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Watch: Costume

8 items
See all: Watch: Costume

Career ladder

From first job to head of department

The supervisor runs the department; the designer leads it. Designers come up through supervision or through design assisting.

Costume department

  1. Entry grade Costume trainee Laundry, rails, labelling, runs, helping in fittings.Read the role
  2. Step 2 Junior costume assistant Dressing supporting artists, continuity notes, maintenance.
  3. Step 3 Costume assistantAlso: standby costume Dressing principals, standing by on set, the continuity record.Watch and read
  4. Step 4 Assistant costume supervisor Running a section: crowd, a truck, a second unit.
  5. Step 5 Costume supervisor Runs the department: budget, crew, schedule, hires, returns.
  6. Top of the ladder Costume designer Head of department: the look of every character.Watch and read

Specialists branch off the ladder at the grade shown; they aren't steps on it

  • Costume makerbeside Costume assistantMakes garments from pattern.
  • Cutterbeside Costume assistantDrafts and cuts patterns.
  • Breakdown artistbeside Costume assistantAges and distresses costume.
  • Millinerbeside Costume assistantHats and headwear.
  • Dyer and textile artistbeside Costume assistantDyes, prints and finishes fabric.

Design

Parallel ladder
  1. Entry grade Design assistant Research and references for the designer.
  2. Step 2 Assistant costume designer Research, sourcing and fittings for the designer.
  3. Top of the ladder Costume designer Many designers come up this way rather than through supervision.Read the role
Grade by grade: what you need before moving up
Costume department
GradeWhat you doBefore moving up
Costume traineeLaundry, rails, labelling, runs, helping in fittings.Knowing the truck, the paperwork and how the department runs.
Junior costume assistantDressing supporting artists, continuity notes, maintenance.Reliable continuity, basic sewing and alterations.
Costume assistantAlso: standby costumeDressing principals, standing by on set, the continuity record.A full shoot standing by on your own cast.
Assistant costume supervisorRunning a section: crowd, a truck, a second unit.Managing people and stock.
Costume supervisorRuns the department: budget, crew, schedule, hires, returns.Budgets, logistics, several shows as ACS.
Costume designerHead of department: the look of every character.A body of work and a director who trusts you.
Design
GradeWhat you doBefore moving up
Design assistantResearch and references for the designer.
Assistant costume designerResearch, sourcing and fittings for the designer.Design eye, research and sourcing skill.
Costume designerMany designers come up this way rather than through supervision.

Bectu Costume film card, November 2025 (rate cards index) · Every department's ladder: Careers A–Z · Getting work · Working freelance

Learn it, step by step

4 paths
See all: Learn it, step by step

Safety first

Fittings, dignity, tools and dyes

Costume works close to people's bodies, often when they are partly dressed. Dignity, consent and a chaperone are part of the job. So are sharp tools, hot irons, dyes and heavy rails.

Start the safety module Take the safety check

Watch first

Module 1 of Costume, hair and make-up. Mark them done there to track your progress.

The hazards

6

What hurts people in this department on UK sets, and what keeps them safe.

  1. Fittings and dignityAsk before you touch. Explain what you're doing. Offer a robe. Fittings with children or vulnerable adults have a chaperone, and a performer can always ask for one.
  2. Intimate scenesCostume for nude or intimate scenes (modesty garments, robes) is agreed with the performer and the intimacy coordinator. Closed set, minimum crew, robe ready the moment the take ends.
  3. Sharp tools and ironsScissors, blades and pins go back in the kit, not left on chairs. Steamers and irons are hot and heavy; switch them off and keep cables tidy.
  4. Dyes, sprays and breakdownDyes, fabric paint, sprays and solvents used to break costumes down need ventilation, gloves and a mask where the label says so. Check COSHH sheets.
  5. Heat, cold and weightHeavy, period or armour-style costumes and wetsuits put strain on actors. Plan breaks, water and warm layers. Watch for overheating under lights.
  6. Rails and the truckLoaded rails are heavy and tip. Push, don't pull, with two people on ramps and tail lifts.

Who is responsible

  • The costume designer and supervisor run the department and its safety.
  • The intimacy coordinator and 1st AD agree closed-set arrangements.
  • Chaperones are booked by the production for children.
  • Every assistant is responsible for their own tools and kit.

As a trainee, never

  • Never touch a performer without asking and explaining first.
  • Never be alone in a fitting with a child.
  • Never leave pins, blades or a hot iron where someone can sit or lean on them.

Anyone can say stop. If something feels wrong, say so to your head of department or the 1st AD.

Where this comes from

Checked 13 November 2026. This is awareness, not a safety qualification: follow your production's risk assessment and your head of department.

Check yourself

4 situations. Get them all right.

Pass the safety check before the rest of the path. One wrong safety answer means try again. It's practice, and your answers stay on this device.

Question 1: An actor arrives for a fitting and seems uneasy about changing in front of three of you.

Question 2: You're asked to fit a 12-year-old's costume. Their chaperone has gone to get a coffee.

Question 3: You're breaking down a jacket with a spray dye in the costume truck. The label says use in a ventilated area.

Question 4: It's a hot stage and the lead's in a heavy period costume. They look pale between takes.

AI in film and TV

How AI fits this department

AI appears in concept and continuity tools. Real costume on real performers remains the reference that digital work depends on.

Learning path: Rights, consent and disclosure The AI channel Consent and credit

Costume, in detail

What it does on a UK unit

The costume designer decides what every character wears and why. The department buys, hires and makes the costumes, fits them, breaks them down so they look lived in, and keeps continuity across a shoot that runs out of order.

The costume supervisor runs logistics and budget. On the day, standby costume stay on set with the cast and a second team dresses the crowd.

Fittings, approvals and making can take weeks before the shoot. A period drama or big crowd day can add a costume house, a workroom and dozens of dailies.

Who it works with

  • Director and cast: character, fittings and approvals.
  • Hair and make-up: the whole look of each character, decided together.
  • Production designer: palette and period.
  • ADs: cast and supporting artist call times, and the costume time on the call sheet.
  • Stunts and SFX: doubles' costumes, padding, multiples and anything that gets wet, burned or torn.

Kit and vocabulary

Term What it means
Fitting A session where an actor tries on costume for approval and alteration
Breakdown Ageing, dirtying or distressing a costume so it looks worn
Multiples Identical copies of a costume for stunts, blood or water scenes
Continuity photos Pictures of each actor in costume, logged per scene
Costume bible The record of every character's costumes, scene by scene
Dailies Extra costume crew booked for big crowd days
Standby kit The bag of tape, pins, sewing kit and stain remover carried on set

How to get in

Most people start as a costume trainee. Costume, fashion and textile courses are common, but sewing, alterations, laundry and organisation matter more than the degree. Costume houses and theatre wardrobes are good first employers. The ScreenSkills Trainee Finder places costume trainees. Dailies work on crowd days is a common way to be seen.

Pay

Use the current Bectu cards: costume film rate card, November 2025 and costume TV rate card, November 2025.

Where Futures in Film helps

We don't run a costume course. These pages will help you get to a first costume job:

Who to know: Costume

Kit to own · Costume traineeWhat to bring on day one, and what not to buy.A set bag: safety pins, small scissors, needle and thread, fashion tape, lint roller, tape measure. Don't buy: steamers, rails or sewing machines. the department has them. check the production's rules...See the kit list

Other departments

17 departments
See all: Other departments

Where we come in

Hold a costume grade on a crewed unit.

ApplyTrain in Costume

Read for costume

6

The magazines and books people in costume read. Borrow the books free from a library.

All resources and reading: trade press, directories, libraries and more

Next for Costume

Last reviewed 9 November 2026