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Costume For Stage & Screen: HND

A fashion student examining a paper pattern for garment design in a sewing studio.
Qualification Qualifications Explained
HND
Study Mode
Full Time
Duration

2 Years - 2.5 Days per week
Start date
Aug 2026
Campus
Springburn
Apply now

Course overview

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:

  • Creative learners with a passion for design, fashion history and garment construction.
  • Those who dream of working behind the scenes in film, theatre or TV costume.
  • Students who enjoy hands-on making and detailed sewing or tailoring work.
  • Anyone aiming to progress into specialist costume, design or production roles.

What you will learn

You’ll build a wide range of creative and technical skills used by costume professionals, including:

  • Costume Design & History of Costume – researching eras, styles and character concepts.
  • Pattern Construction – developing patterns for men’s and women’s garments.
  • Ladies’ Period Foundation Garments – creating corsetry and structured underpinnings.
  • Gents’ Costume Cutting & Construction – advanced tailoring techniques and fit.
  • Costume Fitting & Alteration Skills – achieving professional, stage-ready finishes.
  • Costume Embellishment – decorative techniques using embroidery and hand finishing.
  • Corsetry – precision construction for historical 18th-century and Victorian corsets and modern performance wear.
  • Production Project Work – creating full costumes for live or display presentation as part of your portfolio.
Fashion lecturer explaining costume design techniques, showcasing a sketchbook with fabric embellishment samples in a classroom.

Discover Our Costume Course ✂️✨

Kay Muir, Fashion Lecturer, talks through everything you need to know about our Costume course and what makes it such a creative and hands-on programme.

Students develop specialist skills in Costume Design and the History of Costume, Pattern Construction, Gents Costume Cutting and Construction, Costume Embellishment, Corsetry and more.

From historical research to technical construction, this course blends creativity with precision — preparing students for further study or a career in costume and performance industries.

Creativity. Craftsmanship. Career-ready skills.

View on YouTube

Entry requirements

✅ NQ Fashion Design and Manufacture, or equivalent award

✅ Alternatively, two Highers, at grade ’C’ or above, in Art, English, or Fashion & Textiles

✅ Entry by interview, with a portfolio showing design sketches, garment work, or customised pieces

ℹ️ For this course, if English is not your first language

  • If you do not have a formal ESOL qualification but your language skills meet this level, you should apply for your course and then contact our Admissions team to organise an internal language assessment  here at the College.

Career Opportunities

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

Future prospects

Graduates may progress to fashion degrees at leading universities including:

  • The Royal Conservatoire for Scotland
  • Glasgow Caledonian University
  • Heriot-Watt University – School of Textiles and Design
  • Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh College of Art
  • Manchester Metropolitan University

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.

Real Industry Connections

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. 

Close-up of navy blue thread spools with colorful fabric in the background in the fashion design studio.
Mannequins displaying unique black and white fashion designs in a college exhibition space.
A collection of creative fashion outfits displayed on mannequins, showcasing student work.
A row of mannequins displaying diverse fashion designs created by students at Glasgow Kelvin College
A group of students discussing fashion design projects with their lecturer at Glasgow Kelvin College.
Fashion students collaborating on a sewing project under the guidance of their lecturer.
A fashion lecturer assisting students with their sewing projects in the design workshop.

Other Courses You Might Consider

Find out about our Fashion Department

Read What Our Lecturer Said

Video Transcript – Kay: HND Costume For Stage & Screen

Hi, my name's Kay Muir and I'm a lecturer on the HND costume course we do here at Glasgow Kelvin College.

Students on this course earn a range of skills from pattern construction, history of costume, they're making period foundation garments, corsetry and creating fabric embellishment samples. 

This is a student's sketchbook where they're looking at the history of fashion from biblical times up to the 18th century.

To go along with this book, they will do samples. Medieval inspired reverse apique sample, black work. We've got some ribbon weaving, some edge stitches, and a lot of the students will do all this work by hand but they're also looking at machine embroidery as well.

Students will apply this knowledge in the second block to look at Victorian outfits which they will design.

So they're learning lots of practical skills, they're looking at historical costume design and trying to apply it to real life situations.

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