Costume Party

Fancy Dress Ideas

As anyone with kids will tell you, young people love the opportunity to dress up. It doesn't matter whether it is a 'charming' bin liner dress or a Toy Story cowboy suit; the chance to be the center of attention and look cool is a tremendous lure. The best opportunity for kids to wear fancy dress costumes is usually at a fancy dress party. This is most often for a birthday, or, particularly in the United States, can be for Halloween too. There are a number of things to consider when organizing a fancy dress party for your child:

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Invites

When you are choosing which friends can come to your kid's party, be sure to listen to who they want there. Once the list and invitations are drawn up, it is not a good idea to have your child distribute them at school. Imagine being the child who expected to get one but didn't make the list - a misery many z-list celebrities face on a weekly basis. Be sure to state on the invitations that the party is fancy dress and whether there is a particular theme.

As with all parties, it makes sense to give as much notice as possible so that attendees can arrange their costumes well in advance. Bear in mind that arranging good childrens costume is every bit as hard as arranging a good adult costume, but a little preparation will go a long way! Kids' imaginations can plug some gaps, but no child wants to be wearing the worst costume in the room.

Theme

The party can either have a specific theme or be a general fancy dress party. All different types of costumes for children are available, with everything from space suits to animal costumes made in child sizes.

Successful themes for boys include cowboys, space travel and pirates, all of which offer plenty of opportunity for dressing up. Girls may prefer themes like fairy tales, movie stars and Disney movies.

Very often, a fancy dress party will be in celebration of Halloween. Many kids enjoy the naughty implications of a good Halloween party, perhaps without knowing why. The celebration stems from when pagan Celts celebrated the Day of the Dead on All Hallows Day (1st November). October 31st was All Hallows Eve, or 'Halloween'. Halloween costumes are among the easiest to make of all costumes, as all you really need is a good deal of dark material and a spooky mask. A good kids Halloween costume is not all that different from a good adult's Halloween costume.

The Party

There can be no such thing as too much preparation, but you must be ready for events to take all kinds of unexpected turns. If your child has a hat party (where all attendees must wear suitable head-attire), be prepared for the inevitable difficulty in arranging and exchanging all of the fancy dress hats left at the end. The difficulty with kids costume is that kids have a fondness for forgetting things and, particularly if a hired costume needs to go back to a shop, this can cause great trouble!

The emphasis on the day should be on everybody having a good time (adults, please note this does not include you!).

Thanks to Escapade.co.uk for these ideas.