I. General Descriptions
What does a Costume Designer do?
According to the MTG website, the Designer is responsible for: “[meeting the] requirements of script, director, choreographer; costume changes, accessories, rentals, dry-cleaning and re-storing [costumes].” In a nutshell, making sure the actors aren’t on stage naked, and possibly working in some artistic vision to boot. The designer envisions what shows up on stage, works with the director to make sure this vision is cohesive with the overall look of the show, and works to procure the necessary pieces to convey this vision. This may entail pulling every item from MTG’s extensive costume collection; this may entail buying everything at Goodwill or other thrift stores; this may entail building or sewing everything from scratch. Most likely it will result in some combination of these three.
Although you’re the head of the costumes department (as in, you and the director have the final say for what shows up onstage), you’ll hopefully have some help to make your vision a reality.
What does a Stitcher do?
A Master Seamstress/Master Seamster/Stitch Bitch (collectively called “Stitcher” for gender-neutrality purposes in this document) is responsible for making the designer’s ideas into a reality. They’re the engineer to your architect; the Geordi LaForge to their Picard. A stitcher should have some basic sewing experience. Being able to bargain hunt, make minor alterations, and create a garment from a simple pattern are also useful skills. Ideally, a stitcher will also be able to think outside of the box to build unconventional costumes from cheap materials and draft up a pattern to meet the designer’s needs. Essentially, the stitcher is in charge of the nitty-gritties of costume construction/procurement.
If you, as designer, are lucky enough to have a stitcher to work with, read on to the teamwork tips in the next section. If you’re not so lucky, carefully re-read the above. Congratulations, those are now your duties, too.
How do we balance these duties?
To work together as the costume team, you need just that: teamwork. Communicate early, often, and to completion. The designer should run their design ideas by the stitcher for basic input, since the stitcher will be responsible for building these things, anyway. The stitcher should realize that their job is not to offer unsolicited artistic input, but to raise concerns about building feasibility (cost, skill levels needed, time, material constraints, etc.). The end result should be a happy zen--a costume plot that both parties will be proud to put onstage.
That said, it can be difficult to balance the duties and work required to get these costumes assembled. An ideal split would be right down the middle, but often times someone’s building ability or time availability will prevent this. The best way to even out the workload is to sit down with the final costume designs, make a giant to-do list of what needs done, and pick tasks. For example, a person who’s comfortable with taking measurements can volunteer to measure the cast. Someone less confident about sewing can volunteer to make some Garment District runs. Both of you can pitch in and decipher a pattern for a piece you need to make. Since MTG is a student theater group, learning is the most rewarding part of a show, so collaborating and swapping skills is a great approach. There’s no formal, set-in-stone way to divide the designer/stitcher duties, so optimize for time, abilities, and learning opportunities. Remember that in any case, it’s a team effort.
Working with other positions
You are a member of the prod-staff (or production team) of the show. To present a cohesive vision onstage, you must work with a couple other prod-staff members:
Lighting Designer (LD)- They’ll make sure your hard-earned costumes are seen in the, excuse the pun, best light possible. Have a meeting early on to talk color schemes with the LD, and try to choose colors and designs that will complement their color choices. Any decent costumer’s guide (see Resources) will help you choose good complements and avoid materials that will lead to LD nightmares. When in doubt, show a swatch of that amazing red-and-white striped satin to the LD to determine whether or not they’ll want to shoot you.
Sets Designer (SD)- Likewise, they provide the background upon which your costumes appear. Invite them to the color scheme meeting.
Props Master- In charge of all props for the show. It’s really easy for borderline props/costumes items to fall through the cracks and get overlooked by both departments. (Hats, purses, and jewelry are major offenders.) Avoid this by carefully reading the script and watching out for these items, then communicating with the props master about who will be responsible for them.
You all have a boss, the Technical Director:
Technical Director (TD)- Oversees all prod staff departments, assigns you helpers from the cast, bothers these helpers if they don’t contribute, and keeps an eye on prod budgets. Communicate all expenses to the TD, as well as the producer.
The entire prod staff and the TD all work with the Director to make their vision a reality:
Director (That’s Herr Direktor to you)- Has a unifying vision that, hopefully, appears uniform and consistent throughout all areas of the show. You’ll be checking in with the director often: several times throughout your pen-and-paper design process, then finally when you present your completed costumes at the Costume Parade, then as you tweak and polish the costumes during Prod Week. Hopefully, the director’s vision will be concrete enough so that when he/she approves the designs on paper at the start of the show, she/he will also approve the designs you put hours of work into turning these into costumes right before the show. Sometimes the vision evolves and it doesn’t work out this way, which is extremely frustrating. Be flexible and deal maturely with the conflict, but keep a standard of respect for your time and effort. Do your best to adapt to dir-staff expectation, but it’s okay to say it’s too late to change something. The best way to avoid these conflicts is to communicate every time you tweak the design and check in with the director often to make sure you’re all still on the same page.
II. Timeline
MTG puts on four shows a year, so you might encounter a variety of time slots. Spring and Fall shows generally go up in 2.5 months, and naturally work around the school semester. Summer is a more relaxed pace, with 3 months to work and lots of students available to pitch in. IAP (MIT’s January Activity Period) is a little insane, with only three weeks and the holiday break to put the show together. You definitely want a stitcher for IAP, or else therein lies madness. Trust me on this one.
That said, regardless of time slot, there’s a general pattern to the costuming process. Expand or contract your schedule as you see fit.
Starting out
Interview- MTG chooses its prod staff in “Round 2” of interviews. This is also when a stitcher is chosen, so if you have a compatriot in mind, consider interviewing as a team. The interview is highly informal, but be prepared to talk about your design and sewing experience and bring any concepts you might have already formulated for the show, ideally with color palettes and sketches.
If you accept the role, congratulations! The costume shop (in the MTG office) is now your domain until the end of the show. Make sure you get office access so you can get in any time you need to (if you’re not an MIT cardholder, ask for a prox card). If there are un-put-away items or the shop is still messy from the previous show, hold an office cleaning party. The MTG Office Comm should have their contact information posted on the Managing Board corkboard if you need any help or notice a severe lack of sewing or crafting supplies.
Initial design stage- Every designer likes to do this differently, but there are some definite to-do items:
Read the script. Make note of any costume requirements (“JACK takes a brownie out of an inside jacket pocket...”) and any prop items that might fall through the cracks into quasi-costume domain. Make a costume plot (see example in Resources) to mark who changes into what, when. Make note of any back-to-back scenes where a quick change will be necessary: this might affect how you engineer that costume. Also note dance numbers or lots of movement: you’ll need to make the costumes durable and allow for flexibility here.
Hear the director’s concept. If your interview didn’t give you a good sense of what the director envisions for the show, have a chat and get it explained. Make sure you ascertain time period, socio-economic class, and levels of realism that the director is going for. Note any major changes in mood that the director wants to convey.
Sketch, sketch, sketchity-sketch. You are strongly, strongly, STRONGLY encouraged to make some sketches for your design concepts, then make final sketches once the design is solidified. It’s seriously the easiest way to communicate your ideas, and designing on paper is a great life skill to have. Plus, you can pass off these sketches as blueprints to your stitcher, and possibly use them later on as guides for confused actors. If you’re not confident about your drawing skills, download a paper doll template or fashion croquis and draw on top of that. Practice makes perfect! Including swatches of fabric is an excellent way to communicate color and texture, too. *Grace's update from 2025 - You can use moodboards/Pinterest to build out your vision as well!
Meet with the LD and SD. Talk color palette to make sure your designs don’t clash.
Research. The period, the genre, that stunning dress you saw at the Oscars that might fit for this show--drink up the details. After all, details are the fun part. Make informative doodles as you go.
Final design stage
Run your initial sketches by your stitcher. Listen to any concerns they might have about building issues, material choice, movement and quick change demands, etc. Modify accordingly.
Sit down with the director with your initial sketches. Make sure you have at least a concept for every outfit that will appear onstage (use your costume plot as a guide). Talk through your design decisions, hear any concerns or requests, modify into final sketches. Sit down and show them final sketches, and repeat until you reach a happy point. Remember to communicate with every tweak and iteration!
Go to Prod Staff meetings. The producer will set these periodically throughout the show. Take your final sketches and show them off: the choreographer, LD, and SD will definitely want to see what designs they’re working alongside. As you start on the build period, give regular updates at these meetings, or send an email update if you can’t make it.
Meet with props master, possibly within the context of a prod meeting. Make sure that, between you, all items are covered.
Building- Time to start bringing those sketches to life!
Order patterns and notions early. If you’re buying a pattern or supplies, whether from a store or online, prioritize it early. Nothing sucks more than waiting on a package to navigate the postal system in order to get a costume started.
Measure the cast. Every stitcher likes to do this a different way--choose the method that works for you. (A guide for those new to taking measurements, along with a sample measurement chart, is in the Resources section.) The stitcher should take notes of any special measurements that might be needed, such as the one character who will have flowing sleeves, or bra sizes for anyone in lingerie.
Check in with the Stage Manager and choose a day for measuring where most of the cast will be present for the rehearsal and in various states of downtime. Recruit a bystander to take notes as you go to work with your tape measure, letting the actors handle the tape around breasts and inseam. Keep in mind that holding a ruler up to someone can be an embarrassing experience for actors, so a level of sensitivity and discretion is called for. An excellent credo about costuming and body image is in the Costumers’ Manifesto (see Resources).
Pull costumes from the racks. MTG has a wealth of costumes that you should feel free to use and/or alter. Take an afternoon to browse through the racks and pull useful items--it’s usually a lot of fun. If you have a question about what MTG owns, contact the Office Comm or the Costume Shop Manager.
Assemble a list of required items with your stitcher. While you’re at it, make note of where you plan to get each item, whether you will buy it, build it, find it in the MTG racks, or borrow it. (Notes about good borrowing sources in Resources.) Make a To-Do list about who’s building/buying these items.
Finalize your budget. The show’s producer is in charge of keeping track of the show’s expenses. Make an estimate, based on your giant list of items, of how much money you’ll need, and communicate this to the producer. Usually the producer can oblige your request, but the budget for the rest of the show might require you to scale back your designs or find a cheaper way to get it. When you get a final budget, stick to it. Keep track of all money you spend on the show: you’ll be required to submit itemized receipts to get reimbursed. Submit these receipts with a reimbursement form in a timely manner so our Treasurer doesn't have to hunt you for sport. 2025 update- we've gotten into the practice of having either a budgets channel in Discord or a budgets folder in the show Google Drive for easy uploads.
Schedule Builds for Cast. Every prod department gets some cast members assigned to their crew, to be used for general labor. If you need lots of hands, tell the TD, and they can assign you fewer or more cast members according to your needs. Plan out some builds for these minions to attend–weekends can be good if you have lots of undergrads/campus dwellers, but weekdays between 5pm and rehearsals are great for casts with more grad students/adults who have 9-5s. These build opportunities also go out to the general MTG membership so members can fulfill their Guild Hours (similar to prod hours for cast. Do your best to try and schedule around other builds so that theoretically actors could attend both, but this gets harder to do later in the show. Regular weekly builds also tend to be a good choice (i.e. every Tuesday from 4-7 or Mondays and Saturdays from 6-9pm, etc...). The TD will set a certain number of prod hours that all cast members must fulfill
Keep checking in with the director! You’ll be hanging out in the office a lot. Catch the director periodically and show off your work so far. You might catch a discrepancy early, or get some good input that can help you down the road. You can also use Discord (or whatever platform is hosting most show comms) to post progress
Finalize your costume plot. Exhaustively fill out every item worn in every scene, down to the sock. Make sure you’re not missing any outfits and that you’ve given proper concern to quick changes (suggestions for debugging quick changes in Resources) and high-movement numbers.
Fit as you go. Especially if you’re trying out a tricky pattern or undergoing major alterations, grab actors before or after rehearsal to try items on them. The more that fits come Costume Parade, the less stressed everyone will be. Which brings us to...
Costume Parade- The moment of truth, where you see your masterpieces on their bodies, under their lights, amongst their fellows, onstage, and in their glory, and the dir-staff gets to offer some decisive input. This is a big milestone for the costume team--make sure you plan for it!
Schedule Costume Parade. Usually this happens early in Prod Week (see more about Prod Week below). You’ll be frantically finishing things up to the last minute, so try and get as much time as you can beforehand--doing the parade Monday after a full weekend of builds is usually the least stressful timeslot.
Now, schedule the events of the parade itself. This is the one time that you must interact with the cast with ruthless efficiency: you’ll definitely want a Stage Manager or your stitcher behind the scenes helping out while you sit in the House with the dir-staff. Make this schedule so you can see groups that will be onstage together at the same time. Try and time it so that different ensembles have time to change costumes while you’re seeing other groups. Get this schedule to the stage manager, lighting designer, dir staff, and cast ASAP. Stick to it.
Never let the dir-staff try to tell you that you need less than an hour for costume parade. If you have a small cast (~5-7) an hour will do. For a giant cast (~20-25), you definitely want at least 1.75-2 hours. Use your judgement, but allow yourself plenty of time and, in the words of Hitchcock, keep those cattle moving.
*Note from Grace's 2025 update, we usually have not been scheduling more than 45 minutes for costume parades as of late. If you can convince your SM to give you more time, please do so!
Send a reminder email to cast. Send them this schedule, plead with them to be on time, and remind them to bring in any of their own items they agreed to use for the show, including shoes (see Resources for more on borrowing from the cast). Tell them what to expect, where their costumes will be, and how they can contact you with questions or concerns. Now is also a good time to include any rules you might have about how you want the costumes treated and stored (examples of such rules are in Resources).
Prepare the costumes. Getting every item in place where the actors can find it is a challenge. Set the costumes out in their proper groups the night before, even if you’re not moving them into space until the next day. One way to do this is make a clearly-labelled bundle of taped-together hangers for each actor, with shoes and small items in an accompanying plastic bag. If you don’t mind wrinkles, a plastic bag for each actor’s costumes works equally well. If items are missing or still under construction, include a “IOU” note to avoid confusion. One handy trick is to keep the costumes stored the way you want the actors to store them in-between runs. That way you can simply instruct them to “leave them as they find them.” Label EVERYTHING--don’t trust actors to keep track of which items are theirs.
- If you are having trouble finishing everything before costume parade, focus as much effort into finishing the 'functional' pieces (i.e. the cast won't be onstage naked at any point) and leave some of the frills and detail work for later.
Prepare the dressing rooms. Check with your Stage Manager to make sure you’ll have sufficient dressing room space reserved and open when you need to load the costumes in before the Parade. Make sure each room is equipped with a couple CAC coat racks each. Print out and generously post schedules for the costume parade, plus your highly detailed costume plot. A scan of your final design sketch can also be a great reference to post if an actor has a particularly complex costume or lots of pieces. (NEVER give actors the original sketches.) Another handy thing to include in each dressing room is a “sewing survival kit”: a box with black and white thread, some pre-threaded needles, some safety pins, small scissors, extra buttons, hooks and eyes, sew-on snaps, a seam ripper, extra velcro, extra elastic, and a lint roller. This will help keep you sane: you can encourage actors to make minor repairs or fitting alterations on their own using the supplies...and you can grab things yourself as you see little things that need done.
Take feedback from the dir-staff. This is the part where you’ll be glad you’ve been a dir-staff-communication vigilante. For maximum efficiency, check your ego at the door, because your hard work is going to be under review while you’re simultaneously bombarded with to-do items and alterations. Keep calm and keep the Parade moving. If this means recruiting another prod staff member to take notes, do so. Make sure you see the costume under each light setting it will encounter in the show.
Take everything you need to work on back to the office. The performance space will be closing up overnight, and since you probably have a lot to do before the next dress rehearsal, you don’t want to have to wait for it to open again. Make sure you don’t drop small items in transit. Caffeinate and get started on that giant to-do list.
- Other 2025 update Something that has been very useful, especially for shows with a big cast or many many costumes, is to make a thread in Discord that is accessible to cast, and have them report any issues or to-do items (i.e. a button fell off my shirt, you promised to take this skirt in and forgot, etc...) so the little but important tasks don't get overlooked. This is especially useful if you are the only costume person, or are wearing multiple hats and don't have the bandwidth to take detailed notes and to-do lists.
Prod Week- Anyone who’s ever done theater ever can tell you about the magical joy of prod week. It’s when all the departments converge in glorious harmony, all components fit together with serene and puzzle-like precision, and where the dir-staff calmly guides the cast and orchestra to theatric perfection while sipping camomile tea.
Just kidding. Prod Week is hell. The good news is that you only need worry about getting your costumes fixed, functional, and finalized. There are a couple events scheduled for Prod Week (in no particular order) that you should be sure to attend:
Put-In- Everyone, prod-staff included, is expected to help load the sets, props, lights, and costumes into the performance space and start building. You can load costumes into the dressing rooms now, or wait for the costume parade--your choice. If you’re seriously behind schedule with costume building, you can ask the TD to be excused from Put-In, but only as a last resort.
Paper Tech- The dir staff and designers sit down go through each technical aspect of the show (light cues, costume changes, set changes, etc) and make sure everything is covered. The Stage Manager makes note of these cues and changes. Also, Paper Tech is where the Stage Manager will calculate how many run crew we need. Let them know if you think the actors will need a dresser to help them with quick changes. If you do end up needing a dresser, make sure you get to meet them and give them any instructions they need about the costumes.
Tech Night- Paper Tech + cast: a full run of the show where these cues and changes actually happen. Sit in the House for this to take notes on any changes that don’t go according to plan or any alterations you’d like to make. Talk about how to fix these with the director, and make sure all appropriate costume notes get to the cast.
Dress Rehearsal(s)- There will be multiple dress rehearsals (hopefully) before opening night. Again, sit in and take notes on what’s not working, costumes-wise. Get these fixed before the next rehearsal. Give your notes to the director to pass onto the cast, or ask permission to email them out. It may help to hang around in the dressing rooms before a few of these rehearsals to help people
Production Pictures- Usually a photographer is invited to one dress rehearsal during prod week to take some promo pictures. These are great high-quality pictures for your design portfolio; if you’d like additional pictures, arrange to take them during Prod Week, since it will be way too hectic before performances.
Performances-
Opening Night- Make sure all the items you’ve been altering and fixing and finishing up get to the dressing room before the actors are called. By now the actors should have figured out how to put everything on: congrats, you get a break!
House Seats- As a member of prod-staff, you’ll get some comps and House seats. Go see the show, offer some free tickets to your friends, and invite everyone you know!
Parties- Various social events, a crew party, and a strike party will happen over the course of the show. Go be social, hear some MTG stories, and become part of the cult.
Laundry- Depending on how many weekends the show runs for, you might have to do laundry in between. Instruct the cast to leave all items that need laundered in a pile, make sure not to lose any in transport, and get them back clean before the next performance. This is a great job for a reliable cast minion, but be sure to remind them to get them back on time or risk having a costume crisis.
Post-performances-
Receipts- Get them to the producer BEFORE strike, or risk being That Designer. And/or, not being reimbursed.
Costume Strike- Like Put-in, you will be expected to Strike, or take down, the show following closing night. Your primary responsibility will be gathering up the costumes and getting them out of the space/dressing rooms. From there, you can dump them in the office to deal with them later, but don’t forget about them! If you need some help with this, ask the TD to assign you a cast minion for Strike. Cart everything you brought down to the dressing room (sewing supplies, hangers, etc) back to the office.
Laundry and Putting costumes away- Time to return your creations to the source from whence they came: the MTG office. All costumes need to be clean when put away: arrange to get them laundered or dry cleaned if they need it. Perform the good ole reliable “Sniff Test,” or force a minion to do it for you, to determine what needs a wash. Hang up/put away the costumes neatly in their proper section on the racks (ask Office Comm or the Costume Shop Manager if you’re unsure where things go). Return anything you borrowed. Tell cast to take home their personal items after Strike, lest you be stuck with returning them.
Selling Costumes- While you should return everything that MTG might use in the future to the racks, sometimes you build something so show-specific that it probably won’t get used again. And sometimes actors get really attached to their costumes... In this case, consider selling these items to the cast. Determine what the materials cost, maybe add in a little extra for your labor, and use the payment to offset your budget and appear a thrifty badass. Pocketing the money is poor form.
Post-Mortem- After the closing of each show, everyone involved is encouraged to meet and discuss what went well, what went wrong, and what was learned over the course of the show. The Producer will send out a date and time; do your best to come and offer your input to this meeting. If you can’t make it, email your comments to the producer. Post-Mortem is an important tool to make MTG shows better, so be sure to contribute!
III. 
Resources and Words of Wisdom:
Borrowing costumes!
The content of MTG’s costumes stacks are limited by funds and space, and might not have what you’re looking for. You can sometimes get around this by borrowing from other theater groups so you're not making everything from scratch.
Other MIT student theater groups, such as the Shakespeare Ensemble, tend to do a lot more period shows than us and are usually happy to lend (they borrow our equipment all the time). Feel free to reach out to them (or ask your producer for help with contacting these groups).
The theater department of MTA has costume resources. MTG has not borrowed costumes from MTA recently. In previous productions where we have borrowed from MTA (aka the oldentimes), they required a deposit for all costume rentals.
E. Rosser, the original author of this guide, is a freelance costumer in the Boston/Cambridge area and has accumulated an extensive costumes closet over the years. She is occasionally willing to lend us costume pieces for shows. If you want to go this route, ask a previous costume designer or someone on the MTG exec board for help getting in contact!