There once was a Nurse, a Fairy and a Ballerina... (Girls' 3 Outfits in a Reusable Dress Up Chest)

Member Name: English Lady

Product:	Girls' 3 Outfits in a Reusable Dress Up Chest
Date:	05/01/06 (1660 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: reusable outfits, fun imaginitive play items, sturdy storage box .

Disadvantages: No wings with the fairy outfit, might not fit all children aged 4 - 6

Bethanny, my four year old daughter loves to play pretend. So, when she opened Great Nanny Elsie's Birthday present she was over the moon.

The wrapping paper revealed a bright-pink, cardboard treasure chestand inside that were three outfits:

Nurse:

Green outfit, with an attached white pinny that has white ribbons that tie behind the back. A green cross appears on the white pinny, along with a picture of a fake pocket containing a thermometer, scissors and a pen.

A plastic stethoscope is included with this outfit, coloured green and white like the uniform itself.

Fairy:

Purple crop top, with a silver star appliquéd on the front, with a separate elasticated waist purple skirt with a glittery net overlay.

Included with this is a silver star, plastic, magic wand.

Ballerina.

Light-pink velour body with a separate elasticated waist pink skirt which has layers of pink net over the top of it. Stretchy pink slippers are also included, these are also elasticated and have a non slip bottom and pink ribbons to wrap around your child's legs.


All the outfits are marked as suitable for children aged 4-6 years old. Now, this depends on the build of your child, Beth fits perfectly into the nurses outfit, and the ballerina and fairy bodies, but the matching skirts slip off her waist, especially the ballerina one as it slips down the velour of the body.

I think the fairy and ballerina skirt would fit a child of 6 years of age easily, but I would think anyone but the slightest of 6 year old would find getting into the bodies pretty much impossible. The nurses outfit is the same. I think the majority of items here are really suitable for children aged four to five.

The items are well made, the nurse's dress is made of 100% cotton and the two other outfits are made from Polyester. The sewing is good on all of them, there are no loose threads or shoddy sewing to be seen. The wand and stethoscope are chunky enough to stand up to the vigorous play of a young child as is the cardboard chest the outfits come in.

The only real disappointment is that the fairy costume doesn't come with any wings. However without wings it can pass as a princess dress and you could always make or buy wings if you really wanted them.

We've had these items about a month now and Beth has played with them a lot. The items wash well (I've washed the nurses outfit and the ballerina body) though make sure you follow the label's washing instructions as you don't want anything to shrink!

The labels in the clothes are massive, this might irritate sensitive skin, and so you might have to cut them out for comfort purposes. However the outfits themselves are easy to put on, although most children will require help with tying the long ribbons on the ballerina shoes.

Most young children love to dress up and it's nice to have a few easily accessible costume bases for any fancy dress parties Beth might go to in the next year or two. These costumes encourage imaginative play, and most importantly, Beth thinks they're a lot of fun.

This Treasure chest with it's costume bounty is available from Argos, for £19.99 which I think is pretty reasonable for three reusable costumes that come in their own storage box, which has room to fit other costumes in too.

It's just a pity mummy can't get one with outfits in her size!

Summary: Dress up costumes in a re-useable chest from Argos.