Party City sent What’s Doing? Tampa Bay an exclusive sneak peak at some of the top costumes for 2012. They told us that their “Party City’s Costume USA line offers costumes of top quality without breaking the bank.” We had the opportunity to not only check out their Costume USA line for ourselves, but also to compare these costumes to comparable costumes available for purchase. Here’s what we have to say about them:
******************************************************************************
Ratings
We have rated each Party City Costume USA costume on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best costume. Please keep in mind that these are merely our opinions; your experience may be different than ours.
******************************************************************************
Party City’s Costume USA Cupcake Cutie
That’s my daughter wearing the Cupcake Cutie outfit. In fact, she’s worn it every day since it arrived. Needless to say, it’s 4-year-old-girl approved! It’s also Mom-approved. I am honestly impressed by the quality of the main costume dress, and it comes with fun accessories, too — a bow headband, coordinating arm warmers, and striped footless tights. Bows accent the arm warmers, which fit well and stay up on her arms while she runs around and plays. Matching polka-dot bows detail the dress and headband, as well. A tulle cherry tops the cupcake appliqué on the dress and accents the bow on the headband, tying in with the tulle skirt. The tulle they used for the skirt is strong and does not tear or snag easily (thankfully!), and it’s sprinkled with glitter to make it sparkly.
Our Rating: 5/5
Why did we rate it this way? My daughter loves this costume! Given the quality and durability of most of the fabrics used to make this costume, my daughter will not only enjoy wearing it to several Halloween costume events this year, but she will enjoy dressing-up in this outfit until she outgrows it. I love that!
Browse Party City Costume USA Girl’s costumes.
******************************************************************************
Competitor Zombie Groom Costume
Party City’s Costume USA Zombie Groom
ZOMBIE GROOM
My husband and I compared, felt, stretched and discussed every inch of these two comparable costumes, and the only difference we could find is that the boutennière on the Party City version is slightly smaller that the one on the competitor’s jacket. The fabrics and materials used to make the jackets, dickeys and bow ties are identical in look, feel and quality. The coloring on the jackets are identical. And both jackets sport a tag featuring the same brand name.
Our Rating 5/5
Why did we rate it this way? Honestly, we could not find any difference between these costumes, so go with the Party City Costume USA Zombie Groom costume and save yourself a few bucks.
Browse Party City Costume USA Men’s costumes.
******************************************************************************
Competitor Mermaid Costume
Party City’s Costume USA Ariel
Some things I particularly like about the Ariel costume by Disney — an “Exclusively Ours” Party City costume — are the cut of the skirt that looks a lot like sea grass flowing gracefully in the water, and the zippered back (as opposed to velcro). Although the dress doesn’t make me think of a mermaid, the cut and colors do call up images of the sea, and the dress design is the same as Ariel dresses designed for little girls. The wrist cuffs are a nice accessory. However, the bottom of the sleeves were very tight to pull up and scratchy to wear, and although you can’t see it from the photo, the dress fit very loosely around the bust and shoulders making it too revealing to wear out to a family event. The halter-style dress of the competitor’s mermaid costume works well for all body types and provided a better fit.
Our Rating 2/5
Why did we rate it this way? Our rating is based entirely on the fit. The halter-style of the competitor’s dress made it superior in fit. The Party City costume would require wearing a cami underneath to make it acceptable to wear out. Because costumes need to be able to adapt to many body shapes, we feel this is a big drawback to this costume. However, please keep in mind that the dress will fit everyone differently, so your experience wearing this costume could be entirely different than mine.
Browse Party City Costume USA Women’s costumes.
******************************************************************************
Competitor Cleopatra Costume
Party City’s Costume USA Queen of the Nile
Insofar as the quality of material of the dresses, the Party City Costume USA and the competitor version seem to be equal. The Party City version (Queen of the Nile) fits more comfortably because its asymmetrical over-the-shoulder cut works well for all body shapes, as opposed to the competitor version, which was very low-cut and not particularly Mom-friendly. In regards to accessories, the competitor’s costume offered a jeweled neck piece that is a nice addition, but it’s also bulky and awkward to wear for any length of time. The silky wrap of the competitor version, though, proved far easier to wear because it attaches to the dress straps and features bracelets for your wrists, making it completely hands-free; this is a big plus over Party City’s costume, which needs to be held. The Party City Costume USA version did include a belt, and its tie closure (as opposed to the velcro closure on the competitor version) made it more comfortable to wear than the velcro belt on the competitor costume, which isn’t as well adapted to fitting different waist sizes as the tie closure. The arm cuffs on the Party City costume lack the embellishments offered in the competitor’s version, but they fit fine.
Our Rating: 3/5
Why did we rate it this way? The Party City costume dress is more comfortable to wear for long periods of time and Mom-approved (i.e. less revealing) for the kid-friendly Halloween events we’ll be attending. However, we really liked the accessories that came with the competitor’s costume.
******************************************************************************
Competitor Crusader King Costume
Party City’s Costume USA Brave Crusader Costume
All of us agree that the Party City costume looks “cooler” than the competitor version. While we Moms like the fabric on the body of the competitor’s costume better (it felt more like chain mail on the arms, and the body fabric was very soft and velvet), the Party City costume looks more like a chain mail suit and offered fun accessories — a cape and gloves — which the competitor version lacked. The Party City costume also offers better shoe covers that look much more like actual boots.
Our Rating: 5/5
Why did we rate it this way? The Party City Costume USA knight costume was just way cooler looking, the accessories were better, and Ashley’s son was very adamant about preferring that costume, which makes it not only mom-approved, but kid-approved! Neither costume came with a sword or shield, but we were able to pick them up at The Dollar Tree for just $1 each.
Browse Party City Costume USA’s Boy’s costumes.
Our Conclusion:
Overall we preferred the Party City Costume USA costumes over the competitor version more often than not. Even better is that Party City sells these costumes for less than their competitor versions in most cases, so not only are you getting a high quality Halloween costume, but you’re saving money, too!
We wish you and your families a Happy Halloween!
______________________________________________________________
Disclosure: We received several of Party City Costume USA’s top 2012 costumes and comparable competitor versions of those costume so that we could touch, feel, experience and write about their contrasting features. The exception was the Cupcake Cutie costume, which does not have a competitor version. The opinions expressed here are completely our own based on our personal assessment and comparison of these costumes.
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Costume Images © 2012 What’s Doing? Tampa Bay
