Costumes by Amanda Swanson
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of costuming by designing the costume for one
character in a play or musical and by presenting a research project.
Class Level: Intermediate
Main Concepts: Importance of costumes, presentation of costumes
1994National Standards:
CONTENT STANDARD 3: Designing and producing by conceptualizing and realizing artistic interpretations for informal or
formal productions.
CONTENT STANDARD 5: Researching by evaluating and synthesizing cultural and historical information to support artistic
choices.
Prior Skills/Knowledge: Basic knowledge of the theatre and stage make-up.
Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Importance of Costumes
Students will demonstrate an understanding of costume applicability by discussing with the class how
costumes subtract or add to a character.
Lesson 2: Costume History
Students will demonstrate an understanding of costume history by researching and presenting their
research of costumes from a certain era.
Lesson 3: Which Costume? Which Character?
Students will demonstrate an understanding of creating a character through clothing by recording their
vision of a specific character's costume.
Lesson 4: Character Specific Design
Students will demonstrate an understanding of character-specific costumes and the duties of a costume
designer by designing the look of a character in a show.
Lesson 5: Present Projects
Students will demonstrate an understanding of costume history and character specific costumes by
presenting the projects they have prepared.
1. Importance of Costumes
Objective
Students will demonstrate an understanding of costume applicability by discussing with the class how
costumes subtract or add to a character.
Materials Needed
Some type of costume (ex: 80s aerobic, rocker, flower child), fairy tale costumes, Contentless Scene
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Come into the class wearing a wacky costume, but act like something the costume isn’t. For example,
come into class in a nerdy outfit and act very loud and obnoxious.
Instruction
Transition: Ask the students what they thought when you walked into the classroom. Did they notice
that your personality and costume didn’t quite match? Why was it strange?
Discussion: Tell them that according to a study done by Janet Elsea that in the first four minutes of
meeting a stranger our understanding of that person is based on three factors: appearance, 55%; tone of
voice, 38%; what the person is saying, 7%. The way people look affect the way people act and the way
others perceive them.
Instruction: Break students up into groups of two. Give each group a contentless scene to work
with. Say we are going to play our own version of Who’s Line is it Anyway? Each group will come up
and the class will yell out what kind of characters they are (ex: medieval princess, 50s sock hopper,
Elvis, gothic, a knight, etc.), the pair must then perform the scene as if they were those characters.
Discussion: What did these characters do to the scene? Did it change the way they moved if they knew
that they were supposed to be wearing a dress or some armor?
Instruction: Now have the students get into groups of four. Hand out fairy tale assignments. Tell them
they will need to act out these fairy tales in three-four minutes and they have seven minutes to plan
it. Once they have their assignments and they have planned out how they will perform it for the class
then tell them to come and get their costumes. Here is the kicker, give each group the set of costumes
that do not match their fairy tale. Tell them not to ask any questions just yet, but to use the costumes the
best they can.
Modeling: Have each group perform their fairy tale skits.
Discussion: What was the big deal? Why did it matter that the costumes were wrong? The words and
the story were still the same right? Ask for volunteers to say how the wrong costumes took away from
the story?
Assessment
Whether or not the students participated in discussions and group activities.
2. Costume History
Objective
Students will demonstrate an understanding of costume history by researching and presenting their
research of costumes from a certain era.
Materials Needed
Costumes from different eras (numbered and around classroom), movie clips, Which Era? Which
Costume? handout, History Research Project handout, Rubric handout
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Have costumes out from different eras. Handout forms for the students to fill out( see Which Era? Which
Costume?). With these forms the students will guess what era the costume is from and what country it
could be worn in.
Instruction
Transition: Now go around to each costume and talk about it, asking what era people thought it was
from. What gave away the fact that it was from that particular era? Also what countries do you think
these clothes would be worn?
Discussion: Having knowledge of costume history is important when designing a production. What
would happen if you were performing an authentic version of Hamlet and one of the actors wore a blue
shirt that said American Eagle?
Instruction: Tell them we are going to now look at some examples of costumes designed to be from a
certain era.
Modeling: Show movie clips from three different eras. Some examples are: The Phantom of the Opera,
Swing Kids, Young Guns
Discussion: After each clip discuss with the students what they saw in the clothes. What era and what
country did these films take place? How do we know? Was there any item that seemed out of
place? Has anyone ever seen a play or movie when a piece of costuming was not in the same era as the
others? (If you have an example of this, now would be a good time to show it.)
Instruction: Each student will work with a partner to research a particular era and the clothes worn
during that period. Go over the attached rubric and guideline sheet. (This assignment will be due on
Lesson 5.) They now have the rest of the class period to get a partner, choose an era and begin research.
Be sure to go around to each group to find out what time period they are researching and to see if they
need any ideas.
3. Which Costume? Which Character?
Objective
Students will demonstrate an understanding of creating a character through clothing by recording their
vision of a specific character's costume.
Materials Needed
CD player or computer with speakers, 4 pieces of music, examples of costumes, pictures of people,
character descriptions and lines
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Have music on when students enter the class, try to play something that is about clothes, such as “My
Strongest Suit” from Aida.
Have the students now listen to parts of three different songs. Some possible songs to play are: A
Beautiful Mess by Diamond Rio, Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and Love is
a Battlefield by Pat Benatar. After each song they must write down the answers to these questions:
What colors came to mind?
How did you feel as you listened?
What images came to your mind?
Ask some students to share what they wrote down.
Instruction
Transition: Tell the students that today will be a continuation of the lesson from last class, but today
they will be deciding what characters will wear. Discuss with the students the important things to look
for when designing a costume: Gender (Male/Female), Era (when is play set?), Number of costume
changes (adjustments to costumes, time to change), Personality( is the character bubbly?introverted?),
Importance (for a principle character or ensemble), Class Ranking (Poor or rich?), Physical Appearance
(how are they supposed to look according to script?), Character’s Activity (do they need to run, dance,
sleep?)
Explain that the vision of the character that comes as one reads a script is very important. It is that
person that the designer can see in their mind that they want to create.
Transition: Have the students get into groups of 2 or 3. Give each group a picture of a person they don’t
know, make sure that there are at least two groups with the same picture.
Instruction: Tell students you want them to discuss in their groups what they think that person is like,
strictly based on their looks. Have them discuss this for about five minutes and then have each group
share. Compare the way two different groups viewed the same person.
Modeling: show the students pictures of different costumes from shows. Discuss with the class why
they think the designer would have put the actor in these clothes. Base the discussion on the important
things to look for mentioned earlier. If they are not familiar with the show, make sure to give some
background.
Transition: Have the students go back to their individual seats. Pass out character descriptions.
Instruction: Give the students the character descriptions and selected lines from the play; it is okay if
some of the students have the same character. Have the students write down what the character would
be wearing, it can be just one outfit. They can also draw a rough sketch of the outfit, but it is not
required for this assignment (it will be at a later time). They will need to address the “important things to
look for when designing a costume” on their paper.
Assessment
Have the students turn in their design ideas.
4. Character Specific Design
Objective
Students will demonstrate an understanding of character-specific costumes and the duties of a costume
designer by designing the look of a character in a show.
Materials Needed
Guest costume designer, job responsibilities, sample costume chart, renderings and costume calendar,
colored pencils, magazines, fabric scraps, patterns (if available), costume design sheet
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Students will break into two groups. Each group will be given three rolls of toilet paper and with that
they must make an outfit for one of their team members. They will have ten minutes to do this. When
they are done they must present the costumes and tell why they designed it the way they did. Tell them it
is a competition.
Instruction
Transition: Now that they are almost experts in designing they are going to get to hear from a
professional designer from a local theatre.
Discussion: Bring in a costume designer from a local theatre to talk to the students about his/her duties
as a resident designer. Have them go through the process and ask them to bring examples of renderings
they have done as well.
Modeling: Pass out examples of a costume chart, renderings and a costume calendar. If the designer
doesn’t cover it, be sure to talk to the students about color and fabric texture.
Discussion: Color can show the personality of the character. If they are a bold and bright person then a
bright color would be appropriate. Color can also show character evolution as the character might
change throughout the show. Historical research is important in choosing color and fabric as it is the
base of the design, but make sure that what you select fits with the production concept. It will be
important to work with each designer in the production so that you know what needs to be in the
costumes. In terms of fabric different textures could be useful in making clear to the audience the time
of year or the socioeconomic status of the character. For example a poor beggar might wear a thick
burlap fabric and a wealthy queen might wear lace and silk.
Transition: Now it is their turn to be a designer.
Instruction: Pass out the costume design sheets. With these each student must design the costume for a
character of their choice from the era they are researching. They may make up the character completely
or if they have a character from an established play in mind they can use that. They must fill out the
character analysis side of the page and then sketch in a costume they might wear. Something on the
head must also be designed whether it is a hairstyle or a hat they might wear (Pass out hat and hair
examples). It is alright if they are not great at drawing as long as they base the costume design on where
the character is, where they have just come from, styles of the time, and personality characteristics. They
can even write in explanations of what they have drawn if they would like. They must also find
magazine cutouts of colors or styles that they like. They also need to have at least two fabric swatches
as examples. This will be presented to the class along with their history research project.
Closing: now give the students time to work on their character analysis. Remind them that this will be
due in the next class period. Provide them with magazines, color pencils, fabric scraps and patterns if
you have them.
Costume Design Requirement Breakdown:
1. Choose or create a character from the era they are researching
2. Complete character analysis
3. Create a rendering of one of the characters costumes which includes something on their head.
4. Attach magazine samples and fabric samples
5. Lay this out in a way it can be presented, whether in a portfolio or on a poster board
5. Present Projects
Objective
Students will demonstrate an understanding of costume history and character specific costumes by
presenting the projects they have prepared.
Materials Needed
Rubric, a place for the students to stand and present, Presentation handout
Lesson Directions
Anticipatory Set/Hook
Pass out Presentation handout, asking the students to write down one thing they learned from each
project.
Instruction
Instruction: Students will now present each individual project. We will go in order of time
period. Please fill out the sheets and turn them into the teacher at the end of the class. Ask each student
to also say why they chose what they did and what they learned from the project.