Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people.
The term also was traditionally used to describe typical appropriate
clothing
Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natura ...
for certain activities, such as
riding costume,
swimming costume,
dance costume, and
evening costume. Appropriate and acceptable costume is subject to changes in
fashion
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...
and local cultural norms.
This general usage has gradually been replaced by the terms "dress", "attire", "robes" or "wear" and usage of "costume" has become more limited to unusual or out-of-date clothing and to attire intended to evoke a change in identity, such as theatrical, Halloween, and mascot costumes.
Before the advent of ready-to-wear apparel, clothing was made by hand. When made for commercial sale it was made, as late as the beginning of the 20th century, by "costumiers", often women who ran businesses that met the demand for complicated or intimate female costume, including
millinery and
corsetry.
Etymology
Costume comes from the same
Italian word, inherited via
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, which means fashion or custom.
National costume
National costume or regional costume expresses local (or
exiled)
identity
Identity may refer to:
* Identity document
* Identity (philosophy)
* Identity (social science)
* Identity (mathematics)
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film
* ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...
and emphasizes a culture's unique attributes. They are often a source of national pride.
Examples include the
Scottish kiltTurkish Zeybek or
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
ese
kimono.
In
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
there is a traditional national dress prescribed for men and women, including the monarchy. These have been in vogue for thousands of years and have developed into a distinctive dress style. The dress worn by men is known as
Gho which is a robe worn up to knee-length and is fastened at the waist by a band called the
Kera. The front part of the dress which is formed like a pouch, in olden days was used to hold baskets of food and short dagger, but now it is used to keep cell phone, purse and the
betel nut
The betel (''Piper betle'') is a vine of the family Piperaceae, which includes pepper and kava. The betel plant is native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious perennial, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel pla ...
called ''Doma''. The dress worn by women consist of three pieces known as
Kira,
Tego and
Wonju. The long dress which extends up to the ankle is Kira. The jacket worn above this is Tego which is provided with Wonju, the inner jacket. However, while visiting the
Dzong or monastery a long scarf or stoll, called
Kabney
A kabney ( Dzongkha: བཀབ་ནེ་; Wylie: ''bkab-ne'') is a silk scarf worn as a part of the gho, the traditional male attire in Bhutan.Gyurme Dorje. ''Footprint Bhutan''. Footprint, 004 . Section "National dress", p 261 It is raw silk, ...
is worn by men across the shoulder, in colours appropriate to their ranks. Women also wear scarfs or stolls called
Rachus, made of raw silk with embroidery, over their shoulder but not indicative of their rank.
Theatrical costume
"Costume" often refers to a particular style of clothing worn to portray the wearer as a
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
or type of character at a social event in a
theatrical performance on the
stage or in film or television. In combination with other aspects of stagecraft, theatrical costumes can help actors portray characters' and their contexts as well as communicate information about the historical period/era, geographic location and time of day, season or weather of the theatrical performance. Some stylized theatrical costumes, such as
Harlequin and
Pantaloon in the
Commedia dell'arte, exaggerate an aspect of a character.
Costume construction
A costume technician is a term used for a person that constructs and/or alters the costumes.
The costume technician is responsible for taking the two dimensional
sketch and translating it to create a garment that resembles the designer's
rendering. It is important for a technician to keep the ideas of the designer in mind when building the garment.
Draping and cutting
Draping is the art of manipulating the fabric using pins and hand stitching to create
structure
A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such a ...
on a body. This is usually done on a
dress form to get the adequate shape for the
performer. Cutting is the act of laying out fabric on a flat surface, using
scissors to cut and follow along a pattern. These pieces are put together to create a final costume.
Pros and cons of draping
* It is easier to visualize the finished product
* It is hard to keep the fabric symmetric
* You are able to drape in your fashion fabric rather than making a muslin mockup
* Draping makes it difficult to replicate for multiple people
* There are no needs for patterns
* It can be hard to keep the grain of the fabric straight
* There is less waste when using the specific fabric from the start
Pros and cons of cutting
* You are able to create your own pattern to fit a certain size
* You may need instructions to piece the fabric together
* It is easier to control the grain of the fabric as well as symmetry
* There is more ability to create many of the same garment
* The measurements can be very accurate
* It takes time to see the final product
Jobs
Costume Designer
The job of a costume designer is to design and create a concept for the costumes for the play or performance.
Costume Technician
The job of a costume technician is to construct and pattern the costumes for the play or performance.
Wardrobe Supervisor
The
wardrobe supervisor oversees the wardrobe crew and run of the show from backstage. They are responsible for maintaining the good condition of the costumes.
Millinery
Millinery also known as
hatmaking is the manufacturing of hats and headwear.
Religious festivals
The wearing of costumes is an important part of
holidays developed from religious
festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
s such as
Mardi Gras (in the lead up to
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...
), and Halloween (related to
All Hallow's Eve).
Mardi Gras costumes usually take the form of
jesters and other fantasy characters;
Halloween costumes traditionally take the form of
supernatural creatures such as
ghosts,
vampires, pop-culture icons and
angels. Christmas costumes typically portray characters such as
Santa Claus (developed from
Saint Nicholas). In Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States the American version of a
Santa suit and
beard is popular; in the Netherlands, the costume of
Zwarte Piet is customary. Easter costumes are associated with the
Easter Bunny or other
animal costumes.
In
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
, a common practice is to dress up on
Purim. During this holiday, Jews celebrate the change of their destiny. They were delivered from being the victims of an evil decree against them and were instead allowed by the King to destroy their enemies. A quote from the
Book of Esther, which says: "On the contrary" ( he, ונהפוך הוא) is the reason that wearing a costume has become customary for this holiday.
Buddhist religious festivals in
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
,
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
, Mongolia and
Lhasa
Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhasa ...
and
Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Sil ...
in India perform the
Cham dance, which is a popular dance form utilising masks and costumes.
Parades and processions
Parades and processions provide opportunities for people to dress up in historical or imaginative costumes. For example, in 1879 the artist
Hans Makart designed costumes and scenery to celebrate the wedding anniversary of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor and Empress and led the people of Vienna in a costume parade that became a regular event until the mid-twentieth century.
Uncle Sam costumes are worn on
Independence Day in the United States. The
Lion Dance, which is part of Chinese New Year celebrations, is performed in costume. Some costumes, such as the ones used in the
Dragon Dance, need teams of people to create the required effect.
Sporting events and parties
Public sporting events such as
fun runs also provide opportunities for wearing costumes, as do private
masquerade balls and
fancy dress parties.
Mascots
Costumes are popularly employed at sporting events, during which fans dress as their team's representative
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...
to show their support. Businesses use mascot costumes to bring in people to their business either by placing their mascot in the street by their business or sending their mascot out to sporting events, festivals, national celebrations, fairs, and parades. Mascots appear at organizations wanting to raise awareness of their work. Children's Book authors create mascots from the main character to present at their book signings. Animal costumes that are visually very similar to mascot costumes are also popular among the members of the
furry fandom, where the costumes are referred to as
fursuits and match one's animal persona, or "
fursona".
Children
Costumes also serve as an avenue for children to explore and role-play. For example, children may dress up as characters from history or fiction, such as pirates,
princesses
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
, cowboys, or superheroes. They may also dress in
uniforms used in common jobs, such as nurses, police officers, or firefighters, or as zoo or farm animals. Young boys tend to prefer costumes that reinforce stereotypical ideas of being male, and young girls tend to prefer costumes that reinforce stereotypical ideas of being female.
Cosplay
Cosplay, a word of Japanese origin that in English is short for "costume display" or "costume play", is a performance art in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea that is usually always identified with a unique name (as opposed to a generic word). These costume wearers often interact to create a subculture centered on role play, so they can be seen most often in play groups, or at a gathering or convention. A significant number of these costumes are homemade and unique, and depend on the character, idea, or object the costume wearer is attempting to imitate or represent. The costumes themselves are often artistically judged to how well they represent the subject or object that the costume wearer is attempting to contrive.
Design
Costume design is the envisioning of clothing and the overall appearance of a character or performer. Costume may refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a class, or a period. In many cases, it may contribute to the fullness of the artistic, visual world that is unique to a particular theatrical or cinematic production. The most basic designs are produced to denote status, provide protection or modesty, or provide visual interest to a character. Costumes may be for, but not limited to, theater, cinema, or musical performances. Costume design should not be confused with costume coordination, which merely involves altering existing clothing, although both processes are used to create stage clothes.
Organizations
The
Costume Designers Guild's international membership includes motion picture, television, and commercial
costume designers, assistant costume designers and costume illustrators, and totals over 750 members.
Th
National Costumers Associationis an 80 year old association of professional costumers and costume shops.
Publications
''The Costume Designer'' is a quarterly magazine devoted to the costume design industry.
Notable designers and awards
Notable costume designers include recipients of the
Academy Award for Best Costume Design,
Tony Award for Best Costume Design, and
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design.
Edith Head and
Orry-Kelly, both of whom were born late in 1897, were two of Hollywood's most notable costume designers.
DIY and homemade costumes
In the 20th century, contemporary fabric stores offered commercial patterns that could be bought and used to make a costume from raw materials. Some companies also began producing catalogs with great numbers of patterns.
More recently, and particularly with the advent of the Internet, the
DIY movement has ushered in a new era of DIY costumes and pattern sharing.
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
,
Pinterest,
Mashable also feature many DIY costumes.
Industry
Professional-grade costumes are typically designed and produced by costume companies who can design and create unique costumes. These companies have often been in business for over 100 years, and continue to work with individual clients to create professional quality costumes.
Professional costume houses rent and sell costumes for the trade. This includes companies that create mascots, costumes for film, TV costumes and theatrical costumes.
Larger costume companies have warehouses full of costumes for rental to customers.
There is an industry where costumers work with clients and design costumes from scratch. They then will create original costumes specifically to the clients specifications.
See also
References
External links
*http://costumesocietyamerica.com/
The Costume Society, UKNational Costumers Association*
{{Authority control
Costume design
Clothing by nationality