Bring stories to life through costume design and craftsmanship.
This specialist course combines design, history and practical garment construction to prepare you for a creative career in theatre, film or television costume. You’ll explore the evolution of fashion and period dress, developing the skills to design, cut, construct and embellish garments for stage and screen productions.
You’ll study both men’s and women’s tailoring, create period foundation garments such as corsets, and learn decorative embellishment techniques using hand and machine sewing. Working on a range of internal design briefs and simulated production projects, you’ll gain invaluable hands-on experience designing and producing costumes for performance contexts — building a professional portfolio that reflects your creativity and technical precision.
By graduation, you’ll have a strong mix of creative flair, technical accuracy and historical understanding — ready to enter costume departments across film, TV and theatre, or to progress to university-level study.
This course is ideal for:
You’ll build a wide range of creative and technical skills used by costume professionals, including:
✅ NC Fashion Design and Manufacture, or equivalent award
✅ Alternatively, two Highers in Art, English, or Fashion & Textiles
✅ Entry by interview, with a portfolio showing design sketches, garment work, or customised pieces
ℹ️ Applicants must be 16 years or older at the start of the course.
ℹ️ For this course, if English is not your first language
Graduates may pursue roles such as:
🎭 Costume or Wardrobe Assistant
🎬 Costume Cutter or Maker for Film/TV
🧵 Self-employed Costume Designer or Cosplayer
🏛️ Museum or Costume Curator
💼 Theatre Costume Technician or Dresser
Graduates may progress to fashion degrees at leading universities including:
Graduates from Glasgow Kelvin College have gone on to work with the Outlander costume team, undertake freelance film and theatre contracts, and create bespoke costume and cosplay pieces.
Students are encouraged to gain practical work experience alongside their studies.
There are also industry visits to local museums to view historical fashion for design inspiration, dependant on the theme for their project as well as guest speakers.
