu!

MitziK · 10/05/2020 19:22

I've served my time dressing up in a stinking Dolphin costume.

To be honest, I'd take a pair of dressmaking snips to the seam that joins the paws to the sleeves for exactly that reason.

CatBatCat · 10/05/2020 19:26

The zip just needs a ribbon loop for you to grab onto

Original poster

LucyK9 · 10/05/2020 19:39

Haha @MitziK I'm not sure if I'd be allowed to take scissors to it! Could you get in and out of the dolphin by yourself?

OP posts:

MulticolourMophead · 10/05/2020 19:47

This should be flagged on the risk assessment. You definitely should be able to to take the suit off independently

Agree. What if there was an emergency like a fire? You should be able to get out of the costume as needed, without the need to signal for help every time.

MitziK · 10/05/2020 21:39

@LucyK9 If I threw myself face first onto the floor, I could have wriggled out of the bastarding thing in an emergency whilst simultaneously looking like I'd been harpooned and was in my death throes.

Christ knows how many children were traumatised by me. I know I was traumatised by the little gits grabbing at my flippers right by the sodding ballpit. I saw it as my penance for torturing some poor bastard who dressed up as Busby for jumble sales and school fetes back in the late 70s by jumping up and grabbing his beak with all my little mates.

user1471592953 · 10/05/2020 22:22

I would feel very uncomfortable too. I’d ask for changes to be made. I’d probably also give the manufacturer some feedback on the design flaw.

Magickl · 10/05/2020 22:32

What if you want to go to the toilet?

It's not unreasonable to want to put on or take off a costume independently.

Purpleartichoke · 11/05/2020 06:38

You aren’t going to be able to share the suit going forward so it may be a non-issue.

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 11/05/2020 06:46

Frame it as a health and safety issue... You can't get out quickly if there was a fire...

Let alone of you needed the loo quickly...

This is one of those instances when someone has made a nice costume but not thought re people actually wearing it....

I once had a dancing bear costume...quite similar... All attached to each other.. So when I was inside I coukdbt get out!

I refused to wear it... Without a way of getting out of it in my own.... It was bloody hot and often would make me feel very hot

Pythonesque · 11/05/2020 07:22

I'd send a message about it this week actually - giving them a chance to get it done when possible between now and whenever it can actually be used again. Especially as you can also acknowledge that as the one who has mainly used it so far you should probably be the only one using it for the foreseeable.

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