Textiles, texture, and color: an exploration of clothing through the art of costume design

Theatre is a collaborative art form that requires directors, designers, actors, and technicians to all work together to create and tell a story. As a costume designer, that storyteller role is different from many aspects in the theatre because the medium is simply fabric; a silent helper that assists the wearer by visually cluing the audience on details left unsaid. Costume designers act as liaison between actor, character, and director, and can give intimate insight on characters through clothing alone. A costume designer has knowledge on how clothing defines a person; how it can change a character’s shape, walk, or class status with a simple fabric choice, or tailored tuck.

This is the purpose of the costume designer. Through textures, colors, and tangible fibers, a person can be transformed, and an audience transported. I find that aspect of costume design so magical. And it is one of the many reasons I chose to make it my profession.

Below is a selection of my work and research as a costume design graduate student in the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa.

The entire breadth of my thesis portfolio can be found at the link: https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/islandora/object/ui:dfolio