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Chad Valley Glamour Play Shoes
by Whizz11
Chad Valley say - A girl can never have too many shoes
My sister-in-law bought my little girl quite a thoughtful gift for Christmas this year. She had obviously listened to one of my stories when I told her my three year old loved putting on my high heels and walking around the house in them so she bought her this pack of ... dress up shoes from Chad Valley. However, I absolutely hate them and think they are really awful and have actually just let my little girl have one pair to dress up in as I dislike them some much.
I must say dress up shoes is a good idea, like I've said above my little girl loves mine so to actually have some kids shoes to wear is great but they are the tackiest shoes you could imagine. I'm sure Chad Valley could have come up with some nicer shoes but ever Kat Moon from Eastenders would think twice about wearing these shoes. The shoes are all made of a cheap plastic so the shoes are not very heavy when my little girl wears them although they do make an awful clicking noise as she walks across the wooden floor in them. All of them bar one are high heeled shoes as well. The heel is not very high, just a couple of cm but enough for a little kids to feel like they are wearing proper dress up shoes.
Its the design and look of them that I find tacky. They are all slip on shoes, much like a mule shoe which I don't like for grown ups either, maybe that's my issue with them. One pair is purple and has a black and white zebra print front to them, then we have another purple pair with a sparkly front part, a pink with pink tartan design,two more pink pairs with sparkly and clear slides and then there is a pair of pink satin ballet slippers. The ballet slippers are flat so I let my little girl wear these too as well as one of the pair of high heels.
My other issue with them is that although they are for ages 3+ they are really big on my little girls feet. The slide portion at the front is way too big over the arch of her foot so she just sort of shuffles in the shoes and I also think they are way too high. She only has tiny feet (size 5 at the moment) but her foot only comes half way into these shoes so the heel is over the back of her foot and if she falls off these shoes which is entirely possible she will really break an ankle. There is a bit of non slip marking on the sole as well as a little nob on the front bottom of the shoe and the heel but I don't think this is enough to stop her from falling off. We've told her to just be very careful when she does wear them and not to run in them or wear them outside or anything like that.
Whilst these are good for dressing up I would probably say that they are better suited for ages 4 or 5 and obviously just for play.
In this instance I think a girl CAN have too many shoes and we can do without these ones from Chad Valley!
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Just Fro Fun Victorian Boy Charlie
by cha97mw
I have had several moments this school year already where my son has come home from school needing something for supporting the curriculum with not a lot of notice. Late November he came home from school on the Friday with a letter requesting he needed a Victorian dressing up costume for the following Friday. So I headed to amazon to ... look for something that would be suitable, as unfortunately we didn't have anything knocking around that seemed relevant.
At first look from product descriptions alone, this seemed ideal and I was grateful I could order something. I got the suit in age 6-8 as my son is 6 but a very tall boy for his age (around 1.2m). This was perfect fit for him and the trouser legs reached to his ankles and the top was long enough to cover his tummy. This is a 5 piece outfit consisting of white top, brown trousers, waistcoat and cap, and a red necktie.
I paid a little less than £10 for the suit, and a couple of pounds for a faster postage so I could guarantee it would arrive when I wanted it to, but when this arrived, I was pretty disappointed with the low quality of this costume.
The clothes are so thin they are pretty see through. I knew as soon as I saw this I would need my son to wear clothes underneath, and the white top he put on under this top was not entirely plain, and as a result I could see all the writing on it very easily. The brown material was see through if you held it to your eyes but you couldn't see the childs under clothes, but I felt there was no way it was warm enough so I had to make my son wear his own clothes underneath. While this should probably be expected from the main costume at the price I was paying, I at least expected the cap to be a better quality material so it was better shaped on the childs head, and I also felt the machine edging on the bottom of the trousers, and around the sleeves and edges of the waistcoat were quite poorly done. I was actually pretty impressed that I had a costume left at the end of the school day.
The costume was a pretty good fit and easy for a child to put on. The top fastens simply with one piece of velcro at the back of the neck. The trousers are elasticated, the waistcoat and hat just slip on but could definitely do with a bit of velcro on the chest area to keep it on and make it look a bit smarter as my son is pretty skinny and it hung really poorly when on. The best quality item for me was the neckchief, which added a bit of a jaunty look.
My son was happy enough to wear this costume with other clothes underneath for warmth, and it did look the part. I know his teacher liked the appearance of the costume and pinched the hat to do a black and white portrait picture of all the boys in the class for their topic work. So it looked good, and other mums asked me where I had got it. It didn't rip or anything like I feared it would, so I can't complain that much as it is meant to look quite raggy like a poor victorian child.
This is meant to be a sponge clean only costume, but I did handwash it as my son came out of school covered in bits of glue and paint and some of his school dinner. I tried not to ring it out too much as there was a fair bit of brown dye coming out of the material, but it didn't leave the costume looking any more faded or tatty from doing this to it.
I don't know where I stand on this one. The overall look is good for a themed day at school. I think I have been spoiled by owning other more expensive costumes that are of a similar thickness but made or more lycra based material and also finished better, so I would inevitably compare this to them. However, it didn't fall apart in the role it was bought for and my son is not particularly clean or tidy at school, so it must be better made than I thought.
Its the sort of thing that I can't imagine many children wanting to dress up in unless they need to dress up for school, so I will put it away for my other son to wear when he is big enough, and my eldest wore it once then hasn't asked to wear it again.
The presentation is better than the feel, but it is adequate for the needs I had for it. Just don't expect high quality when purchasing this costume.
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Rubies Batman Boxed Costume
by shopping_jem
This is one of my son's favourite things. It fits well (the chest part bulges a bit, but is comfortable nonetheless. The sizing is perfect for the specified age. The suit fastens with velcro at the back, and the yellow belt ties on separately. The fabric is a little bit thin / flimsy - no more so than other similar dressing up ... outfits, but this one was quite expensive so I am hoping it lasts. The velcro on the back does sometimes catch the nearby fabric and create pulls, so it doesn't look quite perfect any more.
The mask fits well and is very soft and therefore nice to wear. Having the fake boots part is a slight pain if the costume is slightly big, because it drags a bit on the floor, but it does look effective. Overall, this is a very exciting and pleasing costume for any little boy, it looks great and the accessories like belt, mask and cape make it lots of fun. The quality is OK, although it is expensive for a costume in my opinion.
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