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Costume Designer

Designs and oversees all costumes; leads the costume department on UK film/TV.

Duties

• Read the call sheet and sides before arriving
• Maintain radio/set etiquette and H&S
• Hand over notes/kit status at wrap
• Design looks
• Fittings and ageing
• Budget and hire houses
• Lead supervisors/standbys

Reports to

Director / Producer

Works with

Costume Supervisor, Assistants, Buyer, Standbys, HMU Designer, Production Designer, DoP

Career path

Costume Assistant → Supervisor → Designer

Day to day

Research and boards with Director; fittings; approve fabrics/breakdown; lead Supervisor; walk set for silhouette/colour with DoP.

Call times

Fittings and truck prep often before unit call; standby tracks cast ready-times through wrap for continuity photos. Crowd days start very early.

What to wear

Blacks on set; clean presentable kit clothes; soft shoes around cast; weather layers for exteriors.

Tools & kit

Personal sewing kit for standbys/makers as usual; steamer access; continuity camera/phone; radio.

Tips

Confirm title, agreement, budget band, prep/wrap and kit fee on the deal memo before accepting. We never invent Bectu figures — check bectu.org.uk ratecards / your branch.

Software

• Photoshop / Clo3D / Procreate
• Excel budgets
• ShotDeck for refs
• AI image tools for moodboards (check clearance)
• Excel / Google Sheets continuity & cast lists
• Scriptation / PDF sides
• PureRef boards (cleared refs)
• ChatGPT for period research summaries (Designer verifies)

Bectu rate cards for this role are in the app.

Related roles

Costume Standby

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