World Book Day (6th March 2014) has been a big hit this year I feel. With working in a school myself I have found it to of been a massive push for our young children's reading, and such a great encouragement. Children these days (like us) are overwhelmed and consumed by electronic devices. They are constantly on the computer at home playing games, or watching the tv till late- which reduces the chance of them putting their imagination into something beautiful. Reading isn't for all, but when I was younger (and still now) I found nothing nicer than to just loose myself in a good old book, I could sit for hours and read! Anyway, before Book Week approached us we were informed at work that we were to dress up as a character from any book we liked! This screamed fun to most, but also a stress due to finding a suitable outfit.
I had searched Ebay, Amazon, and lots of different websites via Google but alls that I was getting was those really 'raunchy', 'sexy' adult costumes that were really really short and totally not suitable for work! As much as some of them were nice and fun.. It just added more to the stress of finding one that was actually okay to wear!
I hadn't thought of fancy dress shops until the very last minute, and where I live there isn't that many of them around. I ended up back on Google searching for fancy dress shops in my area and managed to find one close by. This is called the City Party Shop. I knew straight away I needed to get down there to find something asap as time was running out. First of all I needed to get some ideas for what I wanted to be, Snow White, Cinderella… and then all sorts of characters were flying around in my head shouting 'be me be me'! They have a really good website with pictures of all their costumes, ranging from a-z, and also the wigs and accessories that they stock too.
The City Party Shop is a "family run business based in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and for over 20 years we have been supplying fancy dress to people from "The Potteries", North Staffs and South Cheshire area"
I took myself to the little fancy dress shop and was amazed at how many costumes were actually available. On first sights the shop looked tiny but boy can they fit some costumes in there! I was created by a friendly man who helped me. He showed me two catalogues ranging from a-z of all different costumes that they stocked of all different characters/themes. Some of the items are available to buy although most are too hire.
I tried on quite a few different outfits- all which suited my needs as not only did they have the 'short and fun' outfits, they also had full length ones which was perfect for this occasion. After trying on lots of different ones I came across a lovely Snow White one. I loved it the minute that I saw it however it just felt a tiny bit big. I kept on trying a few more outfits, but I just had my mind set on the Snow White one after trying it.
Here is the costume that I managed to hire…
The costume is beautiful. Made of a really thick material with a thick white collar that lifts up, and a lovely yellow skirt that floats to the floor. I love the style of this costume as one it is full length, and two the cut at the front! Although I loved the cut at the front of the dress, it was however a little to 'low' for school therefore I had to pop a little red vest top under it which wasn't a problem. After stressing for so long I had finally found an outfit and decided that I was to become Snow White for the day. Here are a few more pictures of the beautiful dress that I wore for World Book Day 2014.
This costume looks really big but is intact a size small, so don't be deceived by looks as in this case it was just the thickness of the material that had been used. It felt so comfy on and I really enjoyed wearing it for the day. At the back of the dress was a lovely belt that you can tie into a pretty bow (mine not so pretty). This costume also came with a red cape that you obviously chose to wear or not, and a red headband (although I chose to wear my own headband as Im just fussy with anything to do with hair!) The cape was a lovely red colour and a velvet material. Here are a few pictures …
Throughout the day I did keep taking the cape on and off as I got quite hot, but the fact that it comes with the outfit is an added bonus because it is there if you need it. Like any snow white you naturally need black hair… I however have extremely blonde hair! I managed to get a black wig however it looked awful therefore I chose not to wear it, so I became an innocent blonde Snow White, Ha! I did however put a red headband in my hair that I got from Claire's Accessories a while ago for £4.00.
(Excuse the messy hair… it was the end of a school day!)
This is no longer available online but there is a similar one which you can find here for £5.00.
Anyway back to it and on to the best bit. After trying on all of these dresses, I hadn't even thought about how much it was going to cost me… So obviously after choosing this outfit I decided to check the price to hire it. The outfit to hire was £20, bargin for such a good quality item! I did however also have to pay a £10 deposit, but I didn't mind that because its just one of those things, and as long as I returned the dress I was to get my £10 back. I was able to hire this outfit for a week, so £20 for a week (even though I only required it for one day) is a pretty reasonable price!
Some people told me I was mad to hire one for that price as I could of quite easily gone out and brought one for that price that I could keep, but I didn't mind because it keeps the fancy dress industry going, and in this generation- we all know shops are struggling, so I feel I did my bit to help out a family business. It also helped me hiring the dress because even if i did get chance to buy it, where would I put it? My wardrobe is so full now so I have no idea where I would be able to store such a lovely costume!
Here is the end result…
Was I happy with my purchase? Yes I Was! Would I recommend this little family run business to people? I certainly would! They are friendly and helpful, and have some lovely costumes in stock for all occasions! I took my dress back and as promised I received my £10 deposit back… perfect!
You can find the City Party Shop using my link here or via Google search engine, or alternatively via their phone number and address that can be found on the website using the above links.
What did you dress up as for World Book Day? Do you know any local fancy dress shops?
xxxxx
