Student spotlight on final year BA (Hons) Costume Interpretation with Design student Eleanor Graham from Bristol, and her FMP work based on the film Mean Girls, her collection is a “redesign for an 18^th century style version of Mean Girls, with influences from the original 2000s setting, highlighting the similarities between historical court hierarchy and high school cliques.”

Her designs centre on “Regina George and Janis Ian, who are rival characters in the story and represent the popular girl vs social outcast archetypes. I based the costumes around 18^th century silhouettes and historical patterns, using boned foundational garments to help achieve this, and modernised the ensembles using more modern colours and fabrics. I also explored both historical and modern embellishment techniques, such as fabric painting foiling, applique and embroidery.”

“I have really enjoyed showing each character’s personality through the costumes, especially through the silhouettes and embellishment, in order to create two costumes that juxtapose well with each other and display both the rivalry and the similarities between Regina and Janis. The challenges with this project mainly centred around working with historical pattern shapes that I was previously unfamiliar with, and also issues with fabric suppliers, but through trial and error I have ended up with two costumes that fit my vision and that I am really proud of.”

Speaking of her time at the school she commented “one of the best things about studying at the school is the sense of community here and the friendships I have built with people both on and off my course. The feeling of community has really been helped by student events over the last 3 years, such as the Winter Ball and themed nights run by the SU.”

Reflecting on her degree programme Eleanor said that “studying costume at the school has overall been really enjoyable, while also challenging me to push the boundaries of what I thought I was previously capable of. It’s been the perfect opportunity to further my skills and explore my own interests independently, while still receiving plenty of support from my lecturers. Doing modules based around finding jobs and learning about different roles in the industry has been really beneficial in helping me to kickstart my career when I leave university. One of the most memorable live briefs I have worked on was when I was tasked with making a 19^th century lifeboatman costume for a display at the Tall Ships festival in 2023. This involved working out how to make a Victorian cork life jacket which, while being quite a daunting task, I found really interesting, and it helped me to push my work further out of my comfort zone.”

Her advice to future costume students is, “don’t be afraid to seek out and accept opportunities like work experience to help you in your future career, and always make sure you plan ahead in your modules to avoid stressing out before deadlines!”

Our BA (Hons) Costume Interpretation with Design degree offers students the skills and opportunities needed to carve out successful careers in the stage & screen industries. Alumni from this programme have worked on world famous sets and stages across the country and internationally. Find out more here.