My daughter (8) wanted to be a black cat for Halloween and this costume seemed about right. She was very happy with it, it fit her perfectly (I bought a 12-14 and it was just right, she is usually a 12, sometimes a 14, 53" and 70lbs)

The costume itself is one piece, the back has a keyhole opening and the fur "collar" is attached and fastens around the back of the neck with velcro.  The tail then sticks on with velcro as well - a nice feature because I felt if the tail was sewn on it surely would have ended up ripping. The fabric is a velour and is very soft.  It's fairly thick for being a Halloween costume, but because the costume is best worn with nothing under it I could see it being too cold in some climates for trick or treating.  My daughter didn't complain though and it was fairly chilly that night (we live in New England).

My daughter wore this 3 times - we had a large Halloween party at our house and she ran around at full speed in it for 4 hours. After that the fur trim on the leg started to pull off and the crotch developed a hole.  However, she wore it 2 more times for trick or treating (I stapled the trip back in place). Considering the price and that this was just a Halloween costume this was okay - it didn't tear significantly and made it through our long Halloween (a snow storm caused it to be postponed!)

I would not however buy this for my child to have in a dress up box to play with regularly, it just isn't sturdy enough to withstand that kind of abuse.