1. Costume Design
Stage Craft

2. Stage Costume
The clothes and accessories worn by an actor on stage. As well as adding colour and atmosphere it can give clues to a characters personality.
You need to think about:
Cultural and historical setting
Social setting
The character
Resources available

3. Cultural & Historical Setting
In a conventional production the style of costume is appropriate to historical period and country where the play is set. This usually requires research. You need to think about:
Shirts
Pants
Dresses
Jackets
Shoes
Hats, belts, scarves
Hair
Make-up

4. Social Setting
The colour and style should reflect the social circumstances of the character.
A homeless woman probably wouldn’t wear an expensive new fur coat
A man at his wife’s funeral wouldn’t be dressed as a clown
The style and could help reflect the mood that the play is trying to get across.

5. Character
The costume should also suit the personality of the character as well as the age and background.
Who might wear:
A long silky black dress?
A wide brimmed hat with corks hanging down?
A Pokemon T-shirt and bright blue gum boots?

6. The Set
You need to also know what the set is going to look like when creating a costume. You don’t want the characters to get lost in the colour of the set.

7. Resources
A costume designer is influenced by the amount of money that they have been budgeted. Costumes don’t have to be elaborate to be effective. Using everyday items can be just as effective. Things such as:
Sheets, bits of material
Foil, cardboard
Old clothes

8. Annotating
When designing a costume you need to make sure there is a reason why you chose each item the character is going to wear.
Red hat (Why red? What type of hat?)
Apron that says kiss the chef (What does this suggest?)
Thongs (Where might the play be set?)

11. Your Task
Using the plot that you have created for your set task, you are to design 2 different character costumes. Makes sure you are labelling and annotating each to explain why you chose the elements that you did.