Frequently Asked Questions

These are real questions I have been asked by friends, family and other costume shop visitors.

Do you guys do alterations?

Yes, the costume shop can alter just about anything. We try to stay away from wedding or prom dresses depending on our time schedule, but are still happy to do them when we have an open schedule. A typical day of alterations consists of hemming latin pants and mending holes.

How much does it cost to rent a costume?

It cost $7 for a five day rental for individual pieces. $20 for more elaborate pieces, such as latin dresses.

Can you rent shoes too?

Yes, you can rent shoes in the costume shop. We have a separate shoe closet for all our many pairs of shoes. They cost $7 to rent and can be held for up to five days.

Are costume shop employees students in a class, or is this a real job?

We get this question a lot. People are under the impression that our employment is for a class or an internship. Yes, we are real employees and it is a real job.

Do you guys sew here?

Seems like a dumb question, right? Believe it or not we have had to answer this question more than people would think. Walking in to costume shop you are immediately in view of four sewing machines, there kind of hard to miss. Still, with this obvious sighting people have still thought to ask this question.

Can I just come in and look at costumes whenever I want?

The costume shop is open from 8:00-4:30 every day. Customers can come in and take a peak in our costume closet any time between those hours.

Where do you keep all the costumes?

There is a costume closet two doors down from the shop. It is a huge closet with rotating racks to allow for more space. There is also an accessories closet located in the costume closet.

How many costumes do you have?

On average the costume shop has 2000 costumes in the costume closet.

On average how many costumes a year do you make?

On average the costume shop makes 350-400 dance costumes a year.

Do you make costumes for outside venues, or only BYU Idaho.

Along with BYU Idaho dance teams the costume shop also makes prom dresses, pageant dresses and also costumes for local dance studios.

The Process of Costuming

In order to design and construct a costume a certain amount of steps are taken. First, a dance teacher will bring a sketch to Cindy Guthrie, the Costume Shop Manager. Cindy will look over the design and decide with fabric to use.

Cindy will then make a sample costume using exiting fabric in the fabric closet. This is called a prototype. The prototype is completed and shown to the dance teacher for approval. Once the design is approved the costume shop gets to work on creating duplicates of the prototype.

The next step is a little complex. Since fabric supply in all of Idaho is low, the costume shop gets all the fabric shipped from the Garment District in Los Angeles, Ca. Cindy will take a trip to Los Angeles and personally pick out the needed fabric. The fabric is them shipped to the costume shop within one week.

When the costume shop gets the fabric they immediately go to work. They mostly use existing patterns to construct the garment, but sometimes Cindy and the other employees custom create a new pattern for the specific costume.

The fabric is laid on the cutting table and cut out to fit individual sizes. After all the pieces are cut out the employees get to work sewing the pieces together.

Once the costumes are put together a dance team will come in for a fitting. Additional alterations are made to ensure the costume fits just right. The dancers place a name tag in their costume and the process is complete.