Creating the Character Costume

Introduction

The art of costuming—creating a style of dress characteristic of another period, place, or person, including accessories and hair-styles—has a long and fascinating history. Since the beginning of human culture, people have created their own clothing both for covering/protection from the elements and for decoration/ fashion. This double duty of function and aesthetics has always affected the look of finished garments; over time, however, once human culture had truly established itself, fashion gained the upper hand, and clothing styles/ornamentation have come to serve a variety of other functions such as designating social class, military and political affiliations, professions, etc. In particular, fashion has come to represent our ...