An adorable baby koala...costume

July 26, 2016 4:18 PM

If I wanted to purchase an Australian animal costume (any! Kangaroo, croc, echidna) for a baby/toddler somewhere in Townsville, Cairns, or Sydney, where would I go?

The cuter the better, obv

posted by goodbyewaffles to Grab Bag (13 answers total)

EBay. I've googled all the zoos I thought had them and none of them had them anymore. Online is likely your best bet. Australians don't tend to put kids in native fauna costumes I've noticed. Some kind of eco-cultural cringe, I guess.

I'm also assuming it's not for a child living in far northern Queensland. ('Cause they wouldn't get much wear out of it before outgrowing.)
posted by taff at 4:28 PM on July 26, 2016

Best answer: Australian CBDs have heaps of little street shops with kitsch Australiana, you could give that a go.
posted by chiquitita at 5:05 PM on July 26, 2016

I think online is your best bet. I don't think I've ever seen one in the shops. Halloween isn't big here and if people do dress up they stay traditional (witches, ghosts etc) so costumes aren't so much of a thing.

Kmart/Big W/ Target might have something in the toy section. I've seen princess outfits there.
posted by kitten magic at 5:08 PM on July 26, 2016

I live in the epicentre of kitschy Australiana souvenirs - there's at least eight stores around the corner from me catering to tourists - and I have never seen anything like what you're looking for. Ever. (And I was there yesterday with my sister who was looking for something.) I've also never seen any in the mainstream department stores, where I spend way too much time with my kids. I would look online.
posted by Jubey at 11:23 PM on July 26, 2016

You'd have to order online, or visit Newcastle, but these folks have a few cute Australian animals.
posted by bethnull at 12:05 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Sorry, you're kind of shit out of luck here. I have never seen anything like that as a tourist item. It's just too fucking hot here to put a kid in anything beyond the most rudimentary of clothing. My son spends most of summer in just his undies, and it gets worse the more northern you get. Closest I've seen is hats with ears, usually around Australia Day, so end of January.

The tourist shops along the main drag for most CBDs have often got themed t-shirts, which is about as good as you're getting outside of ebay or a custom made costume.

Sorry. We're boring about dressing up over here.
posted by Jilder at 2:35 AM on July 27, 2016

Best answer: There are plenty online from online-only stores. But it also looks like the Museum of Contemporary Art shop has them - they do sell online, but I think they probably also have them in their physical store e.g. Baby Koala Suit. They have koalas, wombats, cockatoos (search for 'suit' not 'costume'. The museum and store is at The Rocks which is very central for visitors to Sydney.
posted by AnnaRat at 3:58 AM on July 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Sparrow & B offer magpie and shark outfits for toddlers. They have a couple of stockists in Sydney.
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 6:20 AM on July 27, 2016

Best answer: I think the key word here is 'onesie'.
posted by Panthalassa at 6:46 AM on July 27, 2016

Like, if you google '[animal name] onesie' you should be able to find a whole host of makers of basic but cute costumes of your chosen animal and others.
posted by Panthalassa at 6:51 AM on July 27, 2016

Try Little Imposters

Disclosure: this used to be run by a neighbour of mine, and seems to offer what you're looking for online.
posted by Combat Wombat at 1:14 AM on July 29, 2016

Response by poster: I was totally resigned to not being able to find this item in stores, but just in case some future human is wondering, they do indeed sell koala (and kangaroo and crocodile) suits/costumes/onesies at the Kuranda markets and on the Esplanade in Cairns. Made by W.A. Jacobs, for about $30. Tragically they are too small to fit the kiddo in question, but they also had koala hats, slippers, etc.

Thanks for all your online searches, guys, I appreciate it :)
posted by goodbyewaffles at 5:26 AM on August 1, 2016

Response by poster: the item in question
posted by goodbyewaffles at 5:29 AM on August 1, 2016