Principles of wardrobe justice
When we work with clothes and bodies, we bring everything our society says about bodies to the surface. All people are impacted by body image rhetoric and the way oppression and marginalization are enacted on the body. As costume professionals, we have an impact on performers’ self-image and the backstage environment.
Being unclothed or partly-dressed are inherently vulnerable positions. As a costume professional, you are in a position of power over this vulnerability, regardless of your position in the larger workplace hierarchy.
Representation of diverse populations and voices onstage must be backed up by accessible, inclusive backstage spaces. We must recognize the systems of privilege and oppression that inform our society, our industry, and our interactions with one another, and work to create environments that are physically and emotionally supportive and adaptable.
Being informed, skilled costume workers means expecting diversity and difference. We don’t need to know everything, but we can and should be prepared to work with a variety of different bodies and minds. We must pursue further education to continually develop a better understanding of cultural aspects of dress and how dress and embodiment are experienced differently among different populations.
We cannot rely solely on the hidden labor and self-advocacy of minoritized people in efforts towards justice. Each of us has the responsibility and capacity to bring about change, regardless of the identities we hold or our position in the workplace hierarchy.
There must be a cultural shift in the entertainment industry to value safety, in all its forms, over running a performance as scheduled or “maintaining the integrity” of a design. The show does not have to go on, and it does not have to go on the way we’re doing it now.
What is wardrobe justice?
Wardrobe justice is a framework and activist project guiding the application of social justice principles such as disability justice, trauma-informed care, and anti-adultism to theater workplaces.
Based around the principles above, Wardrobe Justice focuses on the particular capacity of costume professionals to create safe, supportive, and equitable environments backstage.
Working towards justice in theatre must extend beyond audience accessibility and onstage diversity. Wardrobe Justice focuses on the ways these efforts can and must be built into backstage spaces and culture. It seeks to empower and encourage technicians’ engagement in efforts that are normally focused on their coworkers in ‘creative’ or managerial positions.
The Wardrobe Justice curriculum further explores these principles in 8 units, expanded upon below.
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"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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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, and heat safety.
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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.
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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)
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How do you navigate gender-divided dressing room policies 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.
Get involved!
Interested in learning more about the Wardrobe Justice curriculum and workshops? Want to support the Wardrobe Justice project through funding or by sharing your expertise and critique? Email me directly at audengranger@gmail.com or using this form.