Costume Design and the Creative Process

1/24/2025 | Heidi Kirchofer

Category: circus, thrive movement studio, performance, lifestyle, movement, health, fitness, wellness

During super long winter nights and short days, I find it to be a fantastic time to dive into the creative process. I spent this past December working on two custom costumes for a New Year’s Eve event. The client requested tree-inspired costumes and that one should be a quadruped; giving me the liberty to not be literal and let my vision guide the process.This project touched on so many things that I love about the creative process; giving new life to found and leftover materials, creative problem solving, experimentation and learning.

As the project unfolded, I was able to use a bunch of materials that I’ve had kicking around forever. I repurposed some leather pieces from the Collinsville axe factory that had been previously used as ax and Hammer handles.  An old bra that fit horribly was adorned with the leather pieces, painted gold and affixed to the outside of the costume.

One challenge was how to attach the headpiece to the quadruped costume. I had made a large headpiece with ferns and antlers. Since the performer would be on all fours and looking down slightly, it had to be very secure to the head without tilting forward. I was also concerned it would be too heavy to wear for 9 hours, which includes performance time, but also set-up, makeup and breaks between sets. It took some thinking on how to attach this headpiece to the hood underneath without sacrificing look or performer comfort.

I wanted the base unitard of the costumes to be mottled and not super uniform, more like the natural world. I was concerned that dyeing them would produce a tie-dye look, which I didn’t want for these pieces. Dyeing the unitards and stilt covers also required some problem solving, testing and experimentation.  I came up with the idea of putting the unitards in a paint straining bag so they’d be squished in there. It did work out quite well.

I find creative problem-solving to be a favorite part of my artistic process, whether it is in costume design or even my aerial work. Finding new ways to get into positions, different transitions and ways of connecting skills is exciting and there is a satisfaction in discovering a different way to think on your feet. Costuming supports my Circus work and is one of my favorite parts, largely because the creative process in aerial work feels similar to the process of making costumes: strategic thinking, exploration and play.

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