RSC Costume Stores has 3 floors of costumes and over 10,000 outfits:
Roman
Tudor - Carolean
Elizabethan
18th Century
Regency
Victorian - Edwardian
1920s to Modern
Military
Fantasy
Children's
Underwear
Shoes
Jewellery
Breakdown costumes
Check it out the Website.
My main 3 jobs to do:
First - Tidy and clean the outfits making sure the colours and timeline are in the right order, and always check everything because there could be moths living in the outfits and they make holes or cause mould.
I found some trousers which had been badly damaged by moths who were living in them and eating the fabric.
I also tidied up the scrap fabrics, rolled up the socks/tights, paired the shoes/boots and tidied the shelves and boxes. There were also moths living there as well! I added one of outfit on the stand for display the customers.
Second - A rail of costumes which had some damage after they were returned which we decided not to fix (gladly we charged them for the damage.) The damage was:
Dirt or blood on the boots
Make-up on the collar or neckline
Tears
Fell apart
Smelly never being wash or dry cleaned
Broken
Lost
We all worked on this cleaning and sewing the outfit. We were all disappointed. I sewed the purple 18th century dress after a awful tear in the underskirt by the crinoline as the steel boning had not been filed to a curve, which was why the fabric had got damaged.
Another job was sewing a Tudor Dress with missing beads on the neckline and the boning which had broken through the fabric.
Before
After
Also, lots of small things to sew such as buttons, mends to small tears or completely fallen apart like this collar.
Third - I volunteered to help with member of staff to communicate with the customers. I searched and found the costumes they wanted.
I stocked them on the list with the description, condition and cost for 1 weeks hire and checked if the costumes were clean before going to the customers. I then bagged them ready to be sent away. This is the same with the deliveries.
The costumes come back from the customers and we check and restock. As long as the garments are OK they are the taken back to the rails.
It was good experience working at the Royal Shakespeare Company Costume Store. It helped me understand about eras of costumes. Also I would love to go to the Workshop based at RSC.
Also I had read the Birmingham Mail about David Tennant's Crown check it out on Birmingham Mail.
That's his Crown, my friend carried it.
