A costumer's work is mostly invisible when it goes right. The audience never notices that the lead's shirt collar sits the same way in a close-up shot on Tuesday as it did in the wide on the previous Friday. They'd notice right away if it didn't. That match, repeated across dozens of actors and hundreds of scenes, is the costumer's job.
Costumers in the department
Costume departments break costumer work into a few different jobs, and a mid-size show will have most of them:
| Job | Where they work | Main tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Key costumer | Set and trailer | Leads the set costume team, principal actors' changes |
| Set costumer | Set | Standby for continuity and fixes during takes |
| Background costumer | Holding area | Dresses and checks extras |
| Workroom costumers (cutter, fitter, stitcher) | Workroom | Builds and alters costumes |
| Shopper or buyer | Stores and rental houses | Sources pieces for the designer |
| Ager/dyer | Workroom | Distresses, dyes, and breaks down costumes |
Local 705's FAQ says members aren't allowed to work as "Custom Made Costumers" and "Finished Costumers" interchangeably under most of its contracts, which is why workroom and set jobs usually go to different people on union shows.
A shooting day for a set costumer
With a 7:00 AM general crew call and a scene with 40 background actors in the afternoon:
- 5:30 AM: At the costume truck, pull today's changes for principal actors and hang them in scene order with continuity photos pinned to each.
- 6:15 AM: Dress principals after the makeup and hair trailer releases them. Check each against the continuity book.
- 7:00 AM: Walk to set with the set bag, which holds tape, safety pins, lint roller, a small steamer, stain remover, and a duplicate of anything likely to break.
- 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM: Standby. Before each take, fix a collar or a tucked shirt, check a zipper, add fresh sweat spray if the scene calls for it. Photos after any change.
- 12:00 PM: Lunch. Actors in hero costumes are given smocks or napkins so food doesn't stain.
- 1:30 PM: Help the background costumer check extras in the holding area against the designer's approved looks. Swap anything branded, too bright, or wrong for the period.
- 7:00 PM: Wrap. Collect costumes, check them in, sort laundry and repairs, stage tomorrow's changes.
Continuity
The costume continuity book has a page for each character's change with photos from the front, back, and sides, plus notes: jacket open or closed, sleeves rolled to the elbow, ring on the left hand, blood on the right cuff after scene 44. Set costumers add photos from the day's actual shooting, since what the actor did in the master is what has to match, not the fitting photo.
Costumers coordinate with the script supervisor, who logs actions, and with makeup and hair, since a hat changes a hairstyle and blood crosses both departments. A continuity log template arranged by scene and change works for the costume department's own notes.
Background actors
On days with many background actors, costumers may dress dozens of people in a few hours. Extras are usually asked to bring options from their own closets, and costumers pick from those, adding stock pieces from the racks. On SAG-AFTRA shows, background performers who supply their own wardrobe can be owed an allowance, so the costume department records who wore their own clothes and how many changes they brought.
Kit rental
Costumers commonly rent the production a kit: a set bag, sewing supplies, lint rollers, fashion tape, safety pins, a steamer, and sometimes a portable rack. The costume supervisor collects the paperwork, and the rental goes on the deal memo as a weekly figure with an inventory. Because it's rent, not wages, no payroll fringes are added.
Getting in and joining Local 705
Many costumers start on student films, non-union features, theater, or retail fashion. Day-playing as a background costumer on a big crowd day is a common first union job, since productions need extra hands.
Local 705's FAQ says its contracts require anyone who works 30 days or more on union productions in Los Angeles to join the union. New members are placed in the classification they were working in. Local 705 also participates in the Contract Services Industry Experience Roster, which requires Contract Services' general production safety and harassment prevention courses before placement. In New York, wardrobe work is represented by IATSE Local 764.
Moving up
Costumers become key costumers, then costume supervisors. Some move toward design as assistant costume designers, which the Costume Designers Guild accepts as a route if you have credit as a costumer, costume supervisor, or assistant costume designer on at least one feature, television production, commercial, or music video, plus three signed letters of recommendation.
Storiara for wardrobe lists
Storiara's Assets module pulls wardrobe items from the script and lets the department add photos to each item and use find in script to see which scenes it appears in. It's a starting list for the change-by-change breakdown the supervisor builds.