Designing costumes is a multi-step and multifaceted collaborative process, and Costume Designer and Costume Shop Manager Bethany Eddy is excited to share the intricacies of that process with BVR students in the new Upper School course Costume + Fashion Design Studio.

The course — launching in fall 2019 — will focus on both design and fashion, since the two have a similar foundation.

“We will look at different concepts of design, multiple medias used in both costume and fashion design, textile identification and uses, and sewing and crafting skills,” Eddy said. “Students will work with me to determine skills they wish to develop, which will result in an individualized experience from the course. I want students to know they can take this class if they don’t know how to sew or if they’re already creating their own pieces.”

Currently, Eddy is working with Claire Licameli ’21 and Julie Barbosa ’22 on the costumes for the US Spring Musical, A Chorus Line.

“A Chorus Line is a very personal show and we are leaning into that,” she said. “We are having conversations with the actors to show not only what’s in the script but what the actors themselves want to bring to the character.”

For every show that she designs costumes for, Eddy said she is in constant communication with every theater departments — actors, directors, music, dance, and tech — to create a cohesive universe. If on the night of the show you are able to pick apart elements, then the design team didn’t do its job, she said.

“Theater is a true collaborative art. It isn’t just costumes or the set or actors — it’s a combination of everyone.”

— Bethany Eddy

Check out Eddy’s process of designing costumes — from researching the script to her sketches to the final products — in the installation in the Foyer.