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Costume designer vs clothes designer

The differences between costume designers and clothes designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a costume designer and a clothes designer. Additionally, a clothes designer has an average salary of $61,319, which is higher than the $54,229 average annual salary of a costume designer.

The top three skills for a costume designer include costumes, make-up and costume shop. The most important skills for a clothes designer are customer service, process payments, and sketch.

Costume designer vs clothes designer overview

Costume DesignerClothes Designer
Yearly salary$54,229$61,319
Hourly rate$26.07$29.48
Growth rate3%3%
Number of jobs47,32343,787
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age3737
Years of experience66

Costume designer vs clothes designer salary

Costume designers and clothes designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Costume DesignerClothes Designer
Average salary$54,229$61,319
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $84,000Between $37,000 And $100,000
Highest paying CityCamarillo, CAIndustry, CA
Highest paying stateRhode IslandNevada
Best paying companyPoly Prep Country Day SchoolG-III Apparel Group
Best paying industryProfessionalTechnology

Differences between costume designer and clothes designer education

There are a few differences between a costume designer and a clothes designer in terms of educational background:

Costume DesignerClothes Designer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common majorGraphic DesignGraphic Design
Most common collegeCornell UniversityStanford University

Costume designer vs clothes designer demographics

Here are the differences between costume designers' and clothes designers' demographics:

Costume DesignerClothes Designer
Average age3737
Gender ratioMale, 19.3% Female, 80.7%Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 11.6% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 7.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 11.6% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage18%18%

Differences between costume designer and clothes designer duties and responsibilities

Costume designer example responsibilities.

  • Manage all daily costume distributions and collection, laundering and maintenance/repair of costumes.
  • Develop marketing and brand awareness initiatives through social media outlets; create and manage company Facebook and Houzz profiles.
  • Design and sew children's Halloween costumes.
  • Contribute in production and on set as an assistant dressing the actors, maintaining the costumes, and setting up/organizing wardrobe.
  • Source cut and sew knits in NYC garment district.
  • Sketch, pattern and sew costume for cast including accessories.
  • Show more

Clothes designer example responsibilities.

  • Customize technical packages with POM specifications, manage grading standards, assisting in costing the BOM, etc.
  • Create artwork for embroidery trim.
  • Utilize Facebook and Google Adwords to drive traffic and design corresponding print materials to promote boutique location.
  • Create collections of garments: evening and casual outfits (dresses, costumes, coats, trouser suits, etc . )
  • develop advertisement sketch designs create clothing logos and company name
  • Design light fixtures to customer and principal specifications, utilizing sheet metal and aluminum extrusion methods using SolidWorks.
  • Show more

Costume designer vs clothes designer skills

Common costume designer skills
  • Costumes, 27%
  • Make-Up, 9%
  • Costume Shop, 8%
  • Design Concepts, 8%
  • Character Development, 7%
  • Wardrobe, 5%
Common clothes designer skills
  • Customer Service, 42%
  • Process Payments, 16%
  • Sketch, 15%
  • Embroidery, 7%
  • Photo Shoots, 5%
  • Tech Packs, 5%

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