All the historical costumes I’ve worn onstage



As both a costumer and a plus size actress, I find myself frequently wearing pieces from my own costuming wardrobe onstage in my theatre roles. So I thought it would be fun to take a look at all of the historical costumes I’ve made which I have also wound up wearing on stage!

Are you a performer? Have you had to wear your own historical costumes on stage?

*More to watch*
A Day in the Life of a Professional Theatre Swing:
Altering a Ballgown for Theatrical Quick Changes:
Edwardian Fashion Evolution:
I (almost) made an 1860’s dress in a day:
If you want to see me perform, you can check out this song cover playlist here:
And you can see me play Jo in Little Women here:

Come see Titanic at Tacoma Musical Playhouse, running April 14 through May 7th:

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Lady Rebecca Fashions
PO Box 695
Auburn, WA 98071

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anime costume website When it comes to creating these costumes, we leave no stone unturned. We study every detail of the character’s outfit, from the color of their shoes to the texture of their cape. We use this information to create costumes that are not only accurate but also comfortable to wear. After all, what good is a costume if it’s too uncomfortable to actually wear for an extended period of time?

31 thoughts on “All the historical costumes I’ve worn onstage

  1. I'm curious to know if you're compensated for using your own wardrobe or making your own (but keeping) costumes? I know rentals are a staple in costuming shows, and costuming budgets are paltry

  2. I'm a huge fan of costuming and it is such fun seeing your theatrical costumes! I do community theater and enjoyed seeing your "resume", as well! I love your channel; you have picked some fabulous projects and it is great fun to watch you choosing your path through them!

  3. Super cool to see all the roles you played in such beautiful costumes. That cinderella one you made as well was just so darn cute! Definitely looking forward to hearing about what you do costume wise for Titanic.

  4. Enjoyed hearing about your background in theater and acting, combined with your costuming journey. You are so talented! It's so interesting to see how you combine your sewing of personal costumes with your theater work.

  5. @Lady Rebecca- if you have any more history bounding finds from a large box store in the future, would you mind sharing them with us in the hopes that we can find similar items? Thanks for showing us these! It helps to think how things can work together and be re-purposed. 🙂

  6. This was a great video!! It was great to hear about the varying levels of costumes available at different types of theatres. I am the costume director at my local community theatre and the reason I became interested in it is because I am plus-size myself and always struggle to find existing costumes that will fit. I’m hoping to change that problem while I’m director though. Thank you!

  7. This was really fun! I loved seeing what you made making it to the stage, that's really pretty cool. It's terrible that stage costuming is so difficult for plus sized actresses. I hope your message can get out there and help make changes.

    Looking forward to hearing about Titanic the Musical! That sounds exciting! I got the see that show a couple of years ago when my brother and sil were ensamble in a production near them. They got to play a married couple (so cute!) and I really enjoyed the show. Too bad you're on the opposite coast, it'd be so cool to see your productions.

  8. It's so great seeing all the costumes you've made/worn for the theatre.

    I totally know what you mean about plus sized costumes. We're currently cataloging all our costumes and we have a million size 6, 8 and 10s and hardly any bigger sizes which totally doesn't reflect the sizes of our actors.

  9. so are you saying you played the part of ivy the barmaid in 'jekyll and hyde the musical'? i would loved to have seen you in that, it's such a meaty part! ingrid bergman, in the 1941 movie version, was first offered the fiancee role but went for the barmaid role because it was a better part dramatically.

  10. I totally understand what you mean about plus size actors having either ill-fitting costumes or, worse yet, no costume at all. Every show I've ever been in I've either had to pull from my closet or make especially for the show. That's part of the reason I became a costumer. That and the fact that when I was in college none of the directors ever thought I was good enough to actually be onstage in parts that I would have been perfect for. And those times when I was cast it was for the chorus or some other small part. So I just melted into the background and became a techie. Now where I live I'm spoiled for choice because this city has at least a dozen amateur theatre companies. Unfortunately I'm now disabled and auditioning is so much of a hassle. I'd like to do costumes for some of them, but I think my current lack of any real work ethic would be a problem, especially since the pandemic and lockdown. But it's just me. LOL

  11. Hurray for your mention of union labor!!
    I really enjoyed this video, Rebecca. Designing. Constructing. Performing. So many talents that you make videos of, just so I can enjoy them! I cracked up seeing the gym uniforms… I think I'm one of the last girls who was required to wear them (a much more modern version) in public high school. Haha.

  12. Great job! And I so feel you on being plus size in theatre. When I costumed Music Man, most of our cast were on the plus size end of the spectrum (we are in Mississippi, so that's sort of to be expected). But it was still a pain to costume everybody, especially given our "non" budget (basically, whatever we could borrow from the local pro/am theatre or what the cast were willing to buy themselves). We had a FEW pieces in the theatre's costume closet that could be made to work — for the younger girls/women, because the few pieces that were "close enough" in style were mostly US size 6-8. The stage manager had some pieces from shows she'd costumed that we were able to use (with a few judicious alterations), & we made a few pieces that couldn't be sourced otherwise. Thank GOODNESS so many fashions from 2019 were almost directly inspired by Edwardian fashions!! (But convincing our guys to wear their pants at the waist instead of the hips……. oy.)

  13. Thank you for sharing your journey in making costumes & which ones for which production. I didn't want you to stop even tho you were thru presenting what you have thus far! Knowing about your many talents is exciting & fascinating! 🥰