Costuming on a Budget

Learning the craft of making dances is sometimes the least of the struggles facing budding choreographers: They must also learn about music choice, working with musicians and lighting designers, business issues and, of course, how to manage cast members. One of the toughest challenges, though, may be figuring out how to dress dancers in appropriate and affordable ways. Even if students have the luxury of working with a designer, how do they pay for it while still covering tuition and other concert-related expenses? And, what if they don’t have a designer’s help? Talk about panic mode.

As their professor and mentor, you can help students overcome costume hurdles to create a finished product that matches their vision and enhances their work. Whether or not your dance department has the budget to reimburse students for their expenses, it’s always good for dancers to learn how to find great costumes that won’t break their bank accounts. I recently reminisced with three friends about some of our experiences as new choreographers, as well as some of the tricks we still use to clothe our casts. I call these the “4 Bs of dressing dance on the cheap.”

Borrow It
The most obvious place students can start looking for costumes and accessories is your school’s dance or theater department costume shop. These institutions may have lending policies allowing students to rent outfits for little or no fee. Still, even if your dance department lends costumes for class or thesis work, remind students not to limit themselves to what’s been used in past performances.

What about Mom’s radical ’60s skirts, or Grandpa’s funky suits from when he was a “cool cat” back in the day? The closets and trunks of our parents, grandparents, older siblings and best friends can produce great retro costumes and accessories. In fact, as a teenager I found a bunch of my grandfather’s old clothes from the ’40s that were too moth-eaten for streetwear, but looked quite good onstage on more than one occasion.

Ingrain in students the rules of borrowing: Ask first, and return outfits clean and in the same condition as when you borrowed them. This may mean budgeting for dry cleaning costs, so make sure students keep that in mind.

Build It
Sometimes, an original design is necessary for a concept to come to life onstage. For example, Ohio State University MFA graduate Hadassah Segal produced a thesis in which she restaged three existing dances, including Anna Sokolow’s Kaddish. “I worked with a designer since it’s such a historically significant piece,” says Segal. “I couldn’t go out and buy something for it. The designer and I looked at photos and old film clips and we built something close to the original costume.” In order to fund her ambitious thesis project, Segal spent time pursuing grant funding during her first two years as a graduate student.

If your students have basic sewing skills or know someone who is proficient with a sewing machine, they may be able to build their own costumes without the help of a designer. A search through the pattern books at fabric stores may yield a design that is flattering and simple to piece together. 2005 Emerson College graduate Maggie Crowley designed and sewed as many pieces as she could for her honors thesis concert. “I only bought those pieces that I couldn’t easily make myself,” Crowley says. “Also, I used a number of pieces in multiple places through the concert. This helped keep my budget down and also created a thread of continuity throughout the show.”

One way to make building costumes cost-effective is by picking up bolts of fabric and trim at clearance or close-out sales. Retail superstores also have reasonable prices on sewing needs such as fabric, sewing machines, accessories and dyes. Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) is another great source for inexpensive clothes, accessories and jewelry. Its section of free listings may lead to great costume finds that are close to home.

Barter for It
Cassie Morran, a professional dancer and choreographer, moved to Dublin in 1992 with few connections in the city’s dance community. “When I got ready to perform my first solo in a showcase, I wasn’t making much money and couldn’t afford to pay someone [for a costume],” she recalls. “It was really stressful to think about the kind of first impression I’d be making if that solo was mucked up by some really shoddy outfit.”

Then, Morran lucked out. “I was still getting to know my neighborhood, and stumbled on a seamstress’s shop. She had this really fun ’60s dress in the window, so I went in to look around.” The dancer and the dressmaker hit it off, eventually striking a deal: Morran would spend a few hours a week helping out around the shop, and in return she would receive a custom-made dress for her new solo.

While student dancers could find a seamstress or tailor in town that would work out a similar arrangement with them, they might not even have to look off campus. Encourage dance majors to get to know art, design and costuming/theater majors early on in their college careers. Then, when the dance major needs costumes for a new work, friends in the art and theater departments might be able to get course credit for designing and/or constructing outfits for the performance. You can help by making professors in these other arts programs aware that the possibility for such interdisciplinary projects exists.
 
Buy It
Purchasing costumes and accessories may not seem economical, but if students plan shopping time well enough in advance, they can find items that look great but aren’t expensive.

Been to a thrift store lately? “Dancers come in here all the time,” says Thomas James, a sales associate at Planet Aid in Boston. “They ask us for ideas for costumes, and there’s a little bit of space so the dancers can try on the outfits and move around to see if the item might work in their dance.”

Crowley agrees: “I went to a thrift store with a section of clothes for $1.50 per pound. I got several old dresses, cut the tops off and finished off the skirts. I always pick up extra pieces at thrift stores if they seem cool or weird and save them for later.” Remind students that once items have been purchased, they can be reused countless times. “I don’t throw anything out. Even if I use something in one dance, later on I can modify it and use it for another dance,” says Crowley.

Students can also check out discount department stores and online resources like eBay and Overstock.com where, unlike thrift stores, they may be able to find multiple matching costumes.

Final Stitches
Time is of the essence when planning costumes, so encourage students who are creating work to think of their costume concepts as early as possible in the semester. They’ll need ample time to look for fabric, work with designers or create items themselves, as well as plenty of time to rehearse in costume. It can be devastating to find the day before a show that dancers can’t move in their costumes or that the concept or design is just plain wrong, especially since work at the college level is often graded. Here are a few other tips to pass on to your students:

-The less time there is before the show, the simpler the concept has to be—which may not be clear to student choreographers. Find out where to get pieces of clothing really cheaply (especially tops and bottoms in solid colors) that can then be modified without a lot of cost.

-Double-stitch all hemlines on handmade garments. Remember: Items to be danced in need to stand up to tougher demands than garments made for streetwear.

-If the choreographer is also the costumer, he or she is responsible for making repairs or even replacing a costume piece if something happens to an item. They should always have extra items just in case costume disasters occur.

Finally, it’s good for students to always be thinking about costume ideas, and to squirrel away some funds to dress their dances later. Most students know their first year if they will have a final project or senior thesis performance, so they should start saving money or searching for grants as early as possible. Planning ahead, and thinking about costumes as an integral part of the dance, will make even novice costumers more comfortable with dressing their dances. With the right guidance and a little creativity, students will be able to come up with innovative costumes that provide just the right accent to their work. DT

Boston-based freelance writer Joshua Legg holds an MFA in dance choreography and performance from Shenandoah University, where he also worked in the costume shop as a workstudy student.