This past summer, I served as a Costuming/Wardrobe Assistant for Tent Theatre, a summer stock theatre located in Springfield, Missouri. During my internship, I gained hands-on experience working in a professional costume shop and developed a deeper understanding of the process of bringing a designer’s vision to life. My responsibilities included alterations, stitching, labeling, quick rigging, organizing, laundering, and repairing costumes, as well as attending designer presentations and production runs. Working from the ground up allowed me to learn the day-to-day operations of a costume shop and better understand how individual tasks contribute to the overall process of costuming a production.

I also gained valuable experience with the backstage operations of live theatre. My responsibilities included costume check-in and check-out, presetting costumes, assisting actors with dressing and wigs, helping with quick changes, communicating with other backstage departments, and striking costumes after performances. Through these experiences, I developed a better understanding of the coordination and communication required to successfully run a show.

This internship gave me a practical understanding of both the shop and backstage sides of theatrical costuming. While I had a strong interest in costume design and production before the internship, working alongside experienced industry professionals helped me understand the inner workings of the field and provided insight into professional practices that I had not previously experienced in a classroom setting. These experiences strengthened my interest in pursuing costuming professionally after graduation and gave me a stronger foundation for working with theatre productions in the future.

See the video and photos below to see more of my processes and work!