Reception class 'Frozen' merchandise pressure

[mrsjavierbardem]

Dd is desperate for one of these very hard to get £40 Elsa or Anna dresses. It sounds like most of the girls will have one soon and be wearing them to parties etc. dh is adamant we shouldn't cave in to the pressure . But it is hard isn't it?
Anyone else standing firm against the Disney product thing? It is hard to be firm when so many girls have them.
Any wisdom on this subject would be appreciated.

I think it is a bit of balance...Some of it is to fit in, some of it captures their imagination.

I try and find a balance. Recently loads of kids read David Walliams books so I bought some a couple books as I thought he would benefit from the reading and the fitting in. He obviously doesn't want an Elsa costume

I also think depends when childs birthday is..If childs birthday is around Christmas a year is a long time to wait for something they really want and maybe a way to earn it.

It's very interesting isn't it. I think personalities really come into play here - especially when children in the same family behave differently.

I never got the "girly pink fairy" thing from the girls but then we don't watch TV as a family and I am not a very girly mum. My DD1 now is an age where lots of friends go and listen to 1D but she's happier with a classical music concert but that's because she's been since she was a child and is more familiar/comfortable with that music. I am sure this will change.

My reception age DD2 is more into superheroes than fairies and likes batman and spiderman. She loves sports and the outdoors and would not wear anything but trainers and a tracksuit.

My sons are not into football as we are not as a family either. However with the computer games it's a different ball game. I think partly because they play them at school (let's not go there). But equally they just seem so influenced by the culture of gaming and associated gadgets, despite the counter-influence at home.

We have a constant battle of wills and we find that giving in at times works at times we have given in too much - it's a continuous learning curve. But I certainly seem to have more influence on the girls than the boys.

It is hard. Dd is frozen crazy and really wanted a dress. There was no way I was getting into a bidding frenzy on eBay and even 40 quid on a Disney store one is too much IMO.
So I customised an old blue generic princess dress she had and made her a cape using a tutorial I found online.
She adores them and wears them nearly everyday which makes me happy because I think it shows that it was definitely the idea of dressing up as elsa that she liked rather than the specific Disney branding

stand firm against getting the dress, there is a world wide shortage on them!
they sell out on line really quickly too. we managed to get one and its hidden upstairs, a girl was wearing on at party and dd was lusting after it, we happened across the disney store in london and she ran in looking for the elsa dress and the assistant said its sold out....i have such pleasure knowing one is upstairs waiting for her bday.

ANYWAY, yes its annoying...also the quality is crap! and its expensive, frozen is the first time I caved, I also got her hte merida bow and arrow and she loved that....

Yes its a matter of balance and it's also a matter of guessing which things your DCs will really use.

Fozen seems to have really caught childrens imagination (even my 13/16y sing the songs in the car and enjoyed the film). Like our Hermione's ball dress (and to a lesser extent our Belle dress) its going to keep comming out the dressing uo box until is afoot too short and bursting at the seams.

The more glitz and layers of swishy net, the better. Buying the cheapest dress up dress for five minutes peace isn't always the best policy.

I got the Belle dress cheap in Wollwirths, but it got worn for years because it was a heavy, multilayered one, it felt like a ball gown.

It wasn't just Belle, it was the Queen, the posh lady of the manor etc.
Likewise Hermionie's drees was frilly and just fun to wear.

They are in stock at disney online, size 7-8.

DD wanted a frozed dress for a weekend party and there was no way I was paying the people who are profiteering from the demand.
I have bought a Cinderella dress from Matalan which comes with a tiara. There are a little brooch and an insert on the crown which have pictures of Cinderella on. I have cut out 2 images of Elsa from DD's old frozen comic and stuck them on top of the Cinderella images. It now looks like an Elsa dress for a fraction of the price and is really good quality as opposed to the quality of the ones I have looked at.

the dress

This thread is an interesting counterpoint to all those "what did you really wish for when you were young that your parents never bought" - people wistfully remembering the Girls World that never was...

The same idea would work with this dress...

£12.50 version

The Disney Store Elsa dress is brilliant quality.. My DD wears it For hours and hours, goes out for dinner in it and has even slept in it and it still looks like new.. Maybe it's a cheap copy you've seen?

Aren't you concerned that most princess mad children would know it's a Cinderella dress?

(even my 13/16y sing the songs in the car and enjoyed the film

same here, even my DH likes singing it.

Sorry, I see the asda one is sold out but the Matalan one is definitely in stock. I ordered yesterday and got it today. Took me less than 5 mins to transform into an Elsa dress.

I can't help because I'm as obsessed as DD is with Frozen. She's having a Frozen party tomorrow and we managed to get her both the Elsa and Anna dresses handmade for £35 (for the two) - Tutu style. We've made two capes ourselves and made some additions to the dresses.

It's DD's 5th birthday and it's the first 'Frozen' themed party that any of them have been to. All the Mums have been trying to get hold of the dresses - strangely the boys are mostly coming as Captain America and Spiderman .

Good luck with whatever you decide!!

Yes, it is a cheap quality one that is being sold on Ebay for mega bucks.(not the disney one) I didn't buy the Disney one as my DD is really too old for Princesses now so it is just for this one party.

I doubt anyone will be able to tell the difference and my DD won't care if anyone if mean enough to point it out to her as most of them won't have had time to get the genuine outfit as party was a few days notice...hence the impro.

I showed my 3 year old, from across the room on a tiny iPhone screen and she still said 'Cinderella'...

Apart from pictures did you do anything else to it?

Oh, and I did ask DD what she thought of the idea before I bought it, and she thought it was brilliant. She appreciates the effort I have put in.

Sorry, I didn't get it was for one party...

It's perfect

I'm attaching a cloak. I have some suitable netting I stashed away.

I am also thinking of taking off the netting around the waist and using it either for sleeves or using it in the cape. I think the netting is the only thing that makes it look Cinderella.

£40??? When hell freezes over am I paying that for a princess dress.

I did explain this to my own 'Let it go' girl and she seemed to get it ...

It is very well made though, if it was £1 a wear we would have made our money back by now

There will be plenty of kids who don't have one. We went to a frozen party recently, a grand total of 3 had them out of 15. The rest wore princess dresses and the odd blue lookalike dress.

I think this could pass for an Elsa dress. Cheaper and better quality than those fancy-dress dresses.

Thats a beautiful one easy. It would definitely pass. And its nice to be a bit different.

My soon to be 7 year old DD wants that dress for her birthday.

I've bought a £20 cheap version from amazon. She'll love it and won't know the difference (she's not that sort of child).