These days, my girls would rather get into dress up clothing than play nearly anything else. I’m not complaining; I love all the creativity and imagination it inspires, when they piece together the mismatched accessories, tutus, hats and capes in their room and turn into fairy princesses, fairy princess cowboys, and fairy princess firefighters. (That’s my three year-old for you.)

If you are nodding your head with understanding right now, you are going to simply die (die!) with our latest pick.

It is rare that I open up a sample sent to me and actually gasp. It’s rarer yet that the sigOth gasps too. And that’s just what happened when we unwrapped the exquisite creations from Australia’s Tutu du Monde. It was like stumbling into Grandma’s trunk of perfectly well-preserved costumes from another era.

I have honestly never seen this kind of workmanship on little girls’ dress-up clothes; the colors are spectacularly subtle, the hand embroidery and beading is beautifully done, and the vintage-inspired designs as a whole strike the perfect balance of whimsical and age-appropriate. Let’s just say no one will mistake your little butterfly for a Las Vegas Showgirl. Or a Toddlers + Tiaras contestant. (Same thing?)

These are nooooot inexpensive pieces, although there are a few nice deals on the site right now. Get the URL in the hands of an auntie with some nieces to spoil, a very doting grandparent, or the parents of a soon-to-be birthday girl who will hug her gorgeous new outfit for ten minutes the way mine did.

The Tutu du Monde clothing goes up to size 9, but I’m hoping my girls don’t grow much. They’re going to their proms in these.

Find simply spectacular dress up clothes and tutus for girls at Tutu du Monde