With World Book Day taking place next week (Thursday 7 March), fancy dress and costume hire shops will be bracing themselves for a busy weekend as stressed-out parents rush to buy suitable costumes. Kate Moore, owner of JollyJesters fancy dress shop in Derbyshire, UK, has already had her epiphany…
“A lady came in on Monday to hire a costume for World Book Day on Thursday 7 March. She’s a teacher at a local primary school, looking after the ‘rising fives’, which I think is called reception these days.
We got talking about how the popular children’s stories from yesteryear have evolved from Hans Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and Enid Blyton to Roald Dahl, David Walliams and Captain Underpants, Professor Poopypants, Tippy Tinkletrousers, and The Attack Of The Talking Toilets. Google it. Or on second thoughts, don’t.
We told her about a mum who’d called in last weekend for a costume for her six-year-old daughter. This six-year old wanted to be Ariana Grande, with a Plan B of Meghan Markle. For World Book Day. We’d suggested that a character from a real book might be a more appropriate choice and even went as far as suggesting Alice In Wonderland, Red Riding Hood or Sleeping Beauty – to be met with a blank frozen stare from the six-year-old. Not only had the child never heard of these stories, but neither had the mother!
That’s mainly what worries us. Not the fact the book choices are moving onward and forward (that’s a good thing!) but that it seems so many classic children’s stories have been lost along the way.
Of course, there is an upside to all this as there is definitely a silver lining for us independent stores. The supermarkets might have all the classics covered (and for a couple of pounds cheaper), but we will always be the best places to go for all the weird and wonderful accessories and extras needed to create a costume that’s a little bit different or out of the ordinary. Not to mention our years of expertise in creating a complete character from a pair of comedy glasses and a pair of long satin gloves. They don’t do that in Aldi!”
