Anyone else have an overabundance of gorgeous Disney costumes that their kid will no longer wear?! Just me?!
At the beginning of the pandemic and pretty much this entire year, EV has been all about dressing up. As the country began to close down, ShopDisney had a massive sale and a majority of their costumes went down to $20-30 and I am talking about the big floofy dresses that you see around the parks. Knowing that we were going to be closed up for awhile, I pretty much bought every one that EV would recognize and the Star Wars (Rey and Leia) as well. Do not let the following pictures fool you. EV loved them for the first week and then it quickly went down hill and they all became "too sparkly" and she began to hate to feel tulle or sequins anywhere near her (even if it meant she ONLY felt it when the dress was being put over her head). It was full on hysterics and yes I was able to capture one good picture through good ol' bribing of gummi bears, but honestly her being miserable was not fun and shouldn't that be what costumes are....fun?!
Seriously, do not let the smiling face fool you....okay lets be honest, that is kind of a grimace.
I follow a good amount of Disney Instagrammers and Disney mama's/papa's who are always highlighting small businesses. Many of whom specialize or know where to direct you to get Disney Princess/Prince outfits without breaking the bank ( I want her to be able to have fun in them and not worry about destroying them) and two, are super comfy and are made to flounce around the park while still feeling like she is dressed up in them. I give kudos to the kiddos that can be all dolled up and either be in a stroller or walk around the park like that, but EV is just not that type of kid. Therefore, finding the right type of "princess" dress has been one of my goals. The following have been my top picks thus far.
First and foremost: WhityDarlingDesign is absolutely amazing, but unfortunately is closing her business (seriously breaks my heart as EV loooooves her dresses and on a personal level, I love her as a person and being able to support her business). She has such unique pieces that are a nod to all things Disney (included Princesses, Rides, Disney Walls, etc.) She does still have some dresses that are listed and if you are able too, I would grab them while you can as once they are gone, they are going to be gone.
As you can see, we are quite the fan...I am glad that I bought a size up, so that she has time to grow in them especially since we will be unable to get these again.
the Snow White dress happens to be a current fave, which I love since she is beginning to age out of mine from when I was little and it is breaking my heart just a smidge....
I recently bought EV some dresses from PresleyCouture. I believe there are multiple third vendors that sell these exact dresses, but during Black Friday I was able to purchase several for $11. For the price, it was a 100% worth it, but honestly much more than that and I would say to keep looking out for other small businesses where you can spend a little more and the quality will be a little higher. My top picks that I felt the quality far surpassed the price were the dresses inspired by Rey, Elena, and the Incredibles (THIS particular one is actually incredible lol).
I basically purchased from here to begin with because EV has become OBSESSED with Elena of Avalor (which of course in typical fashion, the show is now over so there is very little merch to be had) and they had an 'inspired' play dress that had no sparkle or tulle so it was obviously a no-brainer (below). We have the actual Disney Store one that is pretty much all sparkle and tulle and although EV loves to look at it, that's about as close to her body as it gets.
TaylorJoelle comes next, but by no means is it last on my list. TaylorJoelle is pricier than the other two, but the quality is bar none. Ummmm hulllooooo do you see those Hamilton inspired dresses?!?! I die!!! I have been on the notification for them FOREVER! I also love how many of her dresses are understated characters that normally do not have dressup outfits, such as ; Ursula which I bought and EV absolutely loves. Also during Black Friday I purchased the Chewbacca and First Order (my girl loves her some villain and Kylo Ren is a fave) and the pictures online do not...I repeat do not do these dresses justice. I also bought the matching Chewie shirt for the Hubs as I thought it would be cute for when the world is right side up again and we go to Galaxy's Edge (he absolutely loved the fit and it is true to size and that my friends says everything you need to know about that) and I am planning a cute photoshoot for EV's 4th Birthday and I thought the outfits would be perfect for father/daughter pictures.
I can say that the girls dresses do run a little small. My daughter is a solid 3T in most clothes, however she can also wear a lot of 2T depending on the brand (she is petite as she was a NICU preemie). The dresses below I bought in a 5T because they were pricier and I wanted her to be able to grow in them as she has plenty of currently can be worn play dresses, but honestly these are only slightly big on her. I would say they are closer to a 4T than anything.
The love for Elena is real and the dress if you didn't already guess is Ursula and positively beautiful in person.
Yes, there is tulle, but it is uber soft and does not feel like traditional tulle. Trust me if EV is not screaming "its sparkly" and "stay away from me", it says a lot (its been a rough pandemic with the sparkly costumes people)! I do suggest checking the clearance and being put on their newsletters for sales (Black Friday, Boxing Day, etc.). Because I am newer to the TaylorJoelle bandwagon (they had been all over my Instagram promotions, but I thought it was one of those traditional Instagram spam sponsorship sites....cue face palm emojii) there are a bunch of cute dresses that I missed out on (Vampirina, Elena, etc) that I wish I could have scored in EV's size. Honestly, if you love it, I would just grab it. They are 100% worth the price regardless of it being on clearance/sale or not and I honestly have not gotten many restock notifications, so to me I would rather know we have it and love it than to constantly wait on a sale and risk missing her size which happens a lot.
Additionally, their customer service is excellent. I had I trigger fingered during Black Friday and made a purchase, went back and ordered something else, but when I hit the back button my original items were still in the cart so when I submitted again, I repurchased everything from previous too, they responded quickly to my email and made sure to cancel the first order swiftly. I also follow her on Instagram as she is always updating on what is transpiring with their stock and any new and upcoming releases.
We had a Star Wars movie night that included Millenium Falcon ice cream bars, an air tent, and popcorn served in a Death Star bowl...which meant that her Rey dress was introduced. As you can see, it was a big hit!
Yes, I have loved me some Amazon and Target during this pandemic, but a lot can be said for supporting small businesses. I have been a huge supporter of Disney inspired small business since one, many of them are now run by individuals who were laid-off by Disney and two they make excellent unique/personable gifts for those Disney loving families. In particular with the small businesses that specialize in Disney inspired outfits, often they are the ones that have a deeper understanding of cosplaying or what is warmly referred to in our community as Disney-bounding (Google it...I promise it is worth it) so they tend to be more fitting for what you are looking for and honestly the quality tends to be better than anything that can be purchased off of the larger companies.
I always think of this meme every time I make a purchase and it gives me the warm fuzzies...
How about you?! Are there any great small businesses that you buy the kiddos costumes from that I am missing out on?!
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