Wardrobe justice curriculum and workshops

"There is no neutral body from which our bodies deviate." -Aurora Levins Morales

Commercial garments are built around the idea of a neutral body. This unit challenges this idea and explores how to build a measuring/fitting experience that feels comfortable and collaborative rather than clinical or judgmental.

While we usually think of trauma-informed care as relating strictly to medicine, dressing and undressing is a form of care that is intimate and vulnerable.

Learn how to assess, stage, and adapt facilitated changes to support an actor's bodily autonomy and privacy.

Anti-adultism: Children are not just future adults. They are people in their own right, who deserve to be treated without prejudice. This section uses the life-course model, Young-Bruehl's Childism, and Filament Theatre's model of anti-adultist artmaking to support young actors with age-appropriate communication and identity development through costumes. Explores educational and professional contexts and the unique needs of each.

Abuse prevention and institutional policy: Most institutional policy around working with minors does not address the specific privacy and touch requirements of costuming or dressing. This section guides policy development and implementation for both administrators and costumers, and encourages costumers to be considered mandated reporters.

Wardrobe workers are uniquely vulnerable to sexual misconduct because of a combination of misogyny, limited workplace power, and exposure to nudity as part of the job. Working with people undressing is not blanket consent.

Learn how to build safer dressing interactions, recognize common misbehavior in costume settings, and respond if it happens on your production.

The dressing room is the backstage haven before and after the vulnerable work of performing. Learn how to create specific work practices to support performers and follow AEA requirements.

Specific topics: filming and social media, breastfeeding, and aspects of cultural, racial, and disability competency.

Costume workers encounter eating disorders, signs of illness, and hidden disability. We are confided in about the production, unsafe conditions, body image and trauma.

How can we protect the performers in our care? This section guides how to respond to these situations, support people in mental health crisis, and when to seek support.

Hair, makeup, and garment care involve a wide variety of products, and stocking a dressing room is a major aspect of costume work.

Learn how to build a dressing room purchase list that minimizes allergens and scent-sensitivity triggers with specific product recommendations and things to avoid.

Talks reimbursement policies, haircuts, and "bring your own shoes."

Also provides resources for "bridging the gap" of hair and makeup supplies for BIPOC (see bridgingthegapintheatre.com for more)

AEA requires gender-divided dressing rooms on all equity productions. How do you navigate this policy in a way that avoids alienating trans and gender nonconforming performers?

Identifies tangible methods to set up gender-inclusive dressing rooms, as well as tools for adapting gendered language about bodies and garments.