Skills
Costume Attendant Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in costume attendants, and how to build and show them.
What skills do costume attendants need?
Costume Attendants need technical skills such as sewing, costume repair, and quick changes, plus people skills like calm under pressure and teamwork. They also use tools such as Sewing machines and Steamers.
Technical (hard) skills
- Sewing
- Costume repair
- Quick changes
- Laundry and pressing
- Continuity tracking
- Organization
People (soft) skills
- Calm under pressure
- Teamwork
- Discretion
- Speed
Tools, equipment and technology
- Sewing machines
- Steamers
- Irons
- Hand sewing kits
- Garment racks
- Continuity photos
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how costume attendants put their skills to work:
- How to run a backstage quick change
- How to track costume continuity on set
- How to repair a costume fast
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Sewing” and “Costume repair.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “calm under pressure,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as IATSE wardrobe union near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our costume attendant glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Costume Attendant training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.