In the applied skills segments of the classes, students obtain a firm foundation in the designer’s language, tailoring, the aesthetics of historical and modern dress, pattern designing of garments from 1680 to the present, costume as sculpture, costume technology, and costume in performance. Not only do students learn to create clothing from any period in history using bespoke, one-of-a-kind couturier methods, but also through the academic component within each class, they learn why and how clothing contributes to the formation of personal, community, and cultural identities. In addition, students gain a strong proficiency in costume history from antiquity to the present, exploring why people clothed themselves as they did, and paying particular attention to the social and cultural influences at play, along with class and gender differentiation.
In addition to projects and assignments within individual classes, students have an opportunity to hone their applied and academic skills in costuming by working on costumes for the Fountain School's stage productions and in the creation of a major historical research project which is presented to the public at the end of the academic year. It is within these two components of the program – one grounded in the magic of theatre, one steeped in the sensuality of history – that the individual elements of the program are realized and appreciated. It is here that students are able to gauge public reaction to their work, which is a valuable part of their education experience.
Students come to Costume Studies from all across Canada and the USA. They quickly form a special bond and make friends for life. Because of the close-knit Costume Studies community, those moving away from home for their first year of university need never fear being lonely. Moreover, Costume Studies alumni have a far-reaching network throughout North America and share a camaraderie not experienced by those in large university programs.
The Costume Studies studios are located in the Coburg Professional Centre, 6389 Coburg Road, on the corner of Coburg and Oxford Streets. Several classes are taught in other buildings on the campus. Dalhousie has a beautiful campus, with its grassy, leafy quad surrounded by the original stone buildings constructed for the university in the early nineteenth century. The Fountain School of Performing Arts and the Dalhousie Art Gallery are housed in Dalhousie’s Arts Centre which is home to the public-performance Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, the 190-seat Sir James Dunn Theatre, and the more intimate David Mack. Murray Studio.
The Honours BA in Theatre (Costume Studies) was offered for the first time in 2005, but has its foundations firmly rooted in the Costume Studies Program which was begun at Dalhousie in 1976. Thus, it is a mature program which, in addition to equipping students to find employment in theatres, film, television, and living history museums, among others, also enables them to pursue postgraduate education upon completion of the BA.