If you have a deadline for a school show coming up and you have no idea about where to start to find costumes and or how to make them, this article will show you how.
There are many ways to source or create costumes for a school production.
It’s important to make a list of the costumes from the script which you think you may require for the students you have in a given role. From here you can begin to source costumes from around your area.
Tried and true ways to source costumes
- Research schools who’ve put on productions similar to yours. Ask if you could borrow their costumes, accessories and or set pieces for a small hirage fee.
- Check that your school has any costumes which have been used for previous shows. Take out the clothes, and items you’ll thnk you’ll need. Tick off on your list those which match the roles you originally needed.
- You can source costumes from your local second hand shop. Often shops have amazing possibilities such as shoes and pants tops. Often times second hand stores/shops have great accessories which may work well for your show. second-hand shops are also good for tablecloths and fabrics which can be repurposed into costumes any other way to supplement your show. Often there are more than one second hand shop in your area. If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, move onto the next store.
- Next there are many 123 dollar stores which have a vast variety of items which could serve as accessories. You can obtain wigs, bowties, suspenders, makeup and hair accessories at a very affordable price. Also the shops provide items such as sewing equipment, elastic bands, hair accessories, tape etcetera and they are a valuable resource.
If you are wanting your students to learn more about backstage etiquette check out my other blog post here. It’s great for students to learn about the expectations and rules on a need to know basis.
- Ask around. Put out a newsletter in your school asking for particular items which your class and or production needs for the show. You’ll be amazed at how parents want to be involved directly or indirectly to help your show. Your community is a great resource.
- If a local theater company has costumes on offer you can ask to use theirs for your show as well. Amateur companies can also be a good resource for accessories and set pieces too. You can offer to dry clean their clothes when finished with them and offer to put an advert in your local school News Letter showcasing their services.
- Your students can make their own accessories, refashioning or repurposing old trinkets and broken jewellery, into something dramatic. There would also be more buy in too.
- Utilize the skills which are in your community such as make-up artist or use other students, family members who have skills in these areas. Or if someone wishes to be stage-hands, manage shows or corral students. Many times family members are excellent sewers and can help to put costumes together and fix them as needed.
Putting on makeup for schools and even for amateur productions can be a chore, but learn how to apply stage makeup the proper way from our other article on the same topic.
- Parents are primary sources of help. They can help source costume pieces from home and or do their children’s hair and makeup for a production while at home. All you need to do is simply ask the parents to help make up the hair and make up if need be. Provide examples on a News-letter or send out an email with photos of the style needed. This will save you time to organise more important parts of the show.
My Personal Experience
As a teacher and private theatre company owner, I personally have sourced costumes for school and private theatrical productions from all of the above, dependent on needs.
Even to this day I am be asking around for family and friends for help and of course go into my local second-hand shops to buy any items needed, that is if I couldn’t first source from my school or from our production house itself.
I have often asked actors themselves if they have certain shoes, shirts, jackets and dresses to suit the character, time period or scene of the show. Often actors already fit their clothes which is a bonus and you won’t risk a too tight top or bottom. This helps with tight deadlines regarding the opening of the show.
With Schools in particular, if you’re putting on a simple production of some kind, the tried and true go to is to have students wear black pants and a black top. Then you can accessorise with bow-ties, necklaces, makeup, wigs and tiaras for example. As long as the audience gets the idea of the characterisation, these accessories it can still work wonders regarding a role.
But if you want to go all out you will need a reasonable budget to accommodate the materials and costumes you might want to buy online and or make yourself. A great source online is Amazon and the many examples with online Cosplay and costumes shops. Of course go to your local Costume hire shop and see what they have to offer.
If you are lucky enough to have this budget then you can also hire people to help make costumes, do makeup, stage-manage etc.
You will need to work to a timeline and it’s often really good to work backwards from the show date to the very day you are working. when this is done, then finding props, accessories and costumes becomes clearer and easier to organize.
Storage and workspaces
You may need to source cheap coat hangers and coat racks to store all your costumes. Or you may need to purchase large plastic containers to store for example black pants and black tops. Also unique containers for the accessories and makeup etcetera.
Also store makeup in certain containers away from the costumes to help avoid spoilage. Remember to label each box clearly as to what’s inside. Sometimes you can have a laminated blank sheet to write down the amount of tops and pants that are in the container. This means that you can change the number and it’s easy to document items.
Hopefully you have a small room with shelves to store your containers and costumes. Otherwise you may need to put them in a corner of a classroom and use the classroom as a dressing room for your school production.
Some schools are okay with boys and girls getting changed in the same room however in this day & age often girls get changed in one classroom boys get changed in the other.
Good etiquette requires that students know how to hang up the costumes once they are finished with their performance and put their accessories back in bags or containers or on the shelf where they came from. then everyone can call it a night.
Sourcing costumes can cause headaches and some anxiety, especially trying to source tricky items. However there are many options to help you find what you need. You’ll be pleased once you’ve made your decisions and they are ready to go.
