Dress up box ideas

[dumpling123]

Hi everyone,

I have two smallies - both preschool and they are starting to get interested in dressing up eg doctor's bag / pirate hat / other random bits they find around the house.
Am thinking of asking Santa to bring some dress up box bits and pieces but have no imagination!

Can you please suggest some good staple dress up box bit and bobs for boys and girls? Bonus points if they come with an Amazon link! 🤣

They have this set that might be a starting point?

My two loved feather boas (especially if they moulted everywhere ), long bead necklaces, big clompy shoes of bright colours/gold (charity shop?), and those very long evening dress gloves. Even if they never wore anything else they had to have those gloves on. Oh, and hats like a summer straw boater type. And a little shiny evening bag and/or shopping bag and old purse.

Trying to remember the actual clothes and nope cannot recall but I know they definitely had some. Nappy, shoes, gloves and hat with bag. Beads when out of nappies. Oh gosh the memories 😂

Capes, den building kit and blankets

Have a look on Vinted. People quite often sell bundles. My daughter loved the princess dresses but also loved dressing up as super heros and doctors, teachers, vets etc. A feather boa is always a winner here too.

Anything they can put on themselves, I very quickly got fed up of any costumes which needed me endlessly dressing and undressing them. Onesies in particular were a pain.

Easy options were tabards with velcro like these https://www.hope-education.co.uk/product/early-years/role-play/dressing-up/occupational-tabards-set-1-from-hope-education-pack-of-6/he123194

Hats and accessories were much loved too.

Second checking out marketplace and the like as there are always bundles on there.

I made DD a dressing up box at that age. Went to a charity shop and got cheap scarves, sari material, bangles, old handbag etc for v little money. Plus got a few actual dress up outfits that could also be worn for Halloween from another charity shop. She loved making up stories and turned the scarves into all sorts of dresses, headwear etc

Agree that Vinted is what you need as decent fancy dress clothes aren’t that cheap! I’d search for second hand Disney store ones also Sainsbury’s ones we’ve found are good.

I’ve also got mine large satin squares of material from eBay in various colours which they use all the time to fashion into dresses, headscarves, create rivers, blankets for their teddies etc.

Le Toy Van do some gorgeous wooden role play sets. Again not cheap but you do see them on Vinted. We have a doctor’s kit in a lovely red bag. Or I also have made our own in the past - real plasters, bandage, tweezers, calpol syringe, mask etc.

I used to have a dressing up box for my two, it was great fun. Big floaty scarves are great - they can be a cape, a dress, a scarf (obvs), a ghost...

Hats, sunglasses, belts, handbags and purses can all be picked up cheaply at charity shops and provide great accessories.

I bought some fun coloured wigs from Amazon and added those in (but they quickly became tangled and hideous looking 😆). A couple of DH's old shirts, an old lab coat from uni, some scrubs, woollen leg warmers, an old dance leotard, a tutu, a glittery dress that I was never going to fit into again!

You won't need to buy much new! Mine loved their dressing up box and it passed many happy hours on wet weekends, I've got some cracking photos that I'm going to dig out now and send to them - now 16 and 20!!

Oh wow! Thank you all very much for the suggestions! Am in Ireland so no access to vinted but I'll start doing the rounds of eBay / adverts / marketplace / charity shops

We got the Mohican wigs from Amazon and they’ve lasted really well. Inflatable guitars are always a winner too!

They might be a bit young for this still, but a black cape is the most used item in my house. It has done various phases, including harry potter, star wars, batman, random superheros, etc.

Buy second hand and you will get much more for your money.
It's much more imaginative to have a range of items than specific characters, superheroes etc. Go to charity shops and find real items which are the right size, rather than things sold as costumes. For example:
striped leg warmers.
Big wedding hats.
Handbags.
Jewellery.
Kids' party dresses.