Gearhead Mom

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Unicorns, Dragons and Ducks! Oh My!

Posted by Missy W. @ 9:34 PM

Halloween is less than a week away. I am getting excited. We’re going to trick or treat with the other kids on the block. I am thinking of having a pre-party in the backyard where the older kiddos can bob for apples and smack down the spunky pumpkin (spunpkin?) pinata I picked up from Target. Sy knows exactly what she wants to be: a duck. A duck? All the things in the world to be and all she can talk about is being a duck. I mean, I guess in her world, a duck is pretty exciting. It makes a funny noise when it quacks, it can fly and it gets to swim whenever it wants. What’s not to love about being a duck?

I guess I was a smidge sad that she did not want to be a unicorn or a dragon, the newest costumes in our burgeoning dress-up box. I was chatting with Sarah from Sarah’s Silks and she was kind enough to send me her newest unicorn and dragon costumes for review. You know I’ll gladly review anything they make since we all know I am a Sarah’s Silks-aholic. My name is Missy and I am a Sarah’s Silks-aholic. There. I said it. I feel better already.

OK, so. On with the review.

I decided to save the costumes for Sy’s playgroup which consists of four incredibly rambunctious two and a half year olds. They love to dress up and goof off, so I figured that even though they were a bit young for the age range (three to ten), they’d be a pretty good test audience.

First of all, I just think anything made of silk is immediately more exciting to junior because it feels so nice. It’s not scratchy or hot and it probably reminds them of their silky-edged blanket tossed somewhere in the nursery. I took the new costumes out and Sy immediately wanted to touch them. I put the unicorn costume on my head and ran around braying like a fool. The kids loved it and kept trying to grab the horn. The horn is stuffed with a soft material, so even if your mystical creature decides to head butt you, you won’t walk away from the scene with a small hole in your leg. That being said, the horn is sturdy enough to withstand some ramming without crumpling. The costumes are basically capes with attached hoods, so your magical little creature can move around freely and use the costume for years to come. I think this is also good for Halloween so your trick-or-treater can layer according to your weather and still looked all gussied up.

Sy is not a huge fan of anything around her neck for too long (she won’t even wear a zip up cardigan) and would not tolerate the headpiece, but she was captivated by the unicorn costume. While our playgroup was playing dress-up, she would not let anyone else hold it and instead just carried it around with her, slung over her shoulder. Two year olds are such hoarders, aren’t they?

I put the candy apple green dragon costume on Sy’s pal Kara and she loved it. She jumped off of the playroom sofa over and over again yelling, “I’m flying!” She looked so cute jumping around with little yellow horns and red wings.

Aside from Kara, our resident dress-up maven, the rest of the two and half year olds who were helping me test these products tugged at the velcro under the chin. It’s a long piece to allow for growing necks, which is great, but it probably bothered them a bit. I was thinking of another way to secure it, but I think snaps would be too heavy with the silk and a tie would be hard to keep in place. The velcro does its job and keeps the costume over the shoulders. I think older kids (3+) understand that you have to deal with different dynamics while wearing a costume. Can’t you remember the smelly plastic masks of old costumes and the too tight elastic band that held them on always pulling your hair? Didn’t make me wear the costume any less, rather it just made me hot and have less hair. These silky animal costumes are much more comfortable by comparison.

Snapshot:
• The dragon costume is lightweight and easy to wear. It works well as a dragon, a flying cape, or whatever else your kid wants to be that day.
• The unicorn’s tail allows the costume to flounce around behind you as you run through your imaginary forest.
• The velcro under the neck is bothersome to some of the smaller folk, but tolerated by older ones who understand the mechanics of the costume. Also, make sure when you store the costume that the velcro is attached to itself so it does not snag the silk!
• Because there’s no body, the costumes can be used for a long time as your babe gets bigger.
• I was reading on Sarah’s Silks site that the silk products are hand washable. That’s good because there’s already mac and cheese smeared on Sy’s yellow play silk. At least it matches?

P.S.
Please don’t tell Sy that I really got her a chick costume half-off from the Gap. It looks like a duck, right? I’m still hoping she’s going to change her mind and go as a spirited lavender unicorn… Maybe she’ll wear one of her new ones atop the duck costume. She could be a dragoduck or a duckicorn.

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