Costume students at Guildhall School gain a broad-based understanding of all aspects of the costume industry, with opportunities to specialise in your preferred area. This unique pathway will enable you to follow the costume process from design to realisation.
BA Production Arts applications for 2025 entry are now closed
Costume students at Guildhall School gain a broad-based understanding of all aspects of the costume industry. This unique pathway will enable you to follow the costume process from design to realisation, explore the work of designing, supervising, making and dressing, and develop your own particular journey in the wider field of Costume.
As a Costume student, you will:
Studying on this programme you will learn a broad range of skills including:
Costume students work on a variety of different productions, screen projects, filmed and live events and digital projects.
Costume in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The first year involves practical and design-based skills and projects. You will also work on one production as a costume assistant or trainee on a filmed project or live production.
Along with all other students in the programme, the Costume students take classes in a broad range of core subjects. These include: History of Theatre, Critical Lens, Contemporary Theatre, Health & Safety and Stagecraft & Production Process.
Classes are usually project based and wherever possible have a hands-on, practical approach. For example, when studying trends in Critical Lens you will engage with international productions, exhibitions and interdisciplinary projects.
In the first year you will also take a core module called Associated Studies, which allows you to take three short courses in other areas of Production Arts such as Stage Management, Prop Making, Lighting, Sound, Video, or Scenic Art.
The study on the second year of your costume course is entirely practical. You will undertake a number of practical Costume roles on screen projects, filmed elements or live productions. You will also undertake a Costume for Performance, Design and Construction project. You will undertake the role of Costume Assistant and may have the opportunity to work with the Wig, Hair & Make-Up Professionals on some productions.
You will also have the opportunity to spend time working in one of the areas you studied in Year One Associated Studies.
Third-year students will take on the Head of Department roles in Costume. You will lead teams of first and second year students and take responsibility for film projects or productions from the initial planning stage through to the final performance or filming. Students have the opportunity to undertake Costume Design roles and work with a wide range of professional practitioners.
You will undertake a four-week professional work placement within the theatre, film or TV industry.
You will complete a Graduation Project which is an independent project of your choice and could embrace Costume Making, working on a filmed project or the opportunity to Costume Design.
Recent work placements undertaken by Costume students include:
Potential careers for Costume students include:
Read about career possibilities after graduation.
Read our interview with BA Production Arts (Costume) graduate Alice Dearman as she talks about her time at Guildhall and her experience of working on The Crown in her professional work placement, which she talks about in the video below.
Students use the School’s on-site Film and TV Studio, theatres, rehearsal rooms, workshops and costume department, including our costume workshop and textiles room, to collaborate on screen projects, major productions and a range of smaller projects and events.
