Costuming Careers Research

As part of my Capstone Project, I've been able to research potential careers in costuming, to then be able to present in two classes on campus to spread the word about those careers.

In order to do my research, I first went to google and searched "costuming careers" to which I found a significant amount of open positions for a large amount of companies listed.

There were companies like Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Disney Cruise Line, and Disney Aulani. These all had position openings with the job titles, Costume/Cosmetology Technician, Costume Design Intern, Costuming Manager, and Costume Support Manager just to name a few.

It was great to see other companies like SeaWorld, Skydance Animation, and Knott's Berry Farm as potential employers as well.

This was a great chance to see what possibilities are ahead for any apparel students who want to go into this field.

The next part of my research, I was able to speak with the girls who work in the dance costume shop who I've been shadowing over the past few weeks. Having been in the costuming department for a while, they have some knowledge themselves on how to network and gain experience when starting to explore this type of career. 

The dance costume shop team made a great point that if you are wanting to get a job in the costuming industry, you really have to network. And the best time to do this, that presents the most opportunity, is while you are still in university. Having other students who are in the same situation as you who you can network with, is really a great opportunity. This also means using the professors and higher up connections you make while in university.

Picky backing off of that, it can be very helpful to first start out by working with local businesses and then using their networks to your advantage. For example, the girls from the shop mentioned there are dance studios close by in Pocatello and Sugar City, Idaho that are a good example of where to start. It is very likely that these more local studios communicate with each other and would be able to connect you to them and open more opportunities.

Another insightful piece of advice I received from the costume shop employees, was that yes, it is great how many larger companies have openings when you just search online, but it will be much easier to make your way up to a company like that if you have experience first. So it is really useful to get experience more locally so you are a more viable candidate to those companies. This means you will want to contact local companies face-to-face before just searching for jobs online. You are much more likely to get a job and experience that way to make your way to a career in costuming.

All in all, after doing my research, I feel like my eyes were really opened to the possibilities. There is a lot of opportunity out there, and the costuming industry isn’t as competitive as the runway or fashion design industry and would be a great opportunity for apparel majors. I think more people should take this option into account, and I hope that through my research and through sharing that research, that that will become more apparent.