The Art and Practice of Costume Design

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS COSTUME DESIGN?

Every culture has created its version of performance, and almost always performance has been accompanied by some version of costuming specific to that form, as a way to help tell the story and identify the performers. In some periods, famous fine artists were commissioned to create costume designs; just as often, these costumes were produced by dressmakers, maskmakers, milliners, and other anonymous artists and craftspeople whose names are lost to history.

In modern times, theatre is an art form, and it is entertainment, and it is also a profession. As with any business, theatre involves money—making it and spending it, hopefully in a fiscally responsible way. With the development of costume design as ...