Kids

Dress up clothing so gorgeous, it will make you twirl too.

Dress up clothing so gorgeous, it will make you twirl too.
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

More in KidsView all picks →

shannon hale princess in black book and author

Q&A with children’s book author Shannon Hale

Shannon Hale is the bestselling author behind The Princess in Black series. It's a favorite early chapter book series for kids ages 5–8 and boys love it as much as girls do. Her newest book, Princess in Black and the Trick or Treating Trouble, comes out just in time for Halloween. We talked with her about it as part of our Q&A author series and asked about a few of her favorite things too.

Explore Build-a-Bear

Some Not-So-Spooky Fun this Halloween

How can Build-A-Bear be used for Halloween costumes? Let kids create a spooky Build-A-Bear sidekick to incorporate into their costume, which can help the costume be enjoyed beyond Halloween.

Q&A with children's author Sophie Blackall

Q&A with children's author Sophie Blackall

Cool Mom Picks readers, we are so excited to launch a new series for you. We are obsessed book lovers over here at the CMP headquarters, and we have a particular soft spot for children's books (even though we're moving our kids into coll…