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Lots of pictures of contemporary royal kids wearing ordinary clothes - see Lady Louise, her brother James, childhood photos of Princes William and George, etc. Louise wears jeans and sweaters and sneakers lots of the time, James dresses similarly, and Diana often dressed her sons in very ordinary but cute coordinated outfits - matching T-shirts, shorts, etc. Kate does the same with her two little ones, who are probably too young to offer much inspiration to school-age kids. Princess Anne's children, Zara and her brother, also wore very ordinary clothing, often country/equestrian inspired. Even Queen Elizabeth dresses down when she can - headscarf, rubber Wellington boots, tweed skirts and subdued cardigans.
But - if your children want to go all-out with the royal look, let your daughter wear one of your skirts - it will be long on her, just pin the waist to fit - and a simple solid colored top that can be covered by a cape made out of a yard of solid colored fabric and pinned at the neck with costume jewelry. Red, purple, or royal blue would work well. Cardboard crown, and she's good to go. She could also wear fake pearls or other long necklaces and a ribbon sash from shoulder to waist, trimmed with medals or jeweled pins (from the thrift shop).
Your son could also wear a cape and crown and sash. Long solid pants, white shirt, and he's done.
Thanks for your advice, everyone. I wish we could just send them in street clothes, but we've learned the hard way that it will just lead to a phone call from the principal that they'll be sent home if we don't show up with clothes that match the theme or their uniforms. The school wasn't always like that, but there's a new principal who is letting a few wealthy parents run rampant (one class is taking an "educational" multi-day field trip to Disneyland, or rather, those whose parents can come up with $1,300 are). We're trying to move to a charter school next year.
I will check our local thrift stores, but we're in there often and I'm not too optimistic about finding these sorts of costumes.
I think my daughter has an old plastic tiara, and we're going to try coloring a small crown on cardboard, cut it out and figure out some way to attach it to my son's head. Then tie some old sheets or blankets around their necks for capes. Or maybe we'll just say screw it, they have to wear their uniforms that day.
ridiculous. Have you mentioned to the principal that this is an issue or attended a meeting where this kind of thing is discussed?
Ask any little girl and they can probably help you design a cheap costume that in the eyes of a youngster would make them into princesses.
A crown from cardboard (turn an old cereal box inside out after cutting out the shape and paint the outside with cheap gold craft paint and add either some painted jewels or some cheap craft store/dollar store replicas. A cape can be made from an old sheet or just a piece of material (and means that no really fancy dress need be purchased because what is under it can be covered up. For a prince, similar for the crown and take a pair of pants that have wide legs and turn the bottoms up inside to make them into breeches, secure with a piece of gold painted string, over tall socks - and a cape again to top it off. You can get fancier with a little bit more work I am sure but around the house you probably already have most or all of the materials.
With a bit of imagination, elbow grease and little else you too (or at least your children) can be 'royal' for a day!
Is this a public school? I really dislike schools that plan activities that require a lot of effort or expense by the parents, and add nothing to the education process. And, more than once I kept my kids home for the day, because the focus wasn't on instruction anyway.
In your case, it may be an option. You can run all over town trying to outfit a prince and princess on a dime, or you can skip the entire pageantry ordeal and enjoy a family day.
Dress like royalty?
That's easy - dress like an American.
". . . at the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people, and they are truly the sovereigns of the country, but they are sovereigns without subjects, and have none to govern but themselves. . ."
- - - Justice John Jay, Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. 2 Dall. 419 419 (1793) https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremec...CR_0002_0419_Z
. . .
"Modern" Americans are never taught that they are sovereigns, and the government is their servant, not their master, as we submit to their demands that we get their permission (license).
In the dim past, our ancestors knew better.
.................................................. ...............
ALIEN, n. An American sovereign in his probationary state.
- - - - “The Devil’s Dictionary” (1906), by Ambrose Bierce
(download available from gutenberg.org)
.................................................. ...............
His audience knew what an “American sovereign” was, to understand the joke.
Of course, thanks to our benevolent socialist democracy, our institutions of indoctrination carefully avoid upsetting the students with any knowledge of the republican form and the sovereignty of Americans.
...
GOVERNMENT (Republican Form of Government)- One in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people ... directly ...
- - - Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, P. 695
...
In America, however, the case is widely different. Our government is founded upon compact. Sovereignty was, and is, in the people.
[ Glass vs The Sloop Betsey, 3 Dall 6 (1794)]
...
It will be admitted on all hands that with the exception of the powers granted to the states and the federal government, through the Constitutions, the people of the several states are unconditionally sovereign within their respective states.
Ohio L. Ins. & T. Co. v. Debolt 16 How. 416, 14 L.Ed. 997
Old clothes, make-up for whisker growth, declare him/herself King of the Road. Reference Roger Miller.
Staple playing cards onto the kids' clothing - K,Q,J,10,9 to represent a Royal Flush.
Dress like the principal and declare him/herself a Royal Pain in the Hiney.
Skip the traditional "royal" identity and be creative. View it as a "think outside the box" assignment. After all, a school full of little girls in Frozen costumes or little boys with purple capes and cardboard crowns isn't exactly encouraging independent thinking.
It is supposed to be fun for the kids, and it is. They don't have to participate but if they want to then they don't want to be the poor kids who can't.
We've all been there in one way or another.
There have been many good suggestions and all it takes is a little imagination to find something that will work.
I used to make my kids halloween costumes and I would sew by hand and make something out of what we had, or what I could get. I didn't sew, but I could sew by hand and put things together, or use duct tape or whatever I had. My son always had the best costumes. They just turned out that way. He always had a specific idea that seemed impossible, but I made it work. I didn't have much money to spare, but I didn't need it for those kind of costumes.
One time my daughter dressed as a princess and she wore a party dress that was a hand me down. It was very pretty.
You could go to a thrift store and ask to borrow something. If money is that much of an issue I understand and they would too. Don't go to goodwill but to one that is run by a non-profit charity that is staffed by volunteers. That is if you can't figure something else out. I am sure you can.
It really isn't that hard, and the thinking outside the box suggestion is good but it depends on what your kids want. They have to be happy with it. That is easier then you might think.
I haven't read all the responses, but for something cheap you could do:
Girl: Dress with blue (or red, or yellow) sash. Cut some cardboard into shapes, wrap them in aluminum foil, and hang them from the bottom of the sash (like they're medals).
Boy: Suit, or slacks/polo, with a sash. Again, cut some cardboard and cover with aluminum foil to make them look like different kinds of medals, then glue or pin them to the sash.
The clothing, if you don't already have something that could work, could be easily found at Goodwill for cheap. The sash could just be a strip of fabric.
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