Prepping for a School Play? Consider These 6 Creative Tips for Costuming on a Budget
Lights, camera, costumes. A show-stopping school play has many moving parts, and arguably the most daunting task is finding costumes for all of your performers. Costuming costs can add up quickly but don’t succumb to stage fright just yet. There are several low-budget but high-impact ways you can create costumes for cheap. Luckily, you don’t need a Broadway budget to get your hands on 18th-century garb that will blow your audience away. Here’s a couple of ideas to get you started.
Invest in showstopping pieces strategically
Though you can easily recreate contemporary costumes, the elaborate wardrobe of historical apparel can seem beyond your reach. Specific starring roles will call for an intricate and historically accurate costume from retailers like Samson Historical. You can’t fake authenticity. You will need the real deal from professionals that know the ins and outs of past styles. For those penny-pinching production managers, key costume components that you will use again and again will pay for themselves in no time.
Think Thrift
Thrift stores are excellent places to find different pieces for costumes. Need a ghost? Grab a bedsheet. Have a shipwrecked pirate? Think bell-bottom pants you can distress, with an oversized men’s button-up as a swashbuckling shirt. You may even discover a completed costume on the racks, already ready for the stage.
Ask for donations
Enlist the help of your cast and crew to find costumes. Create and distribute a list of the outfits you need to your cast. Then your cast can utilize their network of family and friends to find the perfect pieces. They may have the ideal costume hiding in the back of their closet. You can repurpose old Halloween costumes, and vintage clothing may be perfect for your retro drama.
Snatch up Halloween deals
On November first, grab all of the discounted costumes you can. Stores are eager to clear out their Halloween inventory, so you’ll get spectacular deals on unsold costumes. Don’t think all Halloween costumes are ghoulish. You can also find mermaids, queens, fairies, inmates, cowboys, and more at your local party store.
Rent from other theatres
Did the theatre down the road recently put on a production? It’s likely that they still have their old costumes lying around. Ask if you can borrow or rent any pertinent costumes for your own staged scenes. That way, you don’t have to worry about sourcing costumes yourself.
Do it yourself
Roll up your creative sleeves and think outside the box. How can you use materials in unexpected ways or cobble together pieces of an old ensemble to create a new one? Check out your local dollar store for cheap parts you can use to craft the perfect costume.
Wrap up
Putting on a school play is incredibly rewarding, and seeing kids blossom out of their shells while on stage is priceless. Even though costuming may seem like the biggest hurdle, you can create much of your needed ensemble yourself with some elbow grease and determination. Just remember, costuming charges don’t have to be through the roof. With a few trips to the thrift store and an innovative mindset, you’ll be ready for showtime in no time.