Personal Care and Service · Holland code ACR

Costume Attendants

Select, fit, and take care of costumes for cast members, and aid entertainers. May assist with multiple costume changes during performances.

Also called: Costumer, Dresser, Wardrobe Assistant, Wardrobe Supervisor, Costume Draper, Costume Seamstress, Draper, Wardrobe Attendant.

O*NET 39-3092.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $50,400; Middle half earn $38,610 to $77,680. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 32% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Create worksheets for dressing lists, show notes, or costume checks.
Provide dressing assistance to cast members or assign cast dressers to assist specific cast members with costume changes.
Arrange costumes in order of use to facilitate quick-change procedures for performances.
Design or construct costumes or send them to tailors for construction, major repairs, or alterations.
Examine costume fit on cast members and sketch or write notes for alterations.
Distribute costumes or related equipment and keep records of item status.
Check the appearance of costumes on stage or under lights to determine whether desired effects are being achieved.
Clean and press costumes before and after performances and perform any minor repairs.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.1 / 5
Speaking3.1 / 5
Monitoring3.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.9 / 5
Critical Thinking2.9 / 5
Writing2.5 / 5

Knowledge areas

Fine Arts3.6 / 5
Design3.2 / 5
Production and Processing3.2 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.1 / 5
English Language3.1 / 5
Psychology3.1 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic48
Investigative0
Artistic77
Social38
Enterprising31
Conventional54

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

costume designer · DE Kostümdesigner/Kostümdesignerin · FR créateur de costumes/créatrice de costumes
costume buyer · DE Kostümbildassistent/Kostümbildassistentin · FR acheteur-costumier/acheteuse-costumière
mask maker · DE Maskengestalter/Maskengestalterin · FR fabricant de masques/fabricante de masques
dresser · DE Garderobier/Garderobiere · FR habilleur/habilleuse
costume attendant · DE Ankleider/Ankleiderin · FR assistant costumier/assistante costumière
costume maker · DE Theaterschneider/Theaterschneiderin · FR costumier/costumière

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Clothing, fashion and accessories designers (3422)18,300 employed
Buyers and procurement officers (3551)64,100 employed
Leisure and theme park attendants (9267)45,900 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.45. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (39-3092).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test