The Theatre School’s Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Costume Design is designed to give students the opportunity to explore and expand their artistic and visual expression and provides them the opportunity to practice their craft. The four-year curriculum in many ways simulates a costume designer’s professional experience and process. Designers learn to visualize the world of plays through the garments and clothing the actors wear while collaborating with directors, dramaturgs, other designers and technicians and our professional costume shop staff who build the costumes they design.
Students learn from a distinguished award-winning faculty of professional designers and artists both in the classroom and through individual guidance and advising during production work. Students receive formal and informal feedback from faculty through portfolio presentations and exhibits of their work each year.
First Year. The first year design curriculum is taken in collaboration with lighting design and scenic design students and is an immersion into the culture of production and design. Students explore common themes and approaches to thinking metaphorically and abstractly with an appreciation of design as an aesthetic distinct from the other arts, and awareness of design considerations as manifested in theatrical productions. Students also begin their four-year drawing progression and take course work in costume technology and stage make-up. Students complete three production crew assignments which will usually include one or two assignments in their area of study and one or two in another area of production.
Second Year. Students move into the specific costume design curriculum and focus on the vocabulary and historical precedent of costuming as well as explore creative responses to plays and characters. Students continue their drawing progression with rendering and explore period style elements through a survey of art, architecture, fashion and furniture as well as a technology course focused on the history of clothing construction. Students work on three productions as assistant costume designers to third and fourth year designers.
Third Year. Students begin to hone their ability to analyze character and express themselves artistically while concentrating on different kinds of theatrical art forms – plays, musicals, operas – particularly in the context of modern texts. Students work collaboratively with students in other design areas to propose and justify design concepts and ideas and further develop their drawing and rendering ability. Students typically design two shows in our public production season, working closely with the entire production team and Costume Shop to develop their communication and design skills.
Fourth Year. The fourth year is a transition year, both further developing students abilities and preparing students to enter the profession. In class projects will focus on larger period plays and plays with complex situations. Students also explore other areas of design through electives. Production work continues as students typically design one more production in our public season and are placed in a professional internship of their choosing.
Graduate Showcase. At the end of each year, The Theatre School hosts an event to showcase the work of our graduating design students. Under the guidance of the faculty, graduating designers prepare a showcase exhibit of their portfolio – which is presented in Chicago for artistic directors and other members of the theatre, film and television industries. The Graduate Showcase includes alumni networking events to introduce and connect our graduates to our large alumni network.
Liberal Studies. In addition to the costume design training curriculum, designers complete 52 quarterly credit hours (13 courses) in liberal studies. Courses are taken in theatre history, English composition and rhetoric, quantitative reasoning, philosophy, religion, lab or quantitative sciences, world history, multiculturalism and electives. These liberal studies courses are scheduled during the first three years of the program.
Evaluation. Every student receives quarterly evaluation and feedback from the faculty each year. Students’ evaluations are based on discipline, collaboration, professional potential and progress in the program. Based on this evaluation, design students are continued from year to year at the invitation of the faculty. There are no pre-determined limits on the number of students returning to design programs. An invitation to return to the third year of a design program is for the duration of the respective program provided that all academic requirements are met, and that professional discipline is acceptable.
