Halloween Costume Advice Needed – Toss, Trade, Try Again?

It can be quite a controversial topic, Halloween costumes, who knew.

My daughter is six and for all of her Halloween costumes to date, I had a pretty significant influence on what she wore.  I mean, i'd let her pick out what she wanted to be, but I wasn't opposed to crafting something at home, or swapping with a fellow parent who happened to have a stash of costumes up for grabs.  No shame in that bargain game and she seemed to be cool with it, up until now.

This year feels a little bit different, and maybe that's because my little one is getting older and smarter...maybe smarter isn't the word, more vocal perhaps?  She began the season (in August, when 1st graders begin planning for Halloween) saying she wanted to be the same thing she was last year, Barb from 'Trolls World Tour.'  Great, no need to go out and get anything else, what a breeze.

Well, apparently when she mentioned to this to some of the kids on the bus they informed her it wasn't cool, and what the kids on the bus say goes... so now we have to change plans and find a different costume.

A friend offered up a few costumes that her kids had worn in years prior, and when I showed the pictures to my six year old diva, she informed me that she would not be 'using someone's costume they wore already' - so there's that.  I tried to explain the idea of recycling costumes, or doing a neighborhood swap and I was told it 'wasn't cool' so now not only do I need to have a chat with my own daughter, I need to find out who is feeding her this information, and talk with them too.

Am I being unrealistic?  Is it uncool to costume share/trade?  Is everyone else buying their kids new (and overpriced) costumes each year?  Maybe i'll just stick with dressing my pets up, they don't complain....as much.

Help this momma out.