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- Read the play
- Asses resources: Time, Money, and Labor
- Consult with the director
- Get others to help you
- Get measurements (preferably early, maybe during read-through) and pictures of actors (can ask SM/Producer for audition pics).
- Do the paperwork: lists, drawings, reproductions of research.
- Make a schedule.
- Make/buy the costumes.
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- Do not panic - write everything down.
- Make a spreadsheet (see below)
- Have a travel-size folder to keep things in.
- Find inspirational pictures. The best place to go to determine the "look" of a costume period is art work and costume books. When looking at these books, you should look for the general lines of the costume first. Detail work comes later. Questions you should ask are: - Where is the waist? - What type of sleeve are we dealing with? - Is the neckline high or low? - Are there any outstanding features that immediately capture my eye? When you have answered these questions, you are ready to start browsing through pattern books for patterns that highlight these features. Once you have achieved the basic look of the period, you can go on with other concerns such as unity of line coordination of color, and overall appearance of the show.
- Be creative with fabric - dye it, pleat it, make it more fun (just be careful, this takes time)
- Having costumes is more important than having perfect costumes
- Be prepared to say no to things. If something is too hard, stressful, or time consuming, let the director/producer know. There is no shame in that.
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The Costume Designer should know the period and general style of the show by the end of the first prod meeting. From there, a preliminary design can be made of the general shape and style of the costumes for most categories of actors (i.e. young women, old men, soldiers, servants, nobility, etc. are some of the major categories for most shows).
At the first read-thruthrough, the measurements of all the actors should be taken. Refer to the example measurements form for a template. By the first read-thru through the characters should all be assigned, so make sure you are aware of any double-cast characters.
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