I studied theatre before I studied costuming. My dad’s been acting since he was young and he has passed his love of theatre to his kids. I acted in high school and that’s where I learned most of my theatre and costume etiquette. (Did not prepare me for equity theatre rules….still not sure I’m aware of those….)

Today I’m going to lay down the law for Costumes.  Theatre costumes to be specific. These aren’t in order of importance, and it does depend on the show you’re in.

1. Never eat anything while in costume. The idea here is to prevent stains.
   • Water is okay.
   • Secure cups with a straw-also okay.
   • Borsh, red wine, ketchup, -very not okay.
   • If the script calls for eating (like stuffing your face with a banana or popcorn) than eat. Use care.
2. Do your make up in such a way that it will not stain or discolor your costume.
3. Do not alter your own costume.
4. If your costume gets damaged-see a costumer/stage manager immediately.
5. After the show-do not meet the audience in costume.
   • Not only does it break the illusion-but they could have roses with thorns!! Those could stain or maim your costume!!!
6. DON’T ever do something detrimental to another’s costume.
   • IF a character is practicing a line to the effect of “kiss my butt”-DON’T kiss the white stripe with your red lipstick. Just don’t.

Granted-some of these might have been to reign in high-schoolers who don’t have a concept of production costs, but for the most part-this is pretty standard.

For cosplay-know your fabric, know your costume, and know how messy you eat-adjust accordingly at each convention.

“I’ll pull your pants up-you get your shirt on-I’ll button the shirt and you the pants” Awkward, right? Let me explain….

Once upon a time Stephen Sondheim wrote “Company”. Also once upon a time the Black Box Theatre at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) performed “Company”. (Spring Semester 2016)

I was  Cherylene’s assistant (she’s the main costume designer for SLCC). So I was there every night of the run helping people get into costumes, or out of them. Mostly I was handling the lead: Bobby. (cue song: “You could drive a person crazy”; which was definitely true.)

Being on hand to do small repairs was pretty fun. Needing a button or hole stitched back up before the next scene…. not so much.

Dressing. This was my first play where I worked as a dresser. I lucked out, I only had one character to really work with. And boy did I work.

A lot of problem solving happens when you’ve got to make cues. When you’re dressing someone you learn to collaborate on top of that. Yes, I was literally dressing a 20 year old man. And yes, it got awkward. For example “I’ll pull your pants up-you get your shirt on-I’ll button the shirt and you the pants” all within 15-30 seconds.

Professionalism is key. Especially in situations like these.

As the dresser on site-I was responsible for cleaning the clothes. “Company” is a musical. Which means most of the cast are dancing 3-4 nights in a row. In the same costumes, because they had no costume changes, *stares off into the distance*

A lot of febreeze was used in conjunction with spot cleaning before the weekly wash.

Overall, I was thrilled to experience the collaboration and seamless teamwork in a musical again. It’s exhausting-but so worth the effort of a show well-done.