I Love Costume and Prop Design, but I'm Worried About Career Prospects

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

Hello! The incoming post is about to be extremely long, so thanks for taking an interest in reading and helping!

I am a first semester sophomore at a large University that has a large emphasis on science/med. and business.

Currently I have my double majors set (cannot declare until second semester sophomore year) to Anthropology and Psychology with a double minor in Theatre Design and Administration of Justice. It sounds like a lot, because it is, but the way that I have mapped out my classes for my college career, I can get all 4 degrees done easy and still have extra credits to spare each semester, no maxing out. I kind of felt a bit obligated because I’m on full-tuition scholarship to do as much as I can because I am given an opportunity to learn for a lot less money than most.

Anyway to the important part of this post. The two careers I see myself doing are forensic science and costume and prop design for film and theatre.

I took a forensic science class in high school, and I fell in love with it because I always thought crime scene reconstruction and investigation was cool, even if it took longer than a 1 hour crime show would make it seem. The part I fell in love with was forensic anthropology, where you could look at bones to determine age, sex, height, and general weight to identify bodies. My class even toured my state’s Bureau of Investigation, where we were put to work identifying real bones and the victims they came from (not even the smell bothered me), so I thought it would be perfect! Problem is, my school doesn’t have a forensic science degree, just individual courses that can add to an administration of justice major or minor with a concentration in crime scene investigation… so I’m doing Anthro, Psych, and Administration of Justice to make a sort of forensic science degree, but even then I’d have to at least go to graduate school before I really have a chance to do the job that I think I might like. Even then, I kind of question my love for forensics sometimes because the thought of making mistakes in my field and ruining someone’s life forever in the justice system kind of keeps me from wanting to do forensics.

I also design costumes and props for cosplay every year, each one getting much better as I learn more about costume design. It’s always been something that I’ve loved and even though I’m not a costuming prodigy, I love figuring out how to replicate characters or design them as my own.

Recently, while taking my classes for the 4 degrees listed above, I had also added a theatre design course (just because I wanted a relaxing class after my first year destroyed my soul with difficult classes I didn’t really care much about). As soon as I opened the syllabus for that class… It was a breath of fresh air. Not gonna lie, I cried from how beautiful it was. In the theatre design class, we’re learning costume design, scenic design, and lighting and it just made me excited to go to class every day. I even talked to the teacher and visited the head of the costuming department, who made my day by viewing my work (which mind you, is under NO circumstances even close to professional) and saying they’d give me the opportunity to volunteer with them on their main stage project making costumes and armor. The department was so much nicer and more eager to give you experience than our Psych department, who to be fair is flooded with kids looking for internships and research opportunities because this is a research heavy school…

The main problem is, while I love costume design, I’m not the most skilled costumer, but I’m being given an opportunity to learn. I’m just worried that if I commit to costume design, I’ll be broke later in life… Or if I choose forensics, I’d be stuck in school for an extra two years, and be stuck in a job that I find interesting but not exciting enough to wake up every day happy like costume design.

Also both have a similar median salary depending on where you look, but at least with costume design I can have my own costuming business in my free time to make extra money.

Thanks in advance for all the help and sorry for making you read it all!

2

Well . . . it is a long post. I skimmed it.

If you go into the arts, then be prepared to also have a “day job” while you get a toe hold in your craft. (and be proud of your day job because it shows that you though ahead to be realistic about what this might mean in terms of commitment). You will need to get involved in costuming on a professional level as soon as possible. That means moving to a place that has serious levels of costuming. You’d also need to be practicing your design and the craft of creating costumes (which is different than making clothes somewhat). That means two things. The first is getting to NYC somehow where there’s a local industry in theater and film. Can you get an internship in NYC? Can you or or parents help you locate your first apartment share (first solo apt. would be probaby out of reach realistically) Maybe move to NYC with a friend and share? Does your school have ways to locate internships in NYC? Does it have a study-abroad semester that you could take at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) and use that time to make the connections you will need to get into costuming? Can you transfer to costuming at FIT? That school is located in the heart of NYC and has connections you will need. Other schools also offer that opportunity – NYU or Columbia or Barnard. but transferring into those schools may be prohibitively expensive. You may want to also check out CUNY for costuming–Queens or Hunter Colleges. CUNY is cheap enough that it might be the same price range as your current school. The upshot is the more skills and the more connections you make now the better able you’ll be to making the transition into a career in costuming. Costuming in NYC is more than Broadway. There’s also Victoria Secret runway shows and film and things like that. But all jobs you gain will come through connections and word of mouth – plus your skill set.

As for the “day job” you might want to take a few classes in something that will definitely be employable, while not wearing you out. Like if you come to NYC you will want to be employable immediately in something that isn’t waitressing. That might mean accounting / bookkeeping or computer science or something that will make you money while you get your career in costuming going. Those sorts of courses you can also take at your local community college and pay less tuition than maybe at your current college.

The trick to gaining a life in the arts is to never ever stop striving in your art, while also keeping a roof over your head. You can do it but be smart about it. Realistic. You need skill set that will be immediately employable while you make the connections and build your skills in costuming. Also get the connections early in the costume industry. Somehow. get to NYC or another focal point for costumes – like maybe L.A.

If you give up, you’ll never achieve your goal. Most people give up before the gain the craft they need to achieve their dream. Never give up and you may get there.

3

Thank you for your advice! I hope that I can eventually get to a large center of film/production/theatre location, but right now until I graduate from my university, I have no choice to transfer anywhere else because of my scholarship and financial situation and my parents are not well enough off to help with NYC either.

My home town is not far from Atlanta, GA which is slowly becoming a big film production city, so I was actually considering trying to get an internship with a large film company during the summer when I am back home.

Thank you so much again and sorry for the long post!

4

I’m not sure I have great insight, but here’s my 2c worth. My daughter is a third year costume design student, so she’s going that route, but many people go into the industry without that kind of training. I think continuing to volunteer with your school theatre program and maybe even finding a summer internship are excellent plans. It’s great that you’re loving the class and the level of involvement you have time for right now—but you won’t know until you try if you’ll still love it on the 16th hour of a long slog of a day! As long as you still find the work in forensics interesting, why not keep on with that and get your degree? I’m not sure you need ALL of those degrees—as you say, if you go into forensics, you’ll need grad school too, and while I totally respect your desire to make the most of your undergrad, I believe the more manageable course load would be a boon for your psyche and you might enjoy everything more!

Theatre will not go away while you’re in school—it’ll be there when you graduate (and in fact you’ll learn a lot about anatomy that will be useful!). If after your bachelor’s/more experience you still want to pursue design, with any luck you’ll have some connections from your side work. I would not advocate picking up and moving to find a design job, though, since so many of them are short-term, and when you’re starting out, you can live a pretty peripatetic life. All best!

5

Thank you for your advice letterhead! What you are saying makes a lot of sense!

Recently, while I had an internship with a company (30hrs/week), I also had to work to finish 3 costumes (2 for myself one for my sister). I only had a week to finish them, so that meant staying up and slogging through work with little to no sleep at all. It was horrible; I had headaches and my eyes hurt, but once I finished it was an amazing feeling to pull the costume together to become the character. That’s why I’m thinking I wouldn’t mind working those hours! :slight_smile:

I talked to the head of my theatre department and he said that the only difference between majoring and minoring at my school is the fact that it looks like my theatre education was well rounded instead of concentrated, plus to major you’re required to work a lot of shows to add to your resume. Maybe I’ll do Anthro-Theatre major with administration of justice minor, cutting the 4 degrees to 3 might give me more time to get my hands dirty and lengthen my resume.

Thank you again!