We're actually preparing to have a little party surrounding that theme so I've been digging through our dress up box and assessing what might be added.. being that I have 2 girls, most of our costumes are on the frilly side. We have a lot of "princess" dresses. It happened naturally.. that is I didn't really encourage it.. they were either picked by my 5 year old from target or the thrift store or handed down to us from friends. I know some parents try hard to avoid this and actually I myself thought I would (growing up I was definitely a tomboy and hated both pink and purple) but recently I learn from a teacher of young children that at around ages 3-5 children start establishing their sexual identity and it is very common to see them go to extremes with gender at this age.. with very "girly girl" or "boy's only" type thinking and it is an important part of figuring out their place in the world. I was happy to hear this and definitely see the sense in it but I also want to show my own girls that being "girly" can embrace a strength and maybe even quirkiness! Now as an adult, I wear makeup and dresses almost daily and (while they're not ready for the makeup, I actually let them have washable marker instead..) I'm not going to discourage them from doing the same but rather share with them why I wear what I do. It's kinda like war paint. It makes me feel good and powerful. Ready to face the day. And when I feel good about how I look I tend to smile more, engage with people, feel more energetic even.. I want my daughters to have that... however they find it.
Then again, I also want to see them wear more colors than just pink and have more dress-up options than dresses... not to mention the fact that we need more choices for the little boys who'll visit (especially if they're experimenting with a masculine extreme and can't possibly have anything to do with "girly" things).
So I decided to sew up some capes!
I used solid colored knit fabric for the main portion of the cape so it didn't require any finishing.. I attached a yard of twill tape to the top and then ironed on some emblems using steam a seam, iron on adhesive. The first I made was a navy blue cape with a star centered on the back.. then this yellow "Super Kitty" and the finally a teal blue cape with a lightning bolt and a red and white striped grosgrain for the tie.
The best part.... all the emblems GLOW IN THE DARK!
Now whether the kid's a "tomboy", a "girly girl", a "gentle boy", or a "tough guy", ALL KIDS LOVE GLOW IN THE DARK!
She loved the cape as soon as she spotted it on my ironing board...
I asked if she'd let me take her picture in it and as I was finishing the felt eyes and whiskers, she got her outfit together.. complete with backwards purple pants and wild hair.. I mentioned something about it but she wanted them that way... lol. What's a mom to do?
Once we got going most of the photos were action shots...
she's either jumping, kicking, dancing or giving me super silly faces...
like these!
I could hardly get her to show me the back..
And Super Kitty's can't stand still!
Happy Thursday!
April
note: you can get the GLOW IN THE DARK fabric right HERE :)
What a fantastic outfit! I'm very much the same, before my daughter was born I wanted to avoid pink and anything Disney Princess completely, but as she gets older, some girly stuff has snuck into her wardrobe and I may condone a little princessy type stuff as long as it is mixed with plenty of gender neutral which includes a lot of other colours. My daughter is only two but she definitely starting to say what she likes and what she doesn't like and chooses herself what she is wanting to wear.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely adore this cape with the mustard colour with the cat face and your daughter's poses are fantastic!