Artistic, creative, and passionate are three words that describe who Judith Fletcher really is. A veteran of the arts, Fletcher is a director, a makeup artist, and now the professor of the newly revived costume design class at Henry Ford Community College.

The costuming class had been an available class, though there was little-to-no interest in the class, therefore no reason to offer it anymore…until recently. There has been a recent spark among new theater students that want to branch out from the realm of acting into the backstage aspects of theater production—the makeup design class, for instance.

As a student of the arts, I had the pleasure of meeting with Judith Fletcher to discuss the re-established costume design class.

Before the interview, Ms. Fletcher went over a little bit of the background of the class, explaining that it had not been available for the last five years. Conversely, a sudden, recent interest in the costuming aspect of theatre brings an optimistic outlook regarding the future of the course, and the plan is to make it available as a specialty class beginning with the fall term of 2011.

What, I asked her, would be her expectations for the class? Ms. Fletcher stated that, hopefully, she would be able to give her students the life skills and knowledge of costuming to enable them to pursue a career in costuming, if they so choose.

From a professor’s perspective, the objectives for the students are based on the basic knowledge of sewing—both machine and hand sewing—the ability to maintain and repair clothing, as well as the design aspect. This entails understanding the concept of dressing the actors according to the script and the little tidbits that go along with the costumes, including accessories such as footwear, headwear, purses, jewelry and leather work, as well as how to repair/construct said items. Ms. Fletcher hopes her students will grasp what the costuming profession is all about and what, in the midst of a production, a costumer must undergo.

“Costumers are really ‘unsung heroes’ in this industry,” said Fletcher. “Even though designing is the fun aspect of it, as well as artistic and creative, it’s also very tedious work. A lot of people don’t understand how much time really goes into these costumes. There is no fairy godmother that, with a whisk of her wand, will create Cinderella’s dress in theater.

“It’s all hard work; the time that goes into these costumes is long, which will also lead into teaching my students plan-developing.”

In terms of the time it takes for the costumes to be, in most cases, pieced together, it can be very challenging work. It is very demanding of the costumer’s time and effort. Consequently, with the demand for such a class, as well as its re-installment into the theatre department, Henry Ford Community College will provide the funding for six new sewing machines. The class, with a limit of 12 students, will meet each Wednesday, from 6 p.m. to 8:50 p.m.

As of now, the costume design class will be offered during the upcoming fall semester. In addition, the makeup design class will be offered in the same time slot during the following winter term.