Costume is such an incredible part of TV, it’s a physical representation of a character, a symbol of their story. Costume strengthens the connection between a character, their story and the audience they are trying to capture. Sparking inspiration and passion for the story, the audience becomes invested and connected. Fostering vulnerability, creativity, power, passion and possibility all in an outfit.
Audiences and costumes become entwined, hoping to have a piece of their favourite character reflected on themselves even if it’s just as simple as the same bag, it weaves the two worlds together. Performances are remembered for their costumes, whole emotions are conveyed through the choice of colour, words through the choice of fabric,a whole story interwoven together with just a few carefully selected choices. A costume designer is the reason this connection is possible.
I spoke with Deborah Cantor, a costume designer with over 25 years in the industry with The Extraordinary Life of April Ashley, Liverpool Narcos and Secret Dickens as a small part of her impressive resume. Throughout the interview, Deborah talked me through her extensive experience getting started in the costume industry, her day-to-day duties and advice for aspiring costume designers. Beginning her career in the Costume Department at the BBC, after completing a Fashion and Textiles degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, Deborah developed her knowledge of periods by cataloguing and indexing stock, teaching her the history of fashion and costume in different time periods, before training as a costumier. Deborah’s experience also includes internships for glossy magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s & Queen (UK) and Harper’s Bazaar (US) early on, where she would assist the fashion director, bookings editor and leading fashion editors. All this experience allowed Deborah to go freelance and learn crucial lessons for her future career as a costume designer, of whom are multi-faceted, with skills such as set etiquette, fabrics, colour theory and time periods, all enabling her to work with celebrities such as Alison Steadman, Stacey Solomon, Gordon Ramsey and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and on shows such as Guessable, Next Level Chef and Bake off The Professionals.
Deborah Cantor and Dell Scott backstage at the Emerge Runway Show by Dell Scott during New York Fashion Week Fall-Winter 2023. Photo by Oliver Archer.
LW: “What is the difference between a fashion designer and a costume designer?”
DC: “A fashion designer creates original clothing, footwear, accessories, etc., to influence a trend through their brand. They often show a collection on the runway to generate publicity and attract customers once it is diluted to the stores. Fashion inspires the real woman to wear something unique and sells to the mass market, representing individuality and personality. A costume designer designs for film, television, and theatre, creating a character and building a vision, ultimately telling a story through the show’s scenes. Allowing the viewer to believe and buy into this persona. Costumes help actors & actresses bring the character alive within the boundaries of the plot and backstory, enhancing the emotional connection to the person as the role evolves.”
LW: “Where do you source the clothes you use from?”
DC: “When designing a program/show, costumes are built in many ways. I tend to ignite the characters depending on the brief and then the period in time. Some costumes would be hired from a costume house. Usually, you begin with a central/lead character. Then, the costume will be sketched/illustrated and made from scratch by talented costume makers. Sometimes, the show is modern and can be bought and adjusted for the artist. I go to the High Street, flea markets, vintage stores, repurposed sites, or charity shops.”
LW: “Do you think costume could make or break a film?”
DC: “A costume is a powerful tool. When a script is strong, and the costume designer is a visionary, along with the director’s brilliance and the actor’s strength and professionalism, it becomes a magical collaboration. Often filmmakers make the project universal, so it has to appeal worldwide. This can change the visual of the costume. Particular shows/designers, therefore, change the shape of the outfit slightly to work with the actor or just for the general picture of the film, which in turn becomes an adaptation from the original period. These are design choices and creative license; it changes the narrative. The genre of the story is imperative. If you think of it in fashion terms, different countries have different trends that filter through at other times. New York Fashion Week showcases the American dream, a different style to London Fashion Week, which is about innovation, Paris Fashion Week, which displays couture, and Milan Fashion Week, which is designer oriented.”
LW: “When you start a new project, how does it all begin? Do you speak with actors, read their script?”
DC: “For drama, I would read through the script and start building a picture of the story, then break it down into scenes, story days, and characters. As a costume designer, I would create boards and mood boards to visualize the characters, colors, and fabric ideas. You tend to then meet with the director and heads of departments. Each department enhances the other; the makeup designer and production designer/art department, director of photography, etc., are just as crucial to the look of the artist/show. I do in-depth research. If the story is about real people, you must be true to them. The actor may work systematically and embody the character entirely. The artist’s vision, my vision, and the director’s vision amalgamate into the production’s look. I like to give the character a backstory, if it is an original screenplay, to build their wardrobe, which should evolve with the story. Then have initial fittings with the actors. Often you would have a read-through of the script with the production team and artists. There are many different branches of costume, from styling presenters and reconstruction documentaries to Light Entertainment and reality formats, all approached similarly, but sometimes background prep may have shorter time periods, briefs decided last minute, and changes in dress rehearsals if on a live studio show, etc.”
Deborah Cantor backstage at the Emerge Runway Show by Dell Scott during New York Fashion Week Fall-Winter 2023. Photo by Oliver Archer.
LW: “How do you stick to a deadline? How do you say organized?”
DC: “This is imperative, and therefore your team and relationship with costume houses, PRs, costume makers, costume dyers, costume breakdown artists, illustrators, printers (to name a few), and every other skilled member of a costume team that helps put these productions together with you, are your lifeline. These relationships and trust are something that has been built up over the years. I have a particularly unique selling point that I work on a concise amount of prep and usually have extreme turnaround times of a few days. In those days, I do my costume buying, work with costumiers in person at the costume houses building my characters, do fabric shopping, sketch, and line up the costume, among other things. Often, my team comes on board when we get on set. Set etiquette is a huge part of working in sync with other departments and dressing the artists themselves.”
LW: “Where do you get your inspiration from? Books, social media, music, trends, etc.?”
DC: “Inspiration comes in all forms, from the brief to everything around you in everyday life. Life is in color, and it’s everywhere. Seeing people in their everyday attire and red carpet images. As a costume designer, I draw influence from architecture, social media, magazines, stores, window displays, and everything in between. As a creative, you become a sponge for ideas and knowledge. I also keep up to date with fashion looks and have attended London Fashion Week every season for over 20 years. It’s important to build relationships with the PRs and designers then. I also attend Graduate Fashion Week every year to see the new generation of designers. I may see something perfect for a presenter or character and want to give a new designer a platform to showcase their design on a high profile celebrity, artist, musician, etc.”
LW: “What is the job’s biggest challenge?”
DC: “Challenges are to be risen to and embraced. To work in any area of the arts is a privilege. Every day is different and poses different ways of working and different solutions. It’s about adapting yourself all the time. A good way to describe it is being a chameleon. Each production is different, always with a new team and crew, actors, or presenters you may not have worked with before. As a costume designer, you must adapt quickly, gain extra knowledge for the subject, research the artist you’re working with, and adjust to personalities. We all want the best result and need every person from the cast and crew to produce that.”
LW: “What’s your favorite part of the job?”
DC: “Every area of being a costume designer is rewarding, from starting a project to seeing the edited and finished version transmitted. The inner workings of what I do as a costume designer and the responsibility to put something unmistakably identifiable on screen in front of millions of households worldwide, often making history with iconic characters, is a visual statement through this unique art. Costume designers create anything from a magical, mythical world to a fashion or hard-hitting declaration through our medium.”
LW: “How do you feel when you see the actor wearing what you have created?”
DC: “When you create the perfect costume that embodies that character, you know the viewer will relate or empathize with this person. Every part of the costume, head to toe, tells the story immediately. It must be instant; you create an image through pure visuals. When designing April Ashley, a trailblazer and one of the first to undergo gender confirmation surgery in the United Kingdom in the 60s, I knew I needed to make her powerful and confident while also showing her feminine and vulnerable side. She came from the slums of Liverpool and climbed the social ladder to the heights of the Knightsbridge elite, modeling for the high-profile glossy pages of Vogue. Seeing these images on the small screen gave me immense pride that I did her justice.”
LW: “Is there anything you wish you had known when you first started?”
DC: “I am a creative and would do the path I have taken again. I took my time to learn my craft. I needed to understand different departments and carry out as many roles within the costume sector as possible. I assisted and worked with many diverse costume designers in various areas of media, from pop videos to feature films. Knowledge and learning every day is the most significant gift. You never know everything. Always stay open to new ways of working. Had I known what I know now, I wouldn’t have absorbed everything I have. The journey is the most important thing, not the destination.”
LW: “Would you recommend people to get into the industry the same way you did, a degree and then internships?”
DC: “My journey into this industry was right for me stage by stage. Further education with a fashion/costume/media degree is advantageous. It is essential to learn how an article of clothing is constructed and how it fits a body in a fabric specifically for that garment. To design an item of clothing/shoes/accessories, as part of the degree curriculum, gives you confidence and a basic understanding for when you eventually go into industry. Explaining it to an actor, performer, costume maker, or costumier at a costume studio allows gravitas in your vision.
Going on to work in a costume house is a fast-track way of learning costume history and meeting costume designers and stylists. This essentially gives an understanding of the item of dress, including measuring garments and putting a full character together, which could be anything from an 1845 housemaid to a 1980s power suit. Working closely with the costume designer or assistant costume designer and watching how they engineer these looks could lead to the privilege of experiencing on-set filming with that particular costume crew. Different designers came to this position from other backgrounds.”
On the left, Deborah Cantor
LW: “What jobs are available in the costume industry?”
DC: “Costume is a wide medium with many features and areas. Positions can vary from the costume designer, assistant costume designer, costume supervisor, costume standby, key costumiers, principal costumiers, breakdown artists, illustrators, costume stylists, costume makers, and costume buyers, to name a few. Different genres require other positions. Feature films have a huge crew varying from costume designers to embellishers. Drama has a smaller team, often multi-tasking, and the costume standby is on set doing continuity, which is a huge part of the job. This ensures the actor wears the costume the same way for a specific scene, even if production is filmed out of sequence. This can be either through direct or indirect continuity. It is known as the “Costume Bible” and is always cross-referenced with the script supervisor. Each actor in each costume has a continuity file.
Entertainment has a large team of costume dressers, assistants, and makers able to do quick changes and alterations on-site. Reality shows have a costume designer, stylist, and assistant. Often commercials have a designer or stylist working very closely with the story/mood boards they created. Music videos have stylists working with PRs and record labels to make the fashion piece for the musician.”
LW: “How do you find internships and jobs?”
DC: “Gaining experience or trainee positions can be obtained from working in a costume house and directly working with the costume designer or a team member. Or by contacting supervisors who recruit for the designer. Sometimes, there are Facebook groups that advertise. However, the industry is very much about networking, and positions are not openly promoted on places like LinkedIn or job site channels. Watch television/film and take note of the credits so you know the designer’s work. If you want to be a part of their genius, look up their credits on IMDB or specific production guides.”
LW: “Is it beneficial to know about fashion, such as fashion history, fabric, color theory, etc.?”
DC: “Fashion is a massive part of costume, and costume is a significant influence and ingredient to fashion. In my opinion, costume is fundamentally derived from fashion but was first acknowledged through Charles Frederick Worth in 1826. Knowledge of the history of fashion/costume means you learn how the body evolved over periods of time and what people wore, dating back from Egyptian times through Victorian to the modern day. The fashion depended on the country, the temperature, the fabric available in that part of the world, and even to the color dyed in certain countries. Knowing about these elements helps when you are costume designing a show. Costume then takes on a life as the character is constructed. Costume designers influence modern-day fashion designers with how we tell a story. Think of iconic costumes from shows like:
- Sex & The City – “Carrie Bradshaw” (in Versace) by costume designer Patricia Field
- Killing Eve – “Villanelle” (in Molly Goddard) by costume designer Pheobe De Gaye
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s – “Holly Golightly” (Givenchy) by costume designer Hubert de Givenchy/Edith Head
- Seven Year Itch – Marilyn Monroe/The Girl by costume designer William Travilla
- Pretty Woman – “Vivienne” Julia Roberts by costume designer Marilyn Vance
- On the left, Deborah CantorClueless – “Cher Horowitz” by costume designer Mona May
- Dirty Dancing – “Baby” by costume designer Hilary Rosenfeld
- Cruella – “Cruella de Vil” by costume designer Jenny Bevan
- The Cher Show – “Cher” by costume designer Bob Mackie
These brilliant Costume Designers (along with many more) have influenced fashion. Many glossy magazines print articles with the headlines “Look of the season” or “As seen on,” catapulting the fashion designer to the forefront. These choices made by costume designers were for the character’s authority. The crossover goes hand in hand.”
LW: “Would you recommend developing a costume portfolio?”
DC: “Developing a portfolio or show reel would be crucial to entering the costume world. Like doing a fashion portfolio would be for the fashion industry. Watching and studying TV and Film and understanding why the costume designer made the choices they did. Structuring a portfolio with images, colors, fabrics, and sketches of a production. Then either work from adapting a book or maybe re-designing a dance show (different dance genres) to a well-known, new character coming into a serial drama or perhaps practice re-designing a musical theatre show. Reimagine a character from any of these and redress them. Build a diverse portfolio covering as many periods as possible. One could even find a script online and break it down, then try designing the central characters. Use the portfolio to invite an audience into your interpretation, from script to screen.”
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