MFJF map · UK
The costume department: the people and the process
Costume dresses the story. A costume designer is not asked what is in fashion but who this person is: every jacket, hem length, colour and pair of shoes is a decision about a character, and it has to stay right for every shot, in every take, for months. A department of ten to sixty delivers it in two places with two rhythms: the workroom and the set.
The department, top to bottomWho is in it
The roles exist on most drama productions of any size, even if two are held by the same person.
Pre-productionWhere the work is decided
The costume designer is hired early, often months before the shoot.
The workroomThe base, and the trainee's home
At a studio it sits near the stages; on location it is a truck with rails, a steamer, a machine and a stock of consumables. A workshop rhythm: long, methodical, on your feet.
The setWhere the costumes go to work
A waiting rhythm broken by moments where everything has to happen in ninety seconds, usually when the assistant directors call "checks".
The trainee's dayHour by hour, on a studio drama
Times move; the shape does not. A 13 to 15 hour day is normal. Six-day weeks happen.
After the shoot, and how it scalesWrap, and the department by budget
Costume does not stop at wrap. A designer who kept a proper bible is the one who gets the next call.
