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Tesco Ghost Pirate costume
by cha97mw
My children both seem to have had rapid growth spurts in recent months, and one area I knew I needed to replace items in was there fancy dress costumes. They have a dress up day coming up for Halloween, and as they are both fond of pirates, I decided to get them this ghost pirate costume from Tesco in with my weekly shopping. They have ... already worn this several times as they like the concept so much, though they really wish it comes with a sword for more realism. As a parent, I am quite grateful it doesn't as I don't want to have to break up sword fights.
This is a 3 piece suit consisting of trousers, a top and a mask. The trousers are made from a red lycra based material which is elasticated at the waist, and features ragged legs. This means that the material has been cut in a jagged pattern round the legs with one leg longer than the other. This is slightly awkward for a costume designed to be worn in October as really the costume is so thin, you need to wear something under it for warmth, and the only thing you could get away with wearing under it is shorts. The material is not edged off, so this is going to fray really quickly when the kids are playing, especially if they catch it on something. While it is meant to look raggy, I feel it could have been finished a little smoother.
The top goes over the head and the kids find it easy to put on independently. There is a harder plasticky section on the front of the costume which shows the pirates ribs, and this looks really good and seems quite hard wearing. The arms of the T shirt are finished in the same jagged unhemmed edging which will not last long, and some netted material round the collar and as a belt. I find that the netting is already fraying and I had to trim off some of the loose threads with scissors before the whole thing tore. For the price of £8, I am not expecting it to last ages, but long enough to get a few uses would be really good.
The best piece to the set is the mask, and this I can imagine lasting longer than the rest of the costume. It features a pirate hat, then a piece that looks like a skull which covers the childs upper face leaving just their mouth on show. This all fastens through a piece of elastic which runs round the back of the childs head. There is a good amount of gaps around the eye area so the child can see, and both my children find it easy to see while wearing this costume.
I have bought this costume in ages 5-6 and 7-8 and I find that it is a good fit for my children. They are a bit younger in age (4 and a half and 6) but as they are tall boys and where these sizes in clothes, this was a good sizing choice for them.
£8 is not massively expensive for this type of costume, and while I would gladly see a bit better quality, it will certainly be used to dress up for their spooky day at school and a halloween party as well. If it lasts to the end of November though I will be shocked, as it is not a hard wearing material and the finish is not fantastic. While it has its faults, my children are really delighted with this purchase so I don't feel I can criticise it too much as it is well designed to be comfortable and fit well, and has nice features too like the quality of the mask which will last them a lot longer. It certainly looks rather scary and is very appealing to small boys.
I should also mention that the recommendation for this is to sponge clean only. I have had to wash the trousers on one of the suits as my son had an accident while wearing them. I decided to hand wash them carefully, and I found while a fair amount of red dye came into the water, the trousers did not look faded and were not damaged by doing this. I was careful not to ring them out too vigourously though and leave them to drip dry.
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Disney Belle Princess Costume
by Candyperfumegirl
My eldest daughter was given a Disney Belle dressing up outfit as a gift, and she absolutely loved it, in fact I think she would have slept in it if I had let her. Only problem was anything my eldest daughter loved, my youngest daughter loved and after much arguing over the dress I decided to buy my youngest her very own Belle dress. I ... was looking for something fairly cheap and eventually came across this dress on Amazon for £9.87 with free super saver delivery. I ordered it and within a few days the postman knocked with a very large Amazon parcel.
On Amazon the dress is avaliable in the age ranges 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8. There are various other Princess dresses avaliable from Cinderella to Aurora all in different colours and designs. The Belle dress however is yellow or "gold" according to the product description. On the front is a motif print design of Belle which is already starting to fade slightly. The shoulder straps are slightly elasticated but not adjustable, meaning that sometimes they slip off. The skirt is very pretty and again elasticated around the waist, it is ruffled and puffs out well.
The dress does come with some warnings. For example Choking Hazard and Keep away from Fire. The label also states that the dress is to be sponge cleaned only as it is not machine washable. I found this slightly annoying as its a bit of a pain to hand clean a childs dressing up oufit. Also the dress is not the best quality, after only a few times my daughter wore the dress it began to fray and it also developed a small hole. I suppose this is something to expect from such a cheap item and I was able to fix it with a needle and some thread. Whilst I can't see this dress lasting very long it does do the job as a fun dressing up outfit to play with at home. My daughter has been very happy with it and a few months on it is still one of her favorite toys. When it does eventually fall apart I think I will purchase something a bit more expensive and of a better quality next time thought.
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