Musical Theatre Costuming
I have designed and created costumes for Musical Theatre shows that include “Thoroughly Modern Millie”, “A Chorus Line”, “Chicago”, “James and the Giant Peach”, “Little Shop of Horrors”, and “Addams Family”, among others. In these blog posts, I outline my process for developing a comprehensive costuming plan and budget, along with tips on how I designed and created the costumes.
Costume Plan for Musical Theatre
Building a Costume Plan for musical theatre shows just makes sense. The hardest thing about costuming for amateur theatre is dealing with Directors who aren’t sure what they want, or who think they know what they want and then change their mind as the show progresses....
Costume Budget for Musical Theatre
Once we agree upon the costume pieces, I build a spreadsheet for the Costume Budget in Google Sheets. This could also be done in MS Excel. But Google Sheets is free and provides a secure, easy way to build a simple spreadsheet and share it. This helps when sharing it...
Purchasing Costumes
Purchasing costumes can be the most enjoyable part of costuming a show. Even though most purchased costume pieces will need some type of change or alteration, you will need to begin by selecting the base costume pieces you will start. I have had good luck with several...
Stoning Costumes – Adding the Bling
How to stone a costumeAdding rhinestones to a costume (known to dance moms everywhere as "stoning costumes") can be very easy or very difficult. For most dance costumes, and especially for "showgirl" costumes, adding stones to the costume will make for a much nicer...
Chicago Ensemble Costumes
For Chicago, we needed to costume ensemble boys for multiple similar numbers. I found that it was easiest to take “kit” approach. This enabled the director to make last-minute changes to the male ensemble costumes with little or no extra last-minute work. The director...
Hemming Pants – A Quick Method
Hemming Un-Cuffed Pants and SkirtsYou can always opt for hemming costume pants by hand. But using a sewing machine makes this tedious work much quicker and easier. If costume pants (or skirt, for that matter) are too long, you will need to hem them to fit the actor....
Pants Waist Alterations by Machine
Pants waist alterations are another common task in costuming. If costume pants are too large in the waist, you can easily alter them by machine. Menswear makers usually design men’s pants with a center back seam in the waistband. The reason for this construction is to...
Costuming Tools
Cover Photo by Susan Holt Simpson on UnsplashWhen costuming, or doing any kind of sewing for that matter, I use many tools. I thought I’d share my 3 favorite costuming tools here.1. Seam RipperTo alter existing costumes, you will likely need to remove many seams. My...
Jacket Alterations – Suit Jackets
Suit jacket alterations are a bit tedious but definitely doable. If the body of a costume suit jacket is too large for the actor, it can be altered through the center back seam. The suit jacket in this picture (purchased at Goodwill for $8) was several sizes too large...
Jacket Sleeve Alterations
Photo by Salvador Godoy on UnsplashSuit jacket sleeves can be altered to be shorter, and sometimes up to an inch longer, depending on the existing hem. If there are buttons on the sleeve placket, remove them. Rip out seam that attaches lining to jacket fabric at...
Vest Alterations
Cover Photo by christian erra on UnsplashVest alterations are easy if a vest is too large. They can be altered in two ways, depending on how much too large the vest is.Alter using the existing beltMany men's vests, especially those that were originally produced for...
Break-Away Dress – Chicago
In the show “Chicago”, Mary Sunshine is a really fun character. “She” is a conservative church-y lady with an operatic voice. The twist is that this role is traditionally played by a male actor. The show includes a scene where Ms. Sunshine’s dress breaks away and...
Making Break-Away Suit Pants
For our staging of Chicago, Billy Flynn’s character required break-away pants to go with his break-away suit jacket. Break-away pants are easy and fun to make, especially compared to a break-away jacket. If you need to make both, my advice is to start with the pants...
Pressing Seams Correctly – Techniques
Cover Photo by Filip Mroz on UnsplashPressing seams correctly can make all the difference in making a garmet look professional. Doing each of these steps to every seam as you sew a garment will make the seams lie flat and will take out most puckering that occurs from...
Erase Old Seams – Techniques
When removing old seams and hems for alterations, sometimes a mark or indentation will remain even after you steam press the fabric. Here are two tips that will help erase old seams, and make them disappear.Indentations and FoldsKeep white vinegar in a spray bottle....
Aging materials – Technique
Sometimes costumes need a vintage appearance, requiring aging the materials. Using black tea, you can easily tint white fabric and lace costuming materials to give them a vintage appearance. To do this, make a saucepan of strong black tea, and soak the materials in...
Making a Circle Skirt Without a Pattern – Technique
When making stage costumes for dancers, a circle skirt is a good choice. Circle skirt patterns are easy to draft and the shape of the skirt makes it move nicely on stage, and especially on dancers.Select the fabric Select a knit fabric with significant stretch in at...
Dye Costume Pieces
In the course of costuming shows, there are many occasions where I’ve found the EXACT costume piece I needed. . . except that it was the wrong color. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to dye most costume pieces, if you follow some basic guidelines: 1. Don’t limit yourself to...
Mama Morton Costume – Chicago
Costume DesignMama Morton is my favorite character to costume for Chicago. She is a self-assured “business” woman. Mama takes care of the inmates in her care like they are her own daughters - as long as they are able to pay for her help. The actor playing Mama Morton...
Costume Wigs for Stage
Professional shows usually utilize a professional wig-maker who makes custom costume wigs for each role. This article is to help costumers for high school and community shows get as close to that result as possible, without spending a ton of money.Selecting a Costume...
Making a Dress Into a Dance Costume
Selecting Dresses for Dance CostumesWith a few alterations, some dresses lend themselves well to conversion to costumes for heavy dance roles. The best dresses for dance costumes meet these criteria: Are either a loose style, or are made of fabric that stretches (not...
Quick Changes – Layering Costumes
Layering costumes allows for a very quick transition to another costume when there is no time for an actual costume change. Guidelines for Layering Costumes In Chicago, Roxie has several very quick changes that can only be accomplished by layering costumes. This is...
Chicago Corset Costume
One of the most iconic roles in musical theatre is Chicago’s merry murderesses in the Cell Block Tango scene. For these costumes, we wanted a dark look, but with a bit of sparkle. And the costume had to allow for some pretty big dance moves. So, I started started with...
Chicago Lead Costumes
Roxie and Velma both wear flapper dresses as their main costumes in “Chicago”. We wanted to have the two of them coordinate in these costumes, but to have Roxie look a little sweeter, while Velma looked more mature, and darker. Just like with the ensemble Opening...
1920s Showgirl Costume – Chicago
Drury Lane Theatre, 2017 production of ChicagoOur inspiration for the showgirl costume in this number was Drury Lane Theatre’s 2017 production of “Chicago”. The director and I loved these costumes, and, although we didn’t have the budget for anything quite as ornate,...
Making “Jail” Robes
The show “Chicago” centers around the female inmates of the Cook County jail. Traditional costuming for some versions of this show have the actors playing inmates in a dressing robe that looks somewhat like prison garb. The Director I was working with liked the inmate...
Making a Break-Away Suit Jacket
In the musical “Chicago”, during the number “All He Cares About is Love”, Billy Flynn removes a break-away suit while he sings. He is left in his skivvies by the end of the song. Costuming this number led to the fun and interesting project of creating a break-away...
Snap Tape – How to work with it
A variety of types of snap tape are available, but I found that the best (and least expensive) kind for break-away clothes has standard-sized plastic snaps. The plastic snaps make less noise than metal, so the microphones are less likely to pick up the “ripping”...