Dress Up Clothes for Boys
If you were stocking a dress-up box for boys, what would you put in it?
Up until recently I have had an oldest son who really disliked dress-up. When he was four, for instance, he went as “a Boy” for Halloween (This is what he told me he was when he insisted on wearing his own clothes for a costume.) Last year he tentatively branched out and went as a rainbow (wore a tie-dye shirt with a cardboard rainbow hung around his neck.)
But this year something changed. He decided to go as a jaguar and he was pretty convinced that he was the most frightening animal to prowl the streets trick-or-treating that night. Afterwards I think he felt exhilarated. The next day he wore his jaguar ears again.
Then today I said, “Can you go get dressed?” He went to his room and came back…still in his PJ's, but now with cat ears and a brightly colored scarf flowing from his shoulders.
Hmm.
I think we have entered a dress up phase.
Encouraged by his big brother's dress-up exploration, my younger son has been digging through the meager dress-up offerings in their room and I currently have “Color Man” and “Ladybug Man” entertaining their younger sister.
So- what should I add to their dress-up bin? I'm thinking this might be a good Christmas present. I figure I'll start looking at thrift stores and collect things over the next month or so. Here are my ideas, but please add you own in the comments!
- Gloves
- Capes
- A shirt that looks like a police uniform or firefighter
- A crown
What else???
Recommended Kids Dress Up Clothes from Bounceback Parenting Readers:
From Lorien:
I love all of the suggestions already mentioned! These are are a few of the favorites in the boys dress up bin:
-Clip on ties
-A fedora
-Gloves, not just the kind that make you think of a particular occupation but magic stretch gloves with prints such as bones, spider webs, animal skins, flames
-Long Pieces of fleece, silk, fur or other fabric in solid colors as well as prints like flames, water, spider webs,( any thing that reminds you of some thing else grass, bark, snake skin, lava) my kids love to be Water man and Fire man. Of course there was the time O declared that he was Fire-Water Man lol!
-Belts and binder clips for constructing costumes out of pieces of material.
-Wrist bands and headbands
-Knee high socks with the feet cut off
-Flash lights
-Dresses. Yep, we have had dresses in our bin since before dd came along and the boys have each gone through phases of enjoying dressing up in them. They have used them both in the usual sense of wearing them as a dress but also attaching them in creative ways to other dress up items. We have two cocktail dresses that have been used as fabulous capes many times over.
From Michelle:
As a mother to a dress-up-loving boy, I’ll tell you what’s in our box that we’ve built up over the years…
-firefighter costume and hats
-astronaut costume and helmet
-doctor scrubs & lab coat
-black suitcase with medical bits, paper tape, stethescope, etc
-hard hat
-construction vest
-tool box (several of them, complete with tools)
-ranger vest
-floppy hat
-engineer hat
-red bandana (can be used for cowboy, engineer, or…)
-cowboy hat
-stick pony
-knight vest
-shield & foam sword
-binoculars
-badges (police, fire, id)
-whistle
-pirate hat
-work gloves
Oh, and a quick storage tip, group similar themes together and store in one of the hanging sweater organizers for your closet – helps to contain the clutter and make things easier to find.
From Tracy:
We love to play dress up at our house too. Love the list Michelle gave you. I have another suggestion or two. How about a top hat or a magicians hat & a magic wand and a cape?
From Patricia:
Different hats- An engineer hat, a hard hat, a firefighter hat. Even the cheapies work well. My son is also into masks- batman, ironman, spiderman….all day, every day.
Alissa Zorn is an author, and founder of the website Overthought This. She's a coach and cartoonist passionate about helping people overcome perfectionism and shame to build authentic, joyful lives. Alissa is certified through the International Coach Federation and got her Trauma-Informed Coaching certification from Moving the Human Spirit. She wrote Bounceback Parenting: A Field Guide for Creating Connection, Not Perfection, and is always following curiosity to find her next creative endeavor.