Quality dress-up costumes for boys?

[AimeeM]

The Marvelous Flying Marco turns 3 towards the end of June. 

It's amazing he's still in one piece (I jest, I jest - lol). 

My FIL already bought both boys (Nico turned 6 a couple days ago, but we're celebrating them together next month) their "big wishes," which is for two shiny red bicycles/trikes.

DS6 is covered as far as gifts (Skylanders, Tinker Toys).

Marco loves playing dress up with their costume basket. They already have Luigi, Darth Vader, a pirate costume, and various "hats" (knight helmet, cowboy hat, etc).

 

I can't recall the brand, but the pirate costume is of lovely quality and has held up the best. We bought it from Barnes and Noble a couple years ago and it's still in almost perfect condition.

 

I'd like to find similar quality policeman, fireman, etc costumes for Marco, but I'm not having much luck - everything I'm finding on google looks fairly cheap (like over-priced Halloween costumes sold for the season that fall apart within a few months). 

 

Any ideas?

[MercyA]

I would try searching on Etsy for handmade costumes.

[redsquirrel]

My kids were HUGE into dress up. I often found cool stuff at the Salvation Army etc. I didn't usually go for standard costumes such as 'police officer' but had a large (large!) selection of things and added stuff like hats and accessories and let the kids make their own costumes. For a police officer I would buy a halloween type hat but let the kids make the rest of the costume with what was around.  Things like a pirate hat, a sword, an eye patch and really nice Lyra brand face crayons go a very long way to making a decent dress up box.  I also had bought some nice knight-type stuff from, maybe Nova Naturals? I can't remember now. I also made a selection of dyed silkies that got used for a variety of costumes.

[MercyA]

You might also try Fat Brain Toys.

[Um_2_4]

I would look at teacher supply stores. 

This store has excellent customer service and often has coupons online: 

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?category=797&src=categorynavigation

[NavyMommy]

http://www.amazon.com/Astronaut-Toddler-Child-Costume-Orange-XXL/dp/B0006HCSRA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1432323251&sr=8-4&keywords=nasa+flight+suit

 

This is amazing quality. My parents bought this for my son from the Smithsonian and spent $$$. He outgrew it before the interest waned so I went to Amazon and it's the exact same  thing. 

[kroe1]

Chasing Fireflies

 

http://www.chasing-fireflies.com/costumes-dress-up/boys-costumes/

[AndyJoy]

I bet the pirate costume is Melissa and Doug. They have a great quality line of costumes and I've seen them at Barnes and Noble.

[mmasc]

I've seen fire fighter, dr, and a couple of others that were Melissa and Doug brand at Kohl's. I'm not sure of the quality, but we love all of our Melissa and Doug puzzles.

[happypamama]

If nothing else, include a cape. Any sort of cape. I made a black cape with a yellow lining for my son a couple of years ago so he could be a Robin to his older brother's Batman for Halloween, and he has worn and worn and worn it, and it might be his favorite accessory (except for his blue sunglasses and Avengers sandals that he recently acquired, LOL). If you know anyone who sees, they are very quick to whip up, and even out of WalMart cotton-poly blend, they should hold up well.

[Spryte]

Little Adventures makes nice quality, washable dress up clothes. We have an 11 year old knight costume that looks brand new.

[Tap]

If you have basic sewing skills, an easy way to make capes is to buy woman's dresses from the Goodwill or similar place.  I split the skirt up the front and hem the edges. I cut of the bodice and use the waist line to make the neck opening.  A bit of trim  a nice neck and a wonderful cape appears.  I like an oversized snap for a closure, but buttons or ties work just as well.   A gem stone or broach make a nice decoration for the closure. 

 

One of our most used dress up is a dark purple velvet cape I made. I added a piece of gold trim down the front edge and it is truly a beautiful piece of dress up.  

 

Two other pieces that have been used a lot more than I expected, were a basic black blazer and  white dress shirt.  They were from the womans section but have very basic lines so they are quite neutral.  

[Vernal]

Melissa and Doug costumes have held up very well here. They have gotten lots of use. They fit my kids best in sizes 3-6. DS is still squeezing into the policeman costume at a size 8. Etsy has a ton of handmade costumes that are beautiful, but most of them are a little pricey. But if I had younger kids that could use them, I wouldn't mind spending more.