Studies in Costume & Performance - Current Issue

As professional practice and tertiary education face unprecedented challenges, this Special Issue explores the evolving landscape of costume pedagogy. Climate change, social inequity and technological advancements are just some of the issues which are challenging costume educators to create and implement innovative teaching methodologies and approaches. Their focus includes the decolonization of curricula, emphasizing non-western perspectives and re-emphasizing the importance of critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and co-creation in educational settings. Additionally, this Special Issue examines efforts to de-gender costume education, reflecting cultural shifts towards more fluid understandings of gendered identity. The integration of digital technologies in costume design is also illuminated as an emerging learning outcome, recognizing the balance between traditional craft skills, embodied awareness and technological proficiency in engaging students. Contributions come from educators across the globe, working in Australia, Canada, Finland, Italy, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United States and the United Kingdom, who offer diverse insights and practices aimed at invigorating costume pedagogy. This global reach is emphasized by the inclusion of practices inspired by the costume-related activities at Prague Quadrennial (PQ2023), demonstrating the enduring impact of such international exchanges. This Special Issue presents a snapshot of current trends and future directions in costume education, ultimately advocating for a dynamic, inclusive and responsive educational environment.

Using materially oriented, embodied and reflective design methods can significantly enrich the educational experience in costume design by deepening students’ understanding of their design processes while increasing their creativity. This article analyses the pedagogical benefits of applying body-awareness-based devising methods, typically used in contemporary performance creation as a starting point, combined with a contemplative teaching approach. With the increased popularity of various devising and process-led approaches to performance-making, there is a growing need to build new knowledge on devised, process-oriented costume design approaches. This inquiry corresponds to the current shift in costume research and pedagogy, emphasizing the influence of costume’s material agency and the embodied experience of costume in enriching the performance-making process. The article is based on a research workshop held at Aalto University, Finland, in May 2023, with master-level students in costume design and fashion. The workshop employed an observational, stimulus–response methodology that focused on observing the variety of stimuli that materials ‘in’ and ‘of’ themselves evoked through an iterative sequence of sensitizing exercises. The students became mindful of and attuned to the materials they worked with, gradually guided towards instinctive, associative ideation alongside material engagement. The study shows that by engaging in material-led and body-aware work through reflective practice, students can empathetically access their own experiences and use them as a source of inspiration, resulting in a creative process that feels natural and responsive. The article argues that such methods applied to costume design pedagogy promote emancipatory and transformative aspects of learning, as they foster a connection between the students’ ‘self’ and their artistic work.

This research report presents a post-doctoral research project which explores how the experience of wearing physical costumes leads to ideas for digital characters’ visual design, movement and dialogue in animation and gaming. In such fields, costume design is merged into the character design process, with animators or character designers acting as the creators of a character and their costume, ‘giving life’ to the character. From a costume design point of view, when the character’s physicality and especially their movement is developed and animated, the multisensorial and embodied effects of costume should also be considered. The research was conducted through workshops for game and costume design students at Aalto University, Finland. In the workshops and in the analysis of the collected data, I specifically employed Sally E. Dean’s costume-led and body-centred concept of ‘aware wearing’. This study adds to similar existing methods researching the relationship between body, costume and material. In this study, the body and its multisensorial effects are placed as central elements in the design process of digital costumes to see how wearing everyday and historical clothes aids digital character development. The data collection methods were video and audio recording, photography and online questionnaires. Thematic content analysis of the transcribed materials, thick description of videorecording, as well as comparative analysis of photographs from students’ drawings and written notes showed that identical garments provoke different embodied experiences based on an individual’s unique perspective. Material, sound, temperature and texture against the skin emerged as noteworthy aspects from the embodied garment experiments, triggering seamless transformation into new characters. The study shows that multidimensional understanding of costume not only enriches the creative process, but also highlights the importance of somatic awareness in developing memorable digital characters and immersive digital worlds.

This essay explores the systemic challenges faced by those in the field of costume education. As co-founders of the American Theatrical Costume Association, we draw on five years of observations gathered from participants in our annual ‘ReDressing the Narrative’ workshops. Workshop participants – primarily costume design educators working in higher education – report a widespread sense of isolation, lack of support and agency, feeling undervalued in their institutions and disproportionate workload increases. We share how these individual experiences point to the widespread marginalization of costume studies as an academic discipline, including the exacerbation of challenges as a result of both social changes and the COVID-19 pandemic. We suggest that addressing these systemic problems requires a collective approach centred on advocacy and resource-sharing. Our workshops positively demonstrate the power of collective engagement through discussions which foster validation of shared struggles and the exchange of best practices and teaching resources. As a result of the workshops, participants have implemented policy changes at their home institutions in their classrooms, costume shops, production meetings and design practices. By foregrounding topics such as sustainability, cultural sensitivity and embodied practice, costume education can shift narratives across higher education and the broader professional industry, sustaining both current educators and the next generation in the field of costume practice.

This conversation with award-winning Canadian designer Shawn Kerwin explores the need for emerging designers to embrace risk and create their own opportunities for learning and professional development. Kerwin has designed sets and costumes for theatre for over forty-five years and has taught at the post-secondary level for over twenty-five. Her design work has been on stages across North America and across the world. While she holds a passion for opera and the classic repertoire, she has also been involved in numerous world premieres of plays and opera. As a teacher, she is passionate about helping students find their own creative voice and introducing them to the work of Canadian playwrights, many of whom she has had the pleasure of working with on new scripts. Over the past two years, in collaboration with the Charlottetown Festival and other organizations, she has mentored numerous young designers as they make the transition from being a student to becoming an active professional. She is currently exploring virtual costume design in an ongoing effort to continue learning and building her own skills.

Review of: Stage and Screen under the Spotlight, hosted by The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland, 17 February 2024

Review of: Diva, curated by Kate Bailey and Veronica Castro, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 24 June 2023–10 April 2024

Review of: Instruments of Embodiment: Costuming in Contemporary Dance, Eric C. Mullis (2022)

London and New York: Routledge, 190 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-00312-474-0, p/bk, £39.33, h/bk, £125, e-book, £39.99