3 DIY Costume Challenges for Every Age

Open your junk closet and grab your craft supplies!

The Alley is host to the best national costume designers and these joyful DIY videos will give you a unique vantage point (that junk drawer!) into the costume designer’s process.

Resident acting company members Melissa Prichett, Elizabeth Bunch, and Dylan Goodwin lead the way, recreating these stunning designs from Alley’s Dracula (with a reproduction of Edward Gorey’s 1977 set), Three Musketeers, and Twelfth Night.

Drama Teachers: this unique and a bit wacky lesson/DIY costume challenge is sure to engage those theatre students who like to dress-up and walk in someone else’s shoes!

Bonus: Click here to hear Designer Tricia Barsamian's reaction to Elizabeth's recreation.

Now it’s your turn!

Take your stab at one of these three costumes, upload to the social media of your choice, and tag @alleytheatre using the hashtag #costumechallenge.

Want to learn more?

Check out this treasure trove of costume design resources, courtesy of the University of Connecticut Library.

• "Brooks Costume Company", Billy Rose Theatre Collection photograph file

• Costume: 30 art books, free & online via the Getty Research Portal!

• Costume: the journal of the Costume Society

  • [online access 1965 to present] Costume is a scholarly, refereed publication presenting current research into historic and contemporary dress. The journal publishes articles from a broad chronological period and with a worldwide remit; it maintains a balance between practice and theory and concentrates on the social significance of dress. The journal also includes reviews and listings of new books, journal articles, and exhibitions.

• Costume at the Victoria and Albert Museum London

  • Among the Theatre and Performance collections, there are over 3,500 stage costumes and accessories - ranging from complete outfits to individual headdresses. All are a tribute to the creativity and skills of designers and costume makers from the mid 18th century to today, in every kind of live performance - drama, opera, dance, musicals, pantomime, rock and pop, music hall, cabaret, circus.

• Costume Collection at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of America

  • Digital images of garments and accessories from the 18th Century through the Present

• Costume Institute and the Irene Lewisohn Costume Reference Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • Texts and images from the collections. Please note that access to some material in this collection is restricted to computers within The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• Europeana Fashion

  • Explore fashion – historical clothing and accessories, contemporary designs, catwalk photographs, drawings, sketches, plates, catalogs, and videos – from more than 30 European public and private institutions.

• Fashion Theory

  • [online access 1997 to present] Fashion Theory takes as its starting point a definition of “fashion” as the cultural construction of the embodied identity. It provides an interdisciplinary forum for the rigorous analysis of cultural phenomena ranging from footbinding to fashion advertising.

• Godey's Lady's Book

• Harper's Bazaar

  • An open-access database that contains scans of issues published between November 1867 – December 1900, with very few gaps.

• International Journal of Clothing Science & Technology

  • [online coverage1992 (Vol. 4, no. 1) - present] A peer-reviewed journal on all aspects of the science and technology of clothing-objective measurement techniques, control of fiber and fabric, CAD systems, product testing, sewing, weaving and knitting, inspection systems, drape and finishing, etc.

• Motley Collection of Theatre and Costume Design

  • A rare collection of original materials on the theatre comprising over 5000 items from more than 150 productions in England and the United States. These materials include costume and set designs, sketches, notes, photographs, prop lists, storyboards, and swatches of fabric.

• Textile Research Journal

  • [Online access from 01/01/1999] Introduces new concepts, innovative technologies, and improved understanding of textile materials, processes, chemistry, and systems. Textile Research Journal includes research on: fibers, fibrous assemblies, textiles, and other fiber-based materials such as nonwovens including novel, non-traditional applications such as in technical textiles, reinforced composites, geotextiles, filtration, transportation, health care and biomaterials, smart, intelligent, electronic, and nano applications.

• We Wear Culture: The stories behind what we wear

  • Google Arts & Culture