You have just signed as a costumer for a stage exhibition showcase, and you cannot wait to wow crowds with your thoughts. Each actor requires at least one costume and multiple accessories, and you intend to be sure every celebrity will seem significant. Making sure the dresses fit nicely will be simple if you could employ a group of tailors to make your complicated designs from scratch. However, with college and community theatre budgets, that is never an alternative. If you have nightmares about the rehearsal process and stressing about dressing all the actors so they look presentable, and buying costumes ready made will break the bank, here are some tips on taking your budget and making the most of it.
Do not be afraid to Request Help.
There may be just one costume manager for the production, but it does not mean only one individual must perform each the costume function. The more folks you may see to shoulder the burden of preparing the costumes, the longer time you’ll need to research the many other inexpensive costuming choices. Different cast and production staff members may have the abilities to hem clothes. Parents may often volunteer to produce alterations for their children and others if you merely ask. After all, they’re eager for their children to look great. Perhaps you will stumble upon a right tailor or seamstress one of the crowds that have a library of layouts and will help to make costumes from scratch.
Get Crafty. You do not have to be Coco Chanel to build clothing that is fit to get a brief theatrical run. Brainstorm how you can use standard art supplies to choose what you have and change it to what you want. Just a little fabric paint and a stencil may turn a plain t-shirt into a custom-made jersey. With a few sequins and paste, you can create an effortless dress mimic a designer dress. You can also tailor a lawsuit with duct tape. The viewer won’t ever be near enough to the pendants to understand you took a couple of shortcuts.
Use Your Theatre Network. Call up friends who are a part of other community and school theatre troupes and allow them to understand the bits you’re searching for. Even if the troupes they belong to do not have the outfits you require, they might know of others who do. Many theatre troupes rent their dresses and costumes out for minimum fees so long as the debtor promises to reunite the sterile cleaned costumes in good shape.
Become an Extreme Couponer. Subscribe to Discount mails at each clothing store you may imagine and scour the web for printable coupons before going shopping. You may save yourself a lot of money by merely using discounts which you may not have known were available. Do not forget to join rewards nightclubs in these clothes shops, either. It will not take long until you get free shop credit which you can use to search for future productions.
Don’t Ignore the Discount Stores. It is a Fantastic idea to save money by shopping at thrift shops, but remember that some clothes pieces are surprisingly cheaper when bought new at big box discount stores than they are purchased used. By way of instance, a brand-new generic shirt is very likely to be less costly in a discount shop than its name-brand counterpart in a thrift shop. You may discover cheap accessories and clothing at dollar stores and possibly damaged clothes for next to nothing at off-price department shops.
Shop the World Wide Web. Conduct a Web Search of a variety of costume pieces you want. You may shop around to find the best deals without leaving your seat. The world-wide-web is particularly useful if you need a difficult-to-find bit. If it is present, there is a fantastic chance it is possible to find it on the internet. Have a look at various auction-style sites like ebay.com and specialty dress hire websites. Using the internet, you can score clothes at prices you would never find in retail stores. You may also come across some arts services providers that supply costumes and props for stage productions.
. . .And now that you have found some ways to conserve a few Bucks costuming this drama do not forget the main trick to save cash for another…
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It is not just Great for your Environment; it’s also great for your costume funding. When a show ends, instead of throwing away or donating your costumes, save anything that is in good enough condition to put on. Even if a piece looks like something you will never want again, there is a fantastic chance it could be transformed into a helpful costume later. The more outfits you own, the fewer dresses you will want to shell out cash on next time around.