Dress-up clothes for boys?

At a birthday party on Saturday, I overheard the dad of one of the two boys (out of 15 kids) in our class saying that all the dress-up stuff in the classroom is girly. This isn't entirely true -- there is some doctor stuff and a few unisex hats and things -- but it's true that it leans heavily towards princess attire.

So I was thinking of trying to get some non-girly dress-up things from eBay for the class, but don't even know what to look for. I'm sure they would all love a fireman suit, but those are like $40 and I'm not up for springing for that. Any other ideas? What do boys even wear for dress-up?

 

Pirate and Cowboy. We have some pirate stuff here that Nolan likes to use.

 

We picked up almost all of our boy stuff after the last two Halloweens, at 75%-90% off. So next to nothing. We have:

Cowboy
Fireman
Handyman (hard hat and tool belt)
Spiderman
Power Ranger
Incredible Hulk
Pirate

 

My boys have A UPS/Mailman costume and Batman/Spiderman costume but that is what they were for Halloween the last two years. For Christmas they opened a Pirates of the Carribean costume set but my mom bought it a Ross for like 5.99 a piece. Ross is a great place to get costumes but I think only around that time of the year. I don't know where you would get dress up clothes they are expensive if it is not clearance try TRU.

 

My son (he's 6 now) but he likes to dress up like cowboys, ninjas, batman, firemen, policemen, construction worker. Most of them are leftover Halloween costumes, but the fireman thing my SIL gave him one year for Christmas... and I know it was cheap, I think she found it at something like a Walgreens.

 

I noticed our Parent-Teacher store had some career outfits as well as animals that were reasonably priced.

 

generic capes are a huge hit here - we have two red ones and they can become almost anything - a hero cape, a queen or king cape, a blanket for a doll or stuffed animal, etc. etc.

 

My kids use their old halloween costumes. and we also have robes that my mom made for them.

 

I have girls, but I am an equal-opportunity play provider .

Our only new dress-up items are clearance sale Halloween costumes. I've bought a lot at Goodwill; look for: vests, scrubs, denim jackets, ties, hats (although these are risky at school because of lice concerns), boots that are a couple of years too big.

From our own closets, we pulled out mortar boards and stoles from graduation, hard hats, shirts made of cool fabric (like suede of faux suede or leather), old belts.

I've cut neck- and head-holes in pillowcases to make tunics. If you get a king-size one, you can cut it off around the hem and use that part for a belt. These make great knight costumes, especially if you find some in satin in regal colors like gold or purple or red. I got ours at Big Lots, so they were pretty cheap.

If you visit the fire station, they'll often give you one of those shiny red helmets. Keep those, as well as any paper hat or crown from restaurants.

 

We put together a dress up basket for our school auction last year.

think old halloween costumes!!
pirates, ghoul's, cowboy, indian, baseball/football/soccer/sports outfits, tools, toolbelt, all sorts of hats, scarves, glasses...

So much to choose from!

 

Thanks for all the great ideas! I have looked for Halloween costumes, but I think I missed the window for finding them really cheap. There are lots on eBay, but they're still $20+. I guess I just need to cruise Goodwill more often.

So, for things that are adult-size (like vests and scrubs), do you cut them down somehow, or do the kids just swim in them?

I'll have to ask the teachers what would be appropriate. For example, I have a feeling they may not be allowed to use belts because of the possible injury hazard (our daycare has lots of ridiculous rules).