Professional vs. Amateur Costume Design

Satin Stitches | Jan 22, 2008 | 0

Does the phrase "everything but the kitchen sink" come to mind when you view some of the visually-numbing costumes in performance at various local and even national dance competitions?

Chances are, these costumes were NOT professionally designed!

The costume sketch shown here, for a dance team costume, is an example of what might be faxed or emailed to us for a price quote. The second costume sketch is a suggested simplification of the clients original concept, because there is JUST TOO MUCH going on!

Some clients come to us with exact ideas that may or may not have been well thought out. Others come with a blank slate, with only knowing that they want something new and exciting, glitzy and flattering, and yes of course, affordable. The easiest client to work with is somewhere in-between, where they have a pretty good idea of what they want to achieve, but they are not totally sure how to achieve that look. They are open to viable suggestions as to how to improve and enhance their vision. This is where professional costume design expertise becomes really valuable.

The most difficult client to work with, is a client that has one idea stuck in their head, that either is not flattering, has too many design features, or who wants "everything but the kitchen sink" in their costume and does not have the budget for it.

It is my job as Head Designer for Satin Stitches, to work with our clients to create their perfect costume design. I give advice and offer suggestions, based on nearly 40 years of professional fashion design experience, along with even more years of sewing construction and fitting experience, along with the combined decades of sewing, fitting, patternmaking and embellishing experience of all of our talented employees at Satin Stitches.

Many local dressmakers or studio sewers may have years of sewing experience, but they probably do not have years of draping or flat pattern design experience. When you work with these talented individuals, you are expected to have all the answers, as to good costume design. They are the technicians that carry out your wishes.

When I am working with a client, I need to find out what their expectations are, for their costume design.

Will the costume need to last for many years and be re-orderable?

Or will it be used for one season only?

What style of dance will it be used for?

Is there a specific theme or mood that the costume needs to evoke?

Does this costume need to be modest, risque or somewhere in between?

What age are the dancers?

What body types are the dancers?

What is the budget?

Will bust support need to be built into the costume or will bra straps need to be hidden, or none needed?

What colors are wanted, or will work best?

What types of fabrics would they like, or will work the best?

Will the group add rhinestone embellishment themselves?

What types of costumes have they custom ordered before, how did that experience go, if it did not go well what were the problems?

Who OKs the design, the client only, a design committee, or a supervisor, or an entire booster committee?

Good design, in all arenas, costume or fashion design, home interior design, packaging design, graphic design, landscape design or even architecture, has some basic principles.

There should be one good focal point and visual flow from that point. Colors need to coordinate or compliment each other, and evoke the correct feeling for the dance performance. Your eye should start at an attractive focal point and move liquidly over the costume. The design needs to be visual from performance distance, or it is unnecessary.

It is an art to design a pleasing costume, taking into account design principles. Just because you can choreograph fabulous dance routines does not mean you also have the design expertise to create fabulous costumes, without some editing from a costume design professional. In addition to understanding and using costume design principles, a really good knowledge of what fabrics will do, how they drape, how they mold to the body, and how they can be constructed is also needed. Visualizing designs in 3-D is also needed. When a client has a great front design and a great back design in mind, they also need to mesh at the sides. At Satin Stitches, we have been working with dancers and entire dance teams for three decades, helping them design that perfect dance costume. At Satin Stitches, we are a small, custom performance costume manufacturer, with three fashion designers on staff. Along with myself, (I have BFA degree in Fashion Design), our assistant designers-patternmakers both have BA degrees in Fashion Design, and have extensive experience working with our dance clients needs.

Do not get me wrong! Some of the most incredible dance costumes that we have done, have been inspired by dance professionals, but it is usually up to us designers, patternmakers, production sample makers, and embellishers, to make these designs come to life. Keep inspiring us with your designs!

However, designing dance costumes without regard to design principles can be a recipe for disaster, or at least cause the "everything but the kitchen sink" syndrome! Remember that less CAN be more!

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Teacher, Parent, Studio, Costume Design, Costumes (all tags)