Costume Attendants
Select, fit, and take care of costumes for cast members, and aid entertainers. May assist with multiple costume changes during performances.
Also Known As:
Costume Draper
Costume Seamstress
Costumer
Draper
Dresser
Wardrobe Assistant
Wardrobe Attendant
Wardrobe Supervisor
Wages
Annual wages for Costume Attendants in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2033 Projected Employment
7,000
7% Change From 2023
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Assign lockers to employees and maintain locker rooms, dressing rooms, wig rooms, or costume storage or laundry areas.
- Purchase, rent, or requisition costumes or other wardrobe necessities.
- Monitor, maintain, or secure inventories of costumes, wigs, or makeup, providing keys or access to assigned directors, costume designers, or wardrobe mistresses/masters.
- Monitor, maintain, or secure inventories of costumes, wigs, or makeup, providing keys or access to assigned directors, costume designers, or wardrobe mistresses/masters.
- Return borrowed or rented items when productions are complete and return other items to storage.
- Distribute costumes or related equipment and keep records of item status.
- Check the appearance of costumes on stage or under lights to determine whether desired effects are being achieved.
- Distribute costumes or related equipment and keep records of item status.
- Examine costume fit on cast members and sketch or write notes for alterations.
- Provide dressing assistance to cast members or assign cast dressers to assist specific cast members with costume changes.
- Create worksheets for dressing lists, show notes, or costume checks.
- Study books, pictures, or examples of period clothing to determine styles worn during specific periods in history.
- Participate in the hiring, training, scheduling, or supervision of alteration workers.
- Inventory stock to determine types or conditions of available costuming.
- Assign lockers to employees and maintain locker rooms, dressing rooms, wig rooms, or costume storage or laundry areas.
- Direct the work of wardrobe crews during dress rehearsals or performances.
- Recommend vendors and monitor their work.
- Provide managers with budget recommendations and take responsibility for budgetary line items related to costumes, storage, or makeup needs.
- Design or construct costumes or send them to tailors for construction, major repairs, or alterations.
- Arrange costumes in order of use to facilitate quick-change procedures for performances.
- Collaborate with production designers, costume designers, or other production staff to discuss and execute costume design details.
- Review scripts or other production information to determine a story's locale or period, as well as the number of characters and required costumes.
- Participate in the hiring, training, scheduling, or supervision of alteration workers.
- Care for non-clothing items, such as flags, table skirts, or draperies.
- Clean and press costumes before and after performances and perform any minor repairs.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")