BA (Hons) Costume Production

<p>Throughout the course, our dedicated Workshop Labs provide extensive resources and support from expert technicians, helping you explore skills including pattern cutting, tailoring, corsetry, costume props, and print and dyeing techniques.</p>

<p>Our BA (Hons) Costume Production course offers a fresh approach to the study of design, realisation and construction for costume. Working from classic and contemporary texts, music and storytelling, you’ll produce bespoke costumes for a range of performance genres, whether for stage, screen or live-action events.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Throughout this course, our dedicated Workshop Labs will provide you with extensive resources, alongside support and guidance from expert technicians, allowing you to explore skills such as:</p><ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Pattern cutting</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Tailoring</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Corsetry</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Costume props</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Print and dying techniques</p></li></ul>

<p dir="ltr">You will work on live projects with professional designers and performers, providing essential experience of industry practices. This may take the form of heritage, stage or film work. <br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Your learning will be guided by a dedicated team of creative professionals who have worked for theatre and TV companies, including Netflix, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and West End productions.</p> <p dir="ltr">You will also gain valuable insight from visiting professionals such as Paul Farnsworth (Lend Me a Tenor), Lucinda Wright (The Witcher) and Michelle Carragher (Game of Thrones), as well as a close relationship with Theatre Royal Plymouth.</p>

<p dir="ltr">In TV and film, our students have contributed to Netflix’s Bridgerton series and the BBC’s EastEnders. They have also worked behind the scenes of smash-hit touring productions of Strictly Come Dancing, Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty, Wicked and The Lion King.</p> <p dir="ltr">This course encompasses cultural, social and political contexts for costume, enabling you to create costumes for public exhibitions and commissions from heritage societies, such as the National Trust and The Box, Plymouth.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">In the National Student Survey (NSS) 2026, 94% of responding students answered positively to the question “How well have assessments allowed you to demonstrate what you have learned?” and 94% answered positively to “How often have you received assessment feedback on time?”</p> <p dir="ltr">Students also responded positively at 88% to “How often does your course challenge you to achieve your best work?” and “To what extent have you had the chance to explore ideas and concepts in depth?”<br /></p>

<ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Learn technical skills and acquire specialist knowledge of costume design and construction techniques used in the profession.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Collaborate with other students across the university including Film &amp; Screen Arts.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Have opportunities to enter competitions, such as World of Wearable Art (New Zealand), and The Costume Society’s Patterns of Fashion Award.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Gain a deep understanding of sustainable practices for both costume design and making.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Benefit from opportunities to design and produce costumes for real clients in outward-facing projects.</p></li></ul>