What does a costume designer do?
Costume designer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real costume designer resumes:
- 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.
- Hire stitching staff to construct garments and oversee all garment construction.
- Costume (for Christmas, Halloween events or parties) design.
- Work with the stitching staff to ensure design protocols are being follow.
- Collaborate with designer to schedule fittings, dressers, wigs man and interns.
- Design advanced make-up designs, oversee large crews and orchestrate quick changes for make-up.
- Sketch rough and detail drawings of apparel and accessories to suit characters of movie.
- Involve graphic design, computer skills, design savvy, delegation skills, and leadership qualities.
- Provide design direction and set styling for commercial photography backdrops
- Design commercial photography sets base on client marketing parameters and feature products.
Costume designer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 27% of Costume Designers are proficient in Costumes, Make-Up, and Costume Shop. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Artistic ability, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Costume Designers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Costumes, 27%
Managed all daily costume distributions and collection, laundering and maintenance/repair of costumes.
- Make-Up, 9%
Designed advanced make-up designs, oversaw large crews and orchestrated quick changes for make-up.
- Costume Shop, 8%
Maintained Costume Shop; cleaned up excess materials and tidied-up work space, organized and stored costumes from previous theatrical productions.
- Design Concepts, 8%
Ensured design concepts provided by the director and producer were achieved.
- Character Development, 7%
Assisted in character development including hair, makeup and accessories.
- Wardrobe, 5%
Contributed in production and on set as an assistant dressing the actors, maintaining the costumes, and setting up/organizing wardrobe.
Most costume designers use their skills in "costumes," "make-up," and "costume shop" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential costume designer responsibilities here:
Detail oriented. One of the key soft skills for a costume designer to have is detail oriented. You can see how this relates to what costume designers do because "fashion designers must have a good eye for small differences in color and other details that can make a design successful." Additionally, a costume designer resume shows how costume designers use detail oriented: "constructed garments, detailed and altered costumes for everyday shaws. "
Artistic ability. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling costume designer duties is artistic ability. The role rewards competence in this skill because "fashion designers sketch their initial design ideas, which are used to create prototypes." According to a costume designer resume, here's how costume designers can utilize artistic ability in their job responsibilities: "model photo shoot for project runway contestant photographed and artistically rendered portraits in photoshop. "
Communication skills. costume designers are also known for communication skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to costume designer responsibilities, because "throughout the design process, fashion designers must be able to communicate effectively." A costume designer resume example shows how communication skills is used in the workplace: "maintained and improved verbal/written communication with overseas factories in a professional manner. "
Computer skills. A big part of what costume designers do relies on "computer skills." You can see how essential it is to costume designer responsibilities because "fashion designers must be able to use computer-aided design (cad) programs and be familiar with graphics editing software." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical costume designer tasks: "drafted scenery, research, built scale model, computer illustrations. "
Creativity. Another crucial skill for a costume designer to carry out their responsibilities is "creativity." A big part of what costume designers relies on this skill, since "fashion designers work with a variety of fabrics, shapes, and colors." How this skill relates to costume designer duties can be seen in an example from a costume designer resume snippet: "managed a team of 2 to 4 students to create, repair, store, and inventory costumes. "
The three companies that hire the most costume designers are:
- The Walt Disney Company2 costume designers jobs
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center1 costume designers jobs
- South Washington County Schools1 costume designers jobs
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Compare different costume designers
Costume designer vs. Wardrobe stylist
Fashion is an integral part of society classified as a multi-billion dollar industry. The fashion stylist is an expert in the fashion industry and can advise the perfect attire to wear in any given situation. Someone's fashion can sometimes determine how society views that person. Industries that heavily rely on a fashion stylist's talents are in the media industry, filmmaking, advertising, and customer relations concerns. Fashion stylists must have a good grasp of trends and fads, mix and match different styles, and have an overall sense of taste and fashion.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, costume designer responsibilities require skills like "make-up," "costume shop," "design concepts," and "character development." Meanwhile a typical wardrobe stylist has skills in areas such as "on-set," "fashion shows," "sales floor," and "product knowledge." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, wardrobe stylists reach lower levels of education than costume designers. Wardrobe stylists are 5.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Costume designer vs. Fashion stylist
A fashion intern helps designers create garment layouts, prepare and cut tickets, and draping garments. Besides providing help during photo shoots and researching trends, fashion interns also assist the design team in their day-to-day projects and tasks. They assist design associates in their daily responsibilities and create samples for merchandising presentations, fittings, and meetings. To qualify for a fashion internship, you should prepare your mind to learn new skills.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real costume designer resumes. While costume designer responsibilities can utilize skills like "make-up," "costume shop," "character development," and "fine arts," fashion stylists use skills like "editorial photo shoots," "product knowledge," "customer service," and "sales floor."
Fashion stylists earn similar levels of education than costume designers in general. They're 3.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Costume designer vs. Fashion coordinator
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a costume designer is likely to be skilled in "costumes," "make-up," "costume shop," and "design concepts," while a typical fashion coordinator is skilled in "runway shows," "photography shoots," "sales floor," and "market research."
Fashion coordinators typically earn similar educational levels compared to costume designers. Specifically, they're 4.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Costume designer vs. Fashion internship
Even though a few skill sets overlap between costume designers and fashion interns, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a costume designer might have more use for skills like "costumes," "make-up," "costume shop," and "design concepts." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of fashion interns require skills like "adobe photoshop," "editorial photo shoots," "fashion shows," and "instagram. "
The average resume of fashion interns showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to costume designers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 4.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.0%.Types of costume designer
Updated January 8, 2025
