Costume Creator

When you can turn you passion into a job there's an immense satisfaction. When that job is seen by so many on stage, TV and film you'd think their ego would explode but our resident clothing creator Nadia takes it all in her stride, and she is well grounded.

What is it you do?

"My job revolves around making and creating clothes. It can involve designing, creating patterns, cutting, sewing, fittings thereby creating complete garments made to measure.

It’s an exciting job, you get to work with a team of people from all over the world from different cultures and visions of life."

All the images show Nadia's work.

You may have seen some of her work in "The Game of Thrones", "Penny Dreadful" or 'Into the Badlands', Theatre plays such as “A woman of no importance” or one of many Brides & Bridesmaids.

From the creation work space to the stage.

"When working on modern clothes like wedding dresses, evening gowns and coats you are creating beautiful one-off garments that can’t be replicated. Working with delicate fabrics and creating intricate handwork is a pleasure enjoyed by many a lucky lady."

"In Theatre the story and the vision of the designer and director determine the period of the costumes. The play could be modern, turn of the century or even medieval so you get the chance of working on all sorts of period costumes."

How did you get involved with Costume Design?

"As a child I made clothes for my doll and then as a teenager I made my clothes for myself when I couldn't find things I wanted to wear. When I watched films it never crossed my mind to be involved with them but I’ve always loved fashion and was fascinated with period costumes and 30 years later I’m still in the business.

I studied Industrial Design and then fashion and before opening my own business I started selling ready made fashion pieces to shops."

How do you get the work?

"It's a difficult industry to work in and location makes a huge difference, London and New York are always popular. Now that manufacturing is done more cheaply abroad it’s not easy to find work and to do well in the industry so you must be very dedicated and very determined. Being freelance also means the working hours will depend on the type of work and there might be weeks or months between jobs. Word of mouth and your reputation gets you the work and fortunately those films and TV shows have been produced here in Ireland.

Most people working in this business are single and rent since it’s a tough industry to do well in and is made more difficult if you’ve a family and a mortgage. You follow the job wherever it is so it could be overseas and it's down to personal choices in life. I also have my own customer base that I’ve worked with and built up over the years by word of mouth mostly special occasion outfits & gowns."

What it’s like to see your work on screen or stage?

"In Theatre most costumes are rented from huge costume stores in UK and EU only few costumes are made to measure for the lead actors. Those I’ve worked on for stage productions are easy to spot and I’m always happy to see the reaction of people especially if the designs are beautiful. Unfortunately most often the designs are not meant to be beautiful and the costumes are professionally broken down to look old and used.

For Modern films the costumes are normally bought off the rails in shops and most film companies store their costumes to re-use or rent out. Big productions often have thousands of costumes with those made for the lead actors being done in specialised work rooms and those for the masses and army's being manufactured in factories around EU. It's not always easy to recognise costumes I’ve worked in for films especially if it's army or mass costumes. The lead costumes could be on the screen for seconds or they could be so broken down and you don't recognise them."

What do you like about the costume industry?

"The time to make a costume depends on the design and what the costume is, a magnificent dress could take a few weeks to do. I enjoy working on all periods the fun for me is not knowing what era the next job is based on. Every job is different and a challenge to make the best possible result.

My personal favourite is creating the patterns and samples for new beautiful gowns but those opportunities are few and far between so it’s good to have the other jobs to fill in the gaps. Those jobs could be sewing, making patterns and cutting or I could only be helping out briefly whilst waiting for the next job I’ve signed on to start."

How many people work on costumes?

"A professional team in a costume work room depends again on the size of the production so u have the designer , assistants ,supervisors, managers, tailors, cutters , machinists, embroideries. Also specialist on dyeing fabrics and garments, break down costumes to look old and used. Teams that add studs and metal work or leather work on the costumes. Hundreds of people work on all sorts in each department to get a production made.

If working on film usually a film studio is hired and one of the buildings is located for costume . If working on theatre I could be working on the costumes at home then fitting at the theatre. Other projects like the one I'm working on now for the 1916 rising for a show in an open space of hundreds of dancers and participants the team are working in a rented open space in an old building that used to be a clothes factory in Dublin city centre."

Have you made unusual outfits?

"Lots of jobs are unusual .. Like Saint Patrick's parade in Dublin .. Music bands often have strange outfits.. Entertainers .. etc"

Do you get to meet the stars?

"Yes quite often for fittings or around the studio but you go about your work and you don't bother them by looking or anything else. You do get quite used to seeing them and at the end of the day they are just like us doing their job and this is their working space to."

Do you watch the shows you’re working on?

"Most of the time I don't, I'm just happy the job is over so I don't really want to have anything to do with it……often I'm glad to see the back of it because it’s an absorbing and intense few weeks so you do need a break after it and many shows take several months to be aired."

Nadia is frequently on set and if you wish to send her a message or ask advice you can contact her through the magazine JohnstownCommunityMagazine@Gmail.com