Matchy-Matchy! Is it tacky? ABSOLUTELY! But matching or coordinating outfits can add some fun and extra MAGIC to your Disney Vacation and do wonders for your scrapbooking layouts. Matchy-Matchy either brings a huge smile to your face and makes you giggle or it makes you roll your eyes. If it makes you roll your eyes and you are planning on reading this entry, then you should be prepared for a little eye strain ;). Whether you are on a Disney cruise or in a Disney park, there is no better place to do the Matchy-Matchy thing. Before you make up your mind that friends and families that match or do coordinating outfits on vacation belong on the akward family photo site, take a minute to check out this entry.
Why Match?
There are a couple of reasons to match or coordinate clothes on a Disney Vacation. The most practical reason is to be able to spot each other in the parks or on a cruise. Check out Jan’s (Quiltymom’s) matching tye dye tees.
Jan said, “It’s an amazing way to find everyone in a crowd! At first DH wasn’t sold on the idea (“I have enough clothes!”), but when he couldn’t reach me by phone in DCA one day, he started looking for my shirt. Found me, too!”
CynthiaY2 (Cynthia) matches her family by coordinating with a particular color for a particular day! Cynthia sites SAFETY as a reason for coordinating colors in the park. Here is a short story that where she give us an example of choosing your colors carefully.
Safety!! In crowds as large as Disney World/Disneyland it’s easy to get seperated especially from the younger ones very quickly. If I lose sight I can always make a quick glance around and know exactly what they are wearing…the same color combination as all of us! It happened just a couple of weeks ago. It was St. Patricks Day so of course we all wore green. Well unforunatley so did everybody else 🙂 We were heading out of Magic Kingdom and we got to the circle we went left and my son went right following another “MOM” in green. We got to the curb and I noticed I couldn’t see him!!! I was in a panic as EVERYONE was in GREEN!! I told my husband and daughter to stand fast and I went to the other side of the circle. It only took a moment and my iphone rang and it was my son at City Hall in tears calling me. I stayed on the phone with him until I saw him for myself. He said “Mom I followed the green shirt!” He was so upset BUT he did exactly what I told him to do find a cast member and call ME!! So on normal days it works perfectly.
I chose these layouts from her gallery because it a great example of not only coordinating outfits by color but coordinating the color with the park you are visiting.
Cynthia’s second reason for coordinating colors:
It’s all about the PICTURES!!
Normally I begin with my daughters outfits. I look at my excel spreadsheet and see what park we will be at and what dining reservations we have for the day. Animal Kingdom is ALWAYS brown day! Our photos look wonderful with all the lush greenery and my daugher is always in an animal print top/dress. You can look through my gallery and you will notice ALL Brown.
I normally like to wear “PINK” when we eat at Crystal Palace because of Piglet. My favorite color for Ohana’s Breakfast is “BLUE and GREEN” because it matches Stitch perfectly. I tend to always wear BLUE and then Black and White at Hollywood Studios. Blue because of the hat and then black and white because of the old type movies that were in black and white. One day we are in “Color” and the next time “B&W”. 😉
Recently we all wore purple when my daughter wore her Rapunzal wedding dress. It was purple and white so we wore purple and white. When it’s the Flower and Garden I love to wear yellow at EPCOT one day. See where I’m going will all this… I try to match the event of the park, character meal, or costume of my daughter, or the Park itself.
It’s all about the pictures for me and capturing those magical memories. I’m a planner…probably a bit over planning BUT it makes my vacation stress free because I have no worries about what to wear each day and I know my photos will turn out FABULOUS!
It is all about the pictures for me too! As a scrapbooker, I have this ridculous need to have everything coordinate. My children have to not only endure matching at Disney but they have to match on special occasions too! We started the Matchy-Matchy thing on our honeymoon in 1999 by packing matching non-Disney t-shirts. We were newlyweds and it seemed like fun to match. In 2002, I bought the same Disney t-shirt from the Disney Store in 5 different colors and the same style shorts in 4 different colors for DH, DD, and me. We also purchased custom made t-shirts that had our family name and the dates of our vacation. We did the same for the next few years including whatever island shirt was being offered that year in the Disney Store. This method was cost effective until we had Twins and now outfitting the family from the Disney Store was cost prohibitive. In 2007, I discovered how to make my own t-shirts with iron on transfers. I became a crazy woman and designed a bunch of t-shirts and made them for each member of the family. One of my friends discovered pillowcase dresses and made inexpensive matching outfits with Disney Princess material and animal print material. In 2010 we found the most cost effective way to coordinate 4 girls. We purchased Disney t-shirts and coordinating shorts at Target and Wal-Mart at the end of the summer season. We were able to buy t-shirts with Dumbo, Marie, Bambi, Tinker Bell, Cinderella, two Minnie t-shirts and five pairs coordinating shorts for 4 girls (48 pieces) for under $100.
Here are a few layouts from my MouseScrappers Gallery.
Matching t-shirts and shorts from the Disney Store
Custom made t-shirts from the Disney Store
Pillowcase Dresses/Tops and Homemade t-shirts
Matching Disney Island Shirts, Iron-ons and Homemade t-shirts
Princess Coordination
T-shirts and coordinating bottoms purchased at the end of the summer season from Target and Wal-Mart
Thanks to the CT team for all the feedback. All of the layouts featured are in the MouseScrappers Gallery and you can find the credits there. You can check out this thread for more ideas:
http://www.mousescrappers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=105221#post105221
I hope you enjoyed all the Matchy-Matchy!
To close, I will use more of Cynthia’s words because sums it up well:
“What other time in your life will you take the time to take pictures in front of such amazing backdrops! Take advantage of it!!