Costume Design - New Plays Festival

Prior to starting work on any Columbia Theatre production, please make sure to read and understand the duties and stipulations for general design work at Columbia and the specific design area as detailed below.

General Information for All Design Disciplines

  • The Theatre Program will only be responsible for department-approved designs that are received by their designated deadlines.
  • Columbia property may not be altered without express permission.
  • All items purchased by the production budget are the property of Columbia University after the production.
  • NYU designers need faculty permission from NYU to participate in Columbia SOA productions.
  • Each design area has a Festival Coordinator (Scenic, Props, Costumes, Lighting, Sound/Video). This person is intended to be the liaison from your production to the staff throughout your process. They are there to coordinate the design ideas of the creative team, within the parameters listed in each of the areas below.
  • If a designer is going to be remote for all or most of the design process, their participation in the production must be approved by the relevant production staff to ensure that the designer’s in-person duties are adequately covered by a member of the production team. It is strongly recommended that designers be able to attend in-person rehearsals and meetings.
  • A written and signed agreement indemnifying Columbia of liability must be provided for any items loaned to the production or borrowed for the production from sources outside Columbia.
  • Each design area has a Festival Coordinator (Scenic, Props, Costumes, Lighting, Sound, and Video/Projection). This person is intended to be the liaison from your production to the staff throughout your process. They are there to coordinate the design ideas of the director/playwright/designer, within the parameters listed in each of the areas below.

Important Locations

Costume Designer Deliverables and Deadlines

Costume Festival Coordinator / Costume Shop Manager: Rachel Dozier-Ezell

Contact: [email protected]

Festival Coordinator Duties include: 

  • Implementing the designer, director, and/or playwright’s vision and procuring necessary resources for the production.
  • Overseeing costume maintenance and repairs during load-in, technical rehearsals, and performances.
  • Training and scheduling all wardrobe staff and managing laundry schedules.
  • Placing online orders and managing the costume budget.
  • Coordinating measurements, fittings, and alterations.
  • Preparing costumes for technical rehearsals, coordinating backstage and stage effects such as liquids, makeup, blood, on-stage changes, presets, and quick-change setups.
  • Organizing costume pieces for technical rehearsals and performances, arranging fittings, tracking progress, and setting up dressing room spaces.
  • Setting up and labeling costume racks and costume organization.
  • Training festival crew on executing costume changeovers.  

Please note: Specific costume pieces that influence movement and aid in character staging.(e.g., shoes, skirts, corsets) can be checked out through the Costume Festival Coordinator for rehearsal purposes. All other costume items will be available during tech and performance when costume oversight is present. 

The Festival Coordinator will attend your initial Technical Rehearsal but are not required for subsequent rehearsals. There will be student wardrobe positions that will be present for tech rehearsals and will do laundry each day of tech and performance. 

If a Costume Designer is not hired for the production, the following parameters must be followed:

  • The director, and/or playwright will communicate the specific costume requirements to the Costume Coordinator.
  • They must provide costume tracks, research boards, and a list of costume pieces.
  • They are responsible for costume pulls and any in-person purchases.
  • The production should include no more than 10 costumed cast members.
  • A minimum budget of $50 per character should be allocated for a complete head-to-toe look.
  • All clothing must be sourced from existing stock, performer-owned wardrobe, or purchased online (Amazon is preferred but not mandatory).
  • A representative from the production, such as the director, playwright, or acting designer, must be available to attend fittings with the Costume Coordinator.

Costume Designer Responsibilities

  • Attend all Columbia Production Meetings
  • Determine and clarify who is responsible for costume props
  • Source rehearsal costume pieces prior to and during the rehearsal process. The Costume Shop Manager will pull and coordinate with designer and stage management.
  • Prior to the first day of tech, source, and obtain all costume pieces for the production within the approved budget and in coordination with the Costume Supervisor.
  • The costume shop will set up racks, hand over costume rehearsal pieces, and alter costumes.
  • Attend the first technical rehearsal through dress rehearsal. If unavailable, a member of the creative team must be present to represent costumes during technical. 
  • Coordinate with the Production Stage Manager, Director, and Costume Supervisor regarding the designer’s schedule during the remainder of technical rehearsals.

Costume Design Stipulations

  • All clothing must be sourced from stock, performer wardrobes, or purchased online (Amazon is preferred but not mandatory). 
  • The costume shop will not be responsible for in-person purchasing; all online purchases will be handled by the shop. 
  • Each cast will consist of no more than 10 costumed performers. 
  • There are no costume rentals for the New Plays Festival (except for the Costume Designer or Actor's personal stock/clothing).
  • There is no full costume construction for the festival; however, costume crafts or small costume pieces may be submitted to the shop for consideration, subject to available time and labor. Please contact us to discuss design requirements. 
  • The designer, director, and/or playwright are responsible for providing costume tracks, research boards, and a list of costume pieces. They will handle their pulls and in-person purchasing. 
  • The Costume Coordinator will be present at all fittings and will oversee all alterations. The shop will perform alterations after costumes have been approved for stage by the director and playwright. 
  • Productions have access to Production Resources (PR) and Columbia Costume stock. Please coordinate with the Costume Coordinator to schedule costume pulls at least two days prior to the desired appointment. 
  • Columbia University Costume Property may not be altered without permission from the Costume Shop Manager. 
  • Renting costumes outside of Columbia PR stock is not allowed.  Costumes from performers’ personal wardrobes may be rented with a waiver signed at the time of costume drop-off. 
  • There will be a Costume Concepts meeting and a costume budget meeting to discuss costume ideas, needs, protocols, PR rentals, shop support, laundry, dressing rooms, and available resources. 
  • Fittings are scheduled during the week and a half before tech on designated days for each show, planned well in advance due to multiple productions. Fittings should occur during shop hours unless extraordinary circumstances prevent this. No fittings will be scheduled on Saturdays or Sundays. Each fitting lasts approximately 45 minutes to one hour, depending on costume changes and design requirements. 
  • Alterations are to be completed the week before tech. 
  • We have two dressing rooms, dressing room assignments are coordinated by Stage Management. The dressing rooms are shared among productions in rep. During the first day of tech, the Costume Coordinator will review room sharing and wardrobe procedures with the cast. 
  • One wardrobe member will be assigned to oversee technical rehearsals, and provide laundry support for performances. Major repairs Last performance is also pre-strike. After the last performance, the cast and crew are responsible for the following:  

  1. Properly hanging and storing costumes  

  2. Cleaning dressing rooms  

  3. Removing all personal items from dressing areas  

  4. *Full costume strike will take place the Monday following the final performance, conducted by CU staff.

Purchasing

  • All online purchases must go through the costume shop. The designer is responsible for any in person purchases and must include a receipt that lists the item was paid for in cash. Please see details below about Petty Cash.
  • There is a Budget Tracking Document in the Costume Google Drive folder where we track all purchasing for costumes. Fill it out as you make purchases.  Please note the tabs and use the appropriate one for filing receipts. The first page is all totals. The last tab is where you can submit all online order requests.
  • The shop will do all online ordering. Please place links with descriptions of quantity, color, size, delivery preference, etc using the Budget Tracking Document, provided by the Costume Manager.  When you have added items to be ordered, please alert the Costume Manager via text/email.
  • A small amount of Petty Cash can be fronted for costume purchases through the Line Producer/General Manager. All purchases made with Petty Cash must be paid in cash (credit/debit card purchases will need to go through the reimbursement process, gift card purchases cannot be reimbursed.). All receipts go to Production Management. You are responsible for your own Petty Cash budget and the Costume Manager will check in periodically on the status of these funds. (Remember to please track purchases as you make them!) All leftover funds must be returned by strike, as well as receipts.
  • All ordered items must ship from the USA.
  • Any orders being purchased and sent to Columbia should have the following address:
    Rachel Dozier-Ezell
    3280 Broadway
    Room 506
    New York, NY 10027
  • Please note: There are no deliveries of purchased goods available on the weekends and the costume shop is not accessible on the weekends.
  • Please do not ship anything directly to Lenfest.
  • For addition details, including information of the reimbursement process please see the Making Purchases section.

Recommended Costume Resources

Production Resource Center- Columbia’s Prop, Furniture, & Costume storage
Located at 3280 Broadway, 5th floor. ID required for entry to the building.

Please note that if you are planning to pull costumes during working hours 9am-6pm you DO NOT need to make an appointment with PR and will contact the Costume shop manager at least 1 day in advance to come pull costumes by emailing [email protected]

  • Any pulling that needs to happen outside of the costume shop working hours must be made with 48 hours advance notice by emailing [email protected], or in-person during PR working hours.
  • When making the appointment, please tell us:
    • Ideal time frame(s) for your appointment, we'll do our best to accommodate you.
    • Who will be checking out the items (Appointments can be made on behalf of others, but we need to know the name of who to expect on the day.)
    • The name and type of project the checkout is for (e.g "LORDES- Directing Thesis")
  • Unless specially requested, appointments are for one-hour blocks only.
  • If you are late for your appointment, you will forfeit the time lost. We do overlap appointments.
  • We will store racks and bins in the costume shop for thesis productions until tech, when items will be moved to the theater dressing rooms.
  • All items should be returned in the condition you checked them out in. PR will launder washable clothing items for thesis shows.

 

Materials for the Arts
https://www.nyc.gov/content/mfta/pages/

  • Recipients may visit the MFTA warehouse for supplies by appointment only. Appointments are available during the following times:
    • Tuesdays 9:30 am to 12:30 pm (Warehouse closes at 2:00 pm)
    • Thursdays 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm (Warehouse closes at 6:00 pm)
    • First Monday of every month 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm (Warehouse closes at 7:00 pm)
  • You may make an appointment to visit MFTA through the costume shop manager.
  • All Items procured at Materials for the Arts are the property of Columbia, not the production or any of its members.