what's in your kids' dress-up box?

[Hibou]

And also, what do you use for a dress-up box?

[MyLittleWonders]

We keep our dress up stuff in a couple plastic bins in the cubbies with most everything else. My boys are little so our stuff is small too. We currently have about 6-8 hand-dyed playsilks of different sizes (they wear these when they listen to music and dance), different hats (cowboy & firefighter are popular with them), a life preserver, a bumble bee costume that just velcro's on (ds#2 loves this one), various sun glasses, a pair of goggles, whistles, old cell phones, binoculars, walkie-talkies, and a few hand bags (not purses but more like small canvas bags) to hold their equipment. Basically it's all on a bottom shelf of the cubbies - the hats aren't in bins, but everything else gets divided up between two bins.

[BusyMommy]

OMG This is THE most prized tub in our home. I don't fight the chaos. I have a giant tub and it all goes in. THey paw through it all constantly anyway and it's much easier to scoop & clean.

Everything

Costumes, a dozen silk scarves we tye-dyed, shoes, killer boots like the Austin Powers movies, purses, gloves, boas, vests & masks.

[LeftField]

We use a playstand as a dress-up corner. The clothes hang from the dowels, the hats go on the shelves, the shoes and props go under the bottom shelf and a playsilk covers the entrance like a door. When I had the stuff in a basket, they didn't really use them, except for maybe occasionally skimming off the top. Having most things visible has resulted in them using it more.

For clothes, we have a few things I sewed: a cape, a vest, and Bob the Builder shirt. I also donated two dress slips for them. They have a variety of typical hats, in addition to a few paper ones they made. They have a collection of old, mismatched sandals that they don't want to part with. They have a few necklaces, some cheap toy watches, toy stethoscopes, and a few other props like that. I think that's also where the mittens live. I also have some small fabric bags I made and some hemmed fabric squares for blankets or picnics.

[SRHS]

a big blue bucket like large laundry size....my husband's old fatigues (BDU's), my 9 y/o is very into being a GI joe of some war....civil, revolutionary, romans, ww2, etc....doesnt matter, he turns any hockey stick into a machine gun or muzzle loader....

[JenniferC]

Ours is scattered and not too organized, some is hanging up in a toy organizer, others in baskets, we have playsilks, a metal princess tiara, a hand-crocheted wool crown thing that is very versatile for tying playsilks on etc. A floofy princess dress, silk butterfly wings, lots of shoes, DD loves shoes! She hates wearing clothes, so I think she wears her 'dress ups' more often than anything else.

[boobear]

We mostly have princess dresses (thanks to Grandma

I need to find a few career outfits (doctors, construction workers, animal rescue people) and a few fantasy outfits (pirates, monsters, animals).

I like the ideas posted above !

[Brigianna]

We have playsilks, various hats, "princess" dresses, a rabbit costume, accessories (gloves, purses, etc.) and some of our old stuff in a plastic bin, but of course the most fun "dress up box" is my closet.

[lilyka]

we keep ours in a trunk and a large cardboard box. The box has a bunch of really nasty formals from the 70s and early 80s. they have all the sequins and poofy under the skirt and ruffles and satin and they were made for someone tall and thin which means they stay up on dds pretty well. in the trunk we have a bunch of smaller party dresses from the 80s in a few sizes up, clown suits, bob and larry suit, little house on the prairie outfits (conplete from top to bottom including thier underthings - thier current obsession ), um there is a bunch of bandanas, high heels of course, purses -about 15, scarves, a couple of wigs, oh and what seems like an endless supply of leotards and tutus and tights.

and currently everything but one tutu, the little house outfits and the bandanas are in time out because they rarely get put away. and would you believe I recently purged the thing. . . .

[klondikesky]

Our dress-up basket (big, overflowing mess in the closet floor) has
-tutus/fairy skirts
-ruby slippers in two sizes and other girly shoes
-princess/fairy queen gowns in pink and white
-cape
-red cowboy hat
-rancher's vest
-bandana
-crowns
-sunglasses and bags/purses/wallets
-boppy pillow (for playing 'mommy')
-gypsy/poet shirt
-ladybug wings and antennae

The playsilk basket is much more popular and has
-a dozen silks in various sizes
-rainbow canopy silk (used for 'jump the river' games and tied over the shoulder and at the waist to make a mermaid costume)

The dress-ups basket is a disaster for us. I saw a Sunday School room at a church once that had a bath towel rack mounted to the wall at kid-height for hangers of dress-up clothes. I plan on doing this when I know what house I'll be living in next fall.

[2GR8KIDS]

ds no longer does much dress up but he spent most of his time from ages 3-5 in dress-up clothes! He has an accordian peg rack at a height he can reach inside his closet door, and he did have 2 big plastic bins- one for hats and one for other. We only bought him a few things meant specifically as dress-up clothes; the rest were hand me downs or things we assembled or repurposed. He always mixed and matched stuff- the construction vest turned backwards was a baseball catcher's costume; the Peter Pan costume became a soldier's uniform; etc. His dress-up clothes included:

* Big variety of hats: hard hats, fireman hat, wizard's cap, king's crown, train conductor cap, football helmet, baseball hats, knight's hood, cowboy hat, policeman's helmet, bandanas, pirate hat, etc.
* Cape- this was a huge hit!
* A cool reversible knight-king tunic
* Astronaut jumpuit
* My old soccer jerseys
* Fireman's vest
* Orange construction vest
* Football jersey
* Cowboy chaps
* Homemade Peter Pan costume
* My dad's old Boy Scout shirt
* Lots of accessories like walkie talkies, plastic handcuffs, pirate hooks, swords, eye patch

dd is just getting into dress up. She has a cool red fabric trunk from Ikea (looks like something that would be in a castle, with a big fabric padlock)- I like it because it is really easy for her to get into and drag around. She has:

* Playsilks
* Various tutus
* An indian girl tunic
* Chinese silk pajamas
* A fur boa
* Several Mardi Gras bead necklaces, plastic rings, purses, etc.
* A wand
* Princess hat
* Sparkly high heels (her favorite)

I have a bunch of my dress-up clothes from when I was a child stored in the attic- my mom was a great seamstress. There's a neat Snow White costume, a old-fashioned nurses cape, lots of animal costumes, some Little House on the Prairie-type things, etc. I'm saving theses for dd when she's older.

[frogguruami]

We use one of those 7 day hanging cube thingys (hopefully you know what I am talking about cuz I have no idea what it is called) and it has lots of hats, play capes, chef hats, aprons, armor, firemans uniform, indian costume, more hats, masks, glasses, hats (my kids like hats). I think that is all for now. We just cleaned it out and got rid of everything that doesn't fit anymore.

AM

[Ravin]

Let's see: a fairy princess dress, a teddy bear costume, a bunch of lightweight scarves, assorted shoes, a teddy bear mask, I think there might be some bunny ears in there, and a jester's hat...

It's all in a plastic drawer bin thingy, but DD doesn't pull the stuff out to play with much yet. I think we need to rethink how it's arranged...or maybe she's just not over the thrill of practicing putting on her regular clothes yet! Those frequently get strewn all over and played with!

[mom2kbeth]

Each kiddo has his/her own dress up box. The dress up "boxes" are actually the bottom drawer of each of their dressers.

Kenna has:
a bunch of old Halloween costumes
lots of princessey things
ballet costumes
hula skirt
lots of hats and purses
some costume jewelry
a native american outfit
a kimono
playsilks
a few pairs of butterlfy and fairy wings
playcloths

Holden has:
all of Kenna's outgrown Halloween costumes
fire fighter outfit
lots of hats
a traditional Chinese pair of pants/shirt
some shoes
playsilks
dragon wings (which he calls dragonflies)
a magic carpet

[Jen123]

My kids have passed the dress up phase

Way back when...this is what we had...

tiaras
my old high heels (ds loved these)
dresses
scarves
hats
face paint ! We loved face paint.
belts
bandanas
sparkly shoes
purses
briefcase (it was always so much fun to see ds run to the purse and dd run to the briefcase as they did a reverse Ozzie and Harriet scenario)
baton for twirling
pom poms (scary no legged monsters)

and more.
My youngest will be nine this year and she still dresses up in her tiara and sparkly shoes.