The Complete Costume Design Process

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This blog is not just about the creative design process of costume design for film. I’m interested in completely dissecting the costume design and production process. From script to screen, and beyond. This includes many things to consider, such as script breakdowns, character sheets, production bibles, research, design, budgets, financial projections, production logistics, post-production and even return of investment strategies. 

This flowchart (link opens in FigJam) attempts to create a complete overview. I am taking into consideration my past personal experiences on set, stories of colleagues, interviews with Hollywood professionals, and my current learnings at Blauw Films.

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At Blauw Films we look at the complete film production pipeline from an innovative, open-source and independent point of view. We consider financial strategies for every department from the very beginning. This ensures long-term sustainability for the project and all production members involved. This blog talks about how we monetize the independent, creative process. And this blog delves deeper into our open-source business structure. If you’re unfamiliar with open-source projects in the creative industry, this blog will answer your questions.

Even though this blog is created specifically for the costume design pipeline, I would encourage every filmmaker to take a look at the flowchart. Especially those working on independent films. The costumes will probably be a vital part of your film’s final look, and a better understanding of their full potential will help you to get the most out of your production.

This blog will go into great detail, but if you’re new to the costume design process as a whole, you might want to read about how the costume designer collaborates with the other production departments. Or learn about the different positions within the wardrobe department for film and television.

Want to view the full flowchart? You can access it here through Figma.

Now let’s dive right in :)

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The Script 

Every movie production starts with script handouts. Scripts can be modified as production moves along. The Script ensures that every department knows what they are working on. Someone from the production department (usually a production assistant, although in smaller projects the production manager themself) will make a script and budget breakdown.

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Script Breakdown

Every department will have to break the script down further according to their department’s production needs. These breakdowns will have to be discussed with all the department leads together, so that the production department has a good overview of the entire production.

Essentially: 

General Production Breakdown - A general script breakdown that highlights every actor, prop, location, effect and equipment. 

Department Specific Breakdown - The heads of all departments take the general breakdown and make an overview of the nitty-gritty details. The elements that stand out are discussed with the entire production crew.

For Example: 

The script says: “Johnny wakes up in the middle of the night and runs outside. The rain is pouring down.” 

The Production manager will highlight that Character Johnny is in the scene, and that the location or production design department will have to make sure it rains. The Production manager discusses scene setups with the Director and camera department. These decisions are leading, as this is what ends up on screen.

When you’re responsible for the costume breakdown, you’ll have read between the lines of the script.

What is Johnny wearing? Pajamas? Is he in his underwear?

How many takes are we expecting to shoot? How many double (dry) pairs of pajamas do we need?

What will the weather be like on the day of shooting? Will we have to bring extra jackets to keep him warm?

How do we dry him between takes (discuss with the hair stylist)? Are there extras or background actors in the scene? Etcetera, etcetera. 

Sometimes you’ll have to make decisions based on the budget. If the director wants at least four takes, then you’ll need four pairs of dry pajamas. Perhaps it’ll be cheaper to have Johnny wear underwear only. Or the director will need to compromise, and he’ll only get two takes. 

In other cases you might be working with continuity from previous scenes: maybe Johnny went to bed drunk the night before and he’s still wearing the same clothes. These decisions are leading, and need to be highlighted in a script breakdown.

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Screenplay VS Vision

In the flowchart you can see how a Script Breakdown can be approached. I created a division between breaking down the Screenplay and the Vision. Both aspects are very important to extract the exact essence and the requirements of a script. However a Screenplay Breakdown is more about extracting practical production information, whereas the Vision Breakdown serves to inform the actual design of the costumes. It’s very important to understand the Vision early on, as it can be a huge indicator of what expenses you can expect.

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Budget Breakdown

With the entire Script Breakdown in hand you can create a very clear picture of how much money your department will need. For the production department, the Script Breakdown is essential to determine how much the entire movie will cost. Department leads can inform the Production Department on where to cut costs / make more financially sustainable decisions based on their expertise.

In the flowchart, the Script Breakdown is right next to the Budget Breakdown. The two inform each other. 

Blauw Films has a free to download Budget Topsheet. Although this topsheet features all departments, you can definitely use its template to budget the wardrobe!

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Cost Projection

Department Leads are usually expected to create a Budget Breakdown for their department’s costs. This means making a Cost Projection. Based on the Script Breakdown, projected production costs are calculated. You can take a look at the flowchart, to see what elements could add up to the Cost Projection of the costume department. 

Firstly, the Team involves Labor costs. With the script breakdown, the costume designer will roughly know how many people will be needed. This involves the entire wardrobe department, from tailors to on-set dressers.

The next cost is the Wardrobe itself. With the script you can create an overview of all actors, scenes and associated items. With enough experience, it’ll be easier to guesstimate the wardrobe costs of a production.

Finally, the costs that can be easily overlooked are the Storage, Organisation and Workspace costs. The flow-chart divides this into Pre-Production, Production and Post, because every stage might call for different organisational efforts. Generally, this category should cover storage space for all the costumes, clothing racks, transportation to and from the set, and possible long-term storage for archival pieces.

When there is already an appointed budget, the head of the costume department helps to figure out how to make the budget fit best. This means that the Director has to be made aware of the compromises that have to be made. If it turns out that the given budget doesn’t check out, everyone has to work together to find a suitable solution. In the end, it’s usually the Director and Producer’s role to lobby for more budget when needed. 

However, it doesn’t hurt for the Leads of Departments to be financially savvy themselves. In big productions, the Costume Designer is simply on payroll. They are not directly involved or responsible for the financial aspects of a film production. However in independent productions, I would encourage all departments to learn about the financials behind filmmaking. 

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Financing Plan

Producers know that making Cost Projections and Financing Plans go hand in hand. It doesn’t make sense to plan a budget if you don’t know how expensive your movie will be.

A Cost Projection has to be made without budget cuts in mind. It has to be a plain calculation of how much the movie will have to cost in order to make it work. The calculation of a movie’s budget is a precise craft. Too cheap, and you’ll risk ending up with a shitty movie that runs out of budget half-way through. Too expensive, and you’ll risk losing out on a Return of Investment. A movie cannot be too cheap, or too expensive. 

The next logical question would be: How do we get this cash? 

The flowchart outlines the six main channels through which money can be raised. Equally important as the channels through which money can be raised, are strategies to make a return on investment. 

Whichever method the production chooses to finance the film, it has to match the return of investment strategy. Partners, Sponsors or Investors are all interested in different things. Thus getting their attention for your project will require different strategies. 

The way how the costume department can be actively involved in the Financing Plan, is by being aware of their position within the production of a film. Without the creative insights of the Costume Designer, the visual quality of a film would definitely suffer. In any case, if the Costume Designer consciously enables the production to generate more profit, they should be compensated accordingly. 

If you hadn’t yet checked it out, I would highly recommend reading this blog about Monetising the Independent Creative Process. It should help you to find out how your department can add to the financial sustainability of your independent film production.

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Intellectual Property Rights

I’d like to point out that in most large, professional productions, the Production Company that has invested the most money (the largest stakeholder) owns the rights to the entire film and its assets. In some cases, the producers and director can get a piece of the IP rights. In almost no cases, do any of the “below the line” departments get a piece of the pie. 

If someone like the Costume Designer, who is (usually) a below the line cost, wants to be actively involved with the IP Rights of the characters they created, these terms have to be negotiated before signing any contract.

For this reason, prior knowledge about Return of Investment strategies in the Film Production and Distribution pipeline is essential. I wrote an entire blog about potential financial strategies for Costume Designers, which you can read here.

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Prep

I have called this stage the Prep. These are the preparations that need to be done before the creative design process begins.

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Master Breakdown

A master breakdown is really just the more detailed breakdown of the script, which I spoke about earlier. It’s just very important that this master breakdown is organised, so that everyone in your department knows how to read it. 

Essentially, you take the Script Breakdown and organise it by costume into an excel sheet. I’ve given an example of such a Master Breakdown in the flowchart. The Master Breakdown should outline every bit of information that the costume department needs.

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Character Breakdown

A Character Breakdown is most useful for the costume department. Its purpose is to organise the Master Breakdown by character. This way it’s very easy to see the flow of the costumes, as they appear on screen. 

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Character Design

The first step of the Character Design process I’ve called Character Type. This is where you try to broadly figure out what type of character stereotype you’re creating. Stereotypes might have bad connotations, but at the earliest stages of the design process, the most important thing to figure out is what your design will have to communicate. A character’s purpose is to visually communicate the story to the audience. The more you think about them with categorical features, quirks and traits, the easier it will be to make design decisions. Think about where they come from, where they want to go in life, what their hopes and dreams are, their failures and successes and how that has moulded them into the person they are the moment they appear on screen.

Stereotypes form a great basis for design communication. As you go through the design process, you’ll see that your design will naturally evolve to be more authentic and original. 

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Taste and Good Design

Sophistication in your design only comes with experience. Every designer has to train their own eye and taste, to be able to judge design decisions correctly. I am afraid there is no shortcut to improve taste and design skill.

A tip that I would definitely give, is to look at those who you admire. Study designers who are at the top of their game, and really try to think about the decisions they could have made in the design process. Try to find authentic sources of research, and try to form an inspired opinion about your research. 

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Research and Ideation & Design

After you have established who you’re going to make, you can start to collect more detailed information. Keep your character breakdowns close, to remember what you are designing for.

Some designers start strictly with Research, others start to collect visual information immediately. It’s really up to you. Some projects require much more research than others. However you want to go about it, most of the time good research is the foundation for good design decisions.

The Ideation and Design can roughly be divided into a few main points of interest. There is no strict order of operation here. 

Vibe, colours and silhouette is about the design of clothes in terms of shape and visual look. When looking at materials, you’ll start to think about what materials you’ll need to create that look, and how they will read on camera. Furthermore it’s important to think about the construction and execution of the clothing. If you’re working with period garments or extreme silhouettes, this point becomes extra important. 

Next, you’ll have to visually communicate your ideas to the director, camera team and your own costume department. You can do this by creating mood boards, sketches or samples of specific design elements. Whatever method you choose, is really up to your own personal creative process!

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Costume Creation

Now you’re going to have to start actually creating costumes! This is a process of decision making, problem solving and collaboration. The costume creation process can be most difficult, as it is where ideas go from hot air into reality. It’s important to know exactly what you want, what’s possible, where to compromise and how to solve problems effectively and creatively.

There are a few ways to get your costumes made, and whatever your options are usually depends on budget. More often than not, every production is a mix and match of these four methods. 

Manufacturing clothes enables you to create designs from scratch. Often this is also needed when creating doubles. There are large studios specialised in bulk costume manufacturing, but don’t be afraid to reach out to local designers, tailors and seamstresses. 

Setting up Production Partnerships is similar to manufacturing, but with an added layer of business. You could set up a mutually beneficial partnership with a clothing manufacturer or brand, to produce clothes, textile or props for the film. 

Shopping can be done in two ways: shop new or thrift. Shopping for new clothes will get you crisp and contemporary clothes, and thrifting will get you hidden gems with personality. Some say that thrifting is the more cost effective option, but I’d say this is debatable. Thrifting can take much longer and it’s always as cheap as high street fashion nowadays. 

If you’re actually on a tight budget, you might want to consider lending or trading clothes!

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Fittings, Screen Tests and Alterations

The Costumes always stand in service of the performers and the camera. Whether the actor is supposed to be comfortable or uncomfortable in the costumes, is really up to the vision. In any way, fitting the costumes on the actor and testing them in front of the camera is essential. 

You will never fully know what a costume reads like on screen, once an actor has put it on and is standing under the right lighting conditions in front of the camera. You’ll be surprised to see how materials can read very differently on camera, compared to real life. You can end up using unconventional materials, just because they look better on the screen. 

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Screen Tests are also important to see what details stand out, need more emphasis or which design elements are still too small. Think about how the camera lens distorts the image, which might make it necessary to create more or less exaggerated silhouettes. You might find that certain buttons catch too much shine, or that a pattern on a fabric isn’t reading too well. 

The costumes should fit the actor in the way they are intended to be worn. Fittings are the only way to practise wearing the garment in collaboration with the actor. Only then you’ll be able to see how the garment moves and makes the actor feel. 

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Be attentive during this process, as you’ll have to make important decisions. After every large alteration, you’ll need to fit the clothes again. And as long as the clothes don’t look good on camera, screen tests will need to be done. 

Smaller productions might not have time for multiple screen tests, or any at all. In that case it might still be a good idea to take pictures or video material of the costumes yourself, to get an idea of how they read on camera. Other than that, think about the Styling and Shot framing.

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Styling and Shot Framing

Something that I'd like to add, that isn’t included in the flowchart, is the importance of styling and shot framing. When you’re creating costumes for the screen, this way of thinking becomes second nature. I’ve learned to think about the costumes from top to bottom. When styling a character, elements we’d consider are:

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• Hat or hairpiece 
• Jewelry (earrings, necklaces)
• Top
• Hands (gloves and rings)
• Bottoms
• Socks 
• Shoes
• Accessories (bags and others)
• Details

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The reason why we look at the character top to bottom is because the head is usually more often in frame than the feet. When checking if the costume feels complete, you can think about the shot composition that will be used, and see if you have enough detail on screen.

This is essentially styling, and can be figured out during the Fitting and Screen Testing process.

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On Set

Finally we have started shooting! I’d like to point out that this flowchart might make it look as if everything is taking place step by step, but that couldn’t be less true in reality. Often costumes are still being produced when production is in full swing. That’s why the Costume Designer needs to have this birds-eye view, that catches both the costume production process as the film production process simultaneously. 

The most important thing for the wardrobe department to do on set is to organise the Planning and Crew Communication. 

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Costume Bible

The number one tool for on-set costume organisation is the Costume Bible. This document is created by taking the Character Breakdowns and organising them by Day Changes. Or Script Days, however you want to call them. 

These are the ‘days’ that pass in the script. The first costume on screen (if the film is edited chronologically) is Script Day 01 Change 01. If the character changes their outfit, but it’s still the same day, its Script Day 01 Change 02. When the script signals a new day, and the character is wearing the same outfit as before, its Script Day 02 Change 02. When it’s the second script day, and the character is wearing a new outfit, it’s Script Day 02 Change 03. Clear? Great. 

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Admittedly, Script Days and Costume Changes can get confusing very quickly, which is why the Costume Bible is very important. Organisation is key, especially when working in a team.

Along with the Day Changes, the Costume Bible lists The Dressing List. This list writes out item by item which costume “Change 01” consists of. Along with the dressing list, it also includes Details such as how the actor is wearing the coat, if they’re holding a cigarette and how well ironed their blouse is. These details outline what makes the costume feel real.

Also noted are any Actions and SFX related to the costume. This will notify dresses why and if double costumes are needed, and how they should be used. 

Continuity is very important to keep track of during shooting. Continuity is how one shot follows up the other. Because you might be shooting Script Days on various shooting days, this is easy to mix up if you’re not organised. Larger productions even have a Continuity Supervisor on set. These people look at everything that’s on screen, not just the costumes. Therefore it’s still very important for the dressers to mind the continuity. 

This is done by taking photographs of every costume after every scene. This way, the dressers can look at previously taken pictures to see how they need to dress the actor. 

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Call sheet

Of course every crew and cast member gets daily Call Sheets. These will also help the departments to organise their work, and make sure that they’re ready in time for shooting to start. As all the departments have to work together continuously, it’s often useful to quickly see what the other departments are supposed to do during the shot, in case you run into each other's work. 

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Post Production

There is even work to be done for the costume department during Post-Production! Although not all of this is the job of the Costume Designer, they might be asked for their input. Alternatively, if the costumer finds colour or sound to be very important, they could offer input themselves. 

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Colour Grading and Sound Design

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Every film goes through the colour grading process. The footage comes out of the camera RAW, and needs to be balanced and graded to fit the director’s vision. What happens is that every colour on screen gets influenced, also the costumes. It might be important to supply good photographs (with colour charts) to the colour graders. Alternatively, the screen tests could be used as a colour reference. 

Mind you, it’s not always important for the costumes to end up on screen exactly as how they look in real life. Some creative freedom is permitted here for the graders. 

The same goes for Sound Design. The way the garments sound might be something that the director and costume designer have thought of together. Or perhaps the sound designer asks to record the sound of the costumes moving.

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Organisation of Costumes

After production has wrapped, it’s time to organise and store the costumes. Depending on what type of production you’ve worked on, this looks different. Some costume designers keep their inventory. In cases of large productions, the Production Studio might take the costumes and decide what they’ll do with them. Sadly, there are a lot of costumes that end up in the bin. For the sake of not encouraging that method, I won’t suggest it. There are many ways to organise your costume inventory that’s more sustainable financially as for the life-cycle of the film.

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Returns

Hired and lent costumes will have to be returned. Make sure you keep a good inventory of where every costume comes from, and when they need to be returned. Make sure they return clean (if necessary), complete and intact.

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Exhibitions

Exhibitions are a great way to display all of the work that has gone into the film production. Exhibitions could be paired up with screenings of the film, or be planned for the future. Additionally, partnerships with museums could be set up to plan for exhibitions. 

Usually not the entire costume collection is suitable for an exhibition. You’re going to have to select costumes based on the value they have. Perhaps some costumes might even be suitable for exhibitions that have nothing to do with your film specifically.

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Auctions

Costumes and props are great items to be put up for auction. In the short term, you could sell items to fans. In the long-term, archiving items properly will increase their auction value if your film does well. For example, I’ve seen Costume Bibles being sold at auctions!

Often costume doubles are great for auction. They could be the costume that the main character is known for, but was originally produced as a stunt double.

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Archives

Organising the costumes for archives could be a time consuming task, but it could definitely be worth doing. If some costumes are planned to be featured in an exhibition or go up for auction you’re going to have to physically archive them. Physical archiving doesn’t have to be extremely complicated though. It’s just important to think where and how they will be kept. If the only option is to store them in your attic, that’s fine, but you might have to purchase some mothballs. If the production has been very expensive and the costumes very precious, you might have to consider collaborating with costume-specialised archives. 

In any way, how and how many of the costumes can be archived is completely dependent on the budget. This is why Storage and Organisation is part of the Cost Projection.

Whereas physical archives can take up a lot of space and budget, there is always the option of Digitally Archiving the costumes. I would highly recommend every costume designer to keep a thorough digital library of pictures and videos of the costume production, fittings, materials, details and final looks. 

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Long-Term Revenue Plans

We have come to the conclusion of the flowchart. At the end of the road, the costume designer is faced with how their characters will be used after the film is released. As I said before, large studio funded films usually have all rights to their characters. However for independent productions, the active involvement of the costume designer into the exploitation of their designs is often overlooked. I’d like to encourage costume designer to think about the following things: 

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Franchises 

Is there potential for the IP (Intellectual Property) of this film to be exploited through other instalments or other media? It’s usually clear from the start of the production whether the director or producer sees franchise potential in the project. It’s up to the costume designer whether they want to be involved in the design process of such franchises. 

Think about how the life-action costumes would translate into 3D animation? Or if there are plans for a spin-off game, could you supply design references to the game character designers?

If there is potential for a second part of the film, you might want to keep an extra eye on the archiving of costumes.

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Merchandise

Again, only in independent productions will the costume designer get the opportunity to be involved in such exploits. Merchandise is a great way to further exploit the iconography of the film. As it’s the costume designer who designed said iconography, it’d actually be smart for them to be involved in some type of way.

Whether it's toys, figurines or dress-up costumes, I’m sure that the costume designer can give some great insights into the design. 

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IP Rights

As I already wrote earlier in this blog, active involvement into the Long-Term Revenue Plans will have to be determined before any contract is signed. Anyone involved will have to be compensated, either through flat fees, incentive agreements or profit sharing agreements.

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Conclusion

That sure was something! I hope that this blog and its corresponding flowchart has given you lots of insights into the costume design process. Whether you’re a costume designer yourself, or the director or producer of a film, it’s important to learn how every process of the film production works. 

Luckily everything can, and should, be learned on the job! Every production is different, and there is no one-fits-all strategy. Make sure you’re prepared to the best of your abilities and you should be just fine!

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