Photo: Joe Mabel. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Job description
Beyond fitting a costume, attendants may design pieces themselves or send them out to a tailor for construction and alterations, then clean, press, and make minor repairs before and after each performance. Sourcing costumes is part of the job too: purchasing, renting, or requisitioning what's needed, and researching historical clothing styles when a production calls for period accuracy. Once a show closes, attendants return rented or borrowed items and take inventory of what's left in stock for future use.
Pros
- Pay ceiling reaches nearly $110k for experienced costumers in film and theater production
- Faster than average projected job growth (5.9% over the next decade)
- Hands-on creative work researching historical styles and building or altering garments
Cons
- A relatively small number of positions nationwide limits where the work is available
- Fast-paced, deadline-driven work with real time pressure before performances
- Regular exposure to contaminants like dust, fabric fibers, and dyes
A typical day
The wardrobe shop hums by 9am: today's priorities are steaming and pressing forty costumes before tonight's performance, repairing a split seam from last night's Act II, and prepping the quick-change station — Velcro checked, pieces hung in exact order, because the lead has 45 seconds to become a different character. An afternoon fitting brings the new understudy in for alterations, pins and chalk moving fast. During the show itself, the attendant works backstage in the dark: catching thrown garments, zipping, buttoning, and resetting for the next change with a flashlight clenched in teeth. Post-show is laundry triage and the repair list for tomorrow. Everything gets logged — every piece, every performer, every show.
Tasks at the job
- Design or construct costumes or send them to tailors for construction, major repairs, or alterations.
- Clean and press costumes before and after performances and perform any minor repairs.
- Purchase, rent, or requisition costumes or other wardrobe necessities.
- Study books, pictures, or examples of period clothing to determine styles worn during specific periods in history.
- Return borrowed or rented items when productions are complete and return other items to storage.
- Inventory stock to determine types or conditions of available costuming.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting, and you work in close physical proximity to coworkers or the public for much of the shift. The role involves regular exposure to contaminants.
The pace is often fast, with real time pressure to meet deadlines, and you're expected to exercise significant independent judgment day to day. Almost all of the work is done as part of a team.
Education necessary or common
High school diploma; some on-the-job training or apprenticeship
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- Sewing/Fashion Design or Family and Consumer Sciences — construction and repair skills are the job
- Theater — you serve performances; know how they run
- Art/Art History — period clothing research
- Business Math — budgets and rental tracking
Clubs, activities & competitions
- Theater costume crew — the direct apprenticeship, available right now
- Sewing or fashion club
- Community theater volunteering
- Thespian Society (ITS) technical theater tracks
First steps you can take now
- Join your school's costume crew for the next production
- Learn machine and hand sewing basics — hem, seam, button, zipper
- Study one period's clothing and build a reference board
- Volunteer for wardrobe at a community theater
