You Shall Go To The Ball! (Cinderella Dress-up Outfit)

Member Name: wendybull

Product:	Cinderella Dress-up Outfit
Date:	08/03/07 (678 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Imaginative Play at it's best

Disadvantages: A little bit itchy in places.

My daughter is a total girly girl, and to confirm this point, we went to Woolworth’s to spend her birthday money and the first thing she went to was the dressing up costumes. The Cinderella dress was just staring out at her ready to be grabbed and paid for.

For anyone unfamiliar with Cinderella, her dress is a lovely pale blue colour. Long and very silky, with roses, bows and ribbons decorating the bodice area. The main skirt is made from polyester, but has the image of being silk or satin. Underneath, sewn into the nylon petticoat are layers of netting, which give the skirt the appearance of being very full and “swishy”. Thankfully the net is above the nylon, meaning it will not be scratchy and uncomfortable on her legs.

At the waist there are wings on either side of the skirt, which are slightly raised, and look like an extra layer. They are not too long though and only come down to about a quarter of the way down the skirt on either side.

The bodice is very pretty and is made from what looks like crushed velvet in the same colour as the skirt. In a V shape down the front is another decorated net piece, which features glitter and white fur trimming. I do find we have to put a T-shirt or a high vest on underneath though, as the net area on the bodice is itchy on my daughter’s chest and she finds it uncomfortable without some sort of barrier between.

The sleeves are lovely, sewn in such a way that they are little puffs at the top of the arms. I think they must be padded because they always remain puffed out. The whole dress is decorated in various places with a subtle patter that looks like embroidery, but isn’t. It has patterns of hearts, glass slippers and flowers. Along with the blue satin rose centred at the waist it really is a very pretty dress.

My daughter has the dress made for age 3-4. She was 3 in November and it fits her perfectly. It is aimed at children roughly 104cm in height and it is a full length dress on my daughter, coming down to just above her ankles, allowing for safe walking without tripping up. If your child is any shorter than this it may prove to be a bit of a danger.

Washing is a little harder than I would have liked as the label says it should be wiped clean only. Not too bad on the skirt area due to the material but if she eats anything while wearing it and it makes the bodice dirty, it is a lot harder to clean the velvet material with a sponge. I have not attempted to put it in the washing machine on a hand wash cycle as she loves it so much, I would hate to ruin it through trying to shortcut the cleaning process. You cannot tumble dry either and subsequently we find ourselves, wiping it with a wet sponge to clean and then hanging over the shower pole to dry. This has been adequate so far but if she made it really dirty I am not sure sponge cleaning would be enough.

We paid £12 from Woolworth’s for this dress and it has the proper Disney label inside. I think this is great value for the amount of material you get with this dress, especially when you think of some of the other costumes you get, which are much less complicated and cost the same or more. Compared to the Disney Store price of £20 for a similar dress (which in my opinion is not as nice) I think Woolworth’s is well worth going to if you want to buy this.

Not only do you get the dress but also a tiara, although we have found this to be a little on the loose and wonky side, and also a necklace with a Cinderella pendant on the end. This is better and is just made from plastic beads and elastic, so should not be a danger, however it is recommended not for children under 3 years, due to the smaller parts from the accessories.

If you are familiar with the Cinderella story, one look at the dress and you will realise what it is but this could easily be worn to a children’s party, as a pretty party dress. It wouldn’t have to be a fancy dress party as the dress does lend itself well to the party atmosphere. My daughter has worn it to Sainsbury’s, school and Homebase, as well as around the house and to a couple of friend’s parties. I think this shows how versatile and easy to wear it is, and for my £12, she has and still will, get a lot of enjoyment from it.

Summary: RECOMMENDED.