You know – the school play, the Christmas pageant, whatever. Are parents given any instructions, options?
I’m just reading a book by the guy who created Freaks and Geeks, Paul Feig, Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence, and he tells of his parents using his father’s army surplus store to create a Christmas elf costume.
(So far, the book is good, if painful.)
My kids’ elementary school doesn’t have school plays, but so far I have had to supply costumes for: fancy dress tea party, California Ranchos day (mexican costume), Gold Rush day (cowboy costume), class lip-syncing performance (80s rocker), and Wax Museum (my kid chose Isaac Newton). Next year I will have to provide a Colonial American costume. Not sure about 6th grade. We are sometimes given instructions, but not many.
It’s a bit of a sore topic for me right now, because I just had two days notice to come up with the 80s and cowboy costumes. It is the last two weeks of school, things are crazy anyway. I do not have time to hunt down costume items! Not sure if my kid is to blame or his teacher. Probably a combination of both!
Yes, but. I’ve never been expected to come up with an elaborate Lobster costume or something. However we did have to supply a costume for a presentation on a historical figure (think George Washington, Wright Brothers, Joan of Arc etc). Also for a play of updated nursery-rhymes/traditional stores like Aesops Fables. They stay pretty simple though - Think black sport coat and construction-paper hat over jeans and a t-shirt for Lincoln, not a full on costume.
My daughter and I made a sultan’s robe for her middle school performance. Including the curled slippers. For the fall play, she was a private detective - we got a trenchcoat and a fedora.
For the school play, some costumes are gotten, mostly for kids who wouldn’t manage to get their parents help in putting something together, and some kids provide their own - and some kids end up in street clothes.