Haven Sidell: Managing Costume Creation

By Katlynn Rossignol

“You think of the stereotypical costumer; and she’s like, frizzed and frazzled and running around and always has a measuring tape on her neck,” said Haven Sidell, Cedarville University’s  costume shop manager. “The number of times I’ve left the shop and forgotten to take my measuring tape off my neck is so many. It’s definitely a stereotype for a reason.”  

It’s hard to describe the vast scale of the costume shop storage hidden on the bottom floor of the SSC. The entrance has an entire wall dedicated to costumes organized by time period which range from Shakespearean times to the early 2000s. Deeper inside are the cramped clothes racks with rows of gaudy capes, wedding dresses and stacks of clothes hangers awaiting a coveted spot. 

Navigating the space is costume shop manager Haven Sidell, with a stack of costume pieces on her arm and measuring tape around her neck. Sidell graduated from Cedarville in 2023 with a degree in Psychology and minors in biblical counseling and theater. Her journey from Cedarville freshman to costume shop manager involved a variety of roles, both inside and outside
the classroom.

“I came in with the intention to go into counseling, as that is a super undersaturated field that we need a Christian presence in,” Sidell said. “And I’m still open to doing something counseling related, but the Lord has opened so many doors through both my major and my involvement in theater.” 

Sidell is no stranger to public performances. Her involvement included everything from performing in theater productions, creating original music for shows, joining L.O.L. Improv and hosting Elliv Illuminate in 2023. 

“I didn’t come to college thinking, ‘Yeah, I want to be the Elliv host,’” Sidell said. “I learned so much about acting through being involved in shows as well as through the classroom setting and the people that I got to meet from multiple different disciplines. Many of them I still talk to today.”

After landing her first performance role during the 2020 production of “All My Sons,” Sidell learned about the costume shop positions from her friends in the theater major. Sewing and all things costume creation were a few of her many interests while growing up. Eager to be further involved with the theater, she joined the costume shop crew during her junior year. 

Soon after graduation, Sidell had the opportunity to return to the Cedarville theater as the assistant manager for the 2024 performance of “12 Angry Jurors.” She was excited to return once again to design for the spring semester performance of “Radium Girls.” As manager, Sidell guides student workers through each step of costume production. 

“Normally, in theatre costume shops, you have the manager who does a lot of the computer work or the bookkeeping, and then you have drapers, cutters, sewers, etc.,” Sidell said, describing her role. “You have people who are creating the patterns, cutting out the patterns and sewing the patterns. We like to condense things a little bit and give people the opportunity to try out different steps of the process.”

The active work of hemming, mending and creating costume pieces happens in a separate space from the costume storage. The costume workshop sits down the hall from the storage room and is where students work at every step of the costume preparation process. Sophomore Biblical Studies major and costume shop employee, Vada Bowen, describes the job as a great opportunity to learn in a constantly changing environment. 

“Very few people come into the shop and know everything there is to know about a sewing machine or different styles,” Bowen said. “So you’re constantly asking questions and learning from each other.” 

With so much needing to be done quickly, Sidell must constantly balance the team’s scheduling and budget. Her time as a student worker means she is keenly aware of the overlapping production times of Cedarville’s three yearly productions and their limited preparation time.

For the shop, each show begins with research, a set of renderings from a designer and a treasure hunt through costume storage. Costume shop workers will look at the show’s costume needs and pull pieces that match the time period and character. This process is essential to convincingly sell not only the setting, but also the subtle storytelling of each character. 

“Costumes, and just outfits in general, can just tell you so much about a person,” Bowen said. “For a character, you can use certain colors or styles that help portray who they are as a person. It’s really cool to see that whole ensemble come together on a stage because it’s definitely part of the storytelling.”

Once stock is taken from storage, shop workers will adjust what they have and begin drafting patterns for what is still needed. The team will make a mock-up, a muslin version of the item, to ensure the piece fits the actor properly before fully creating the costume. 

Sidell and the student workers get everything prepared before the first dress rehearsals and then have the costume crew handle things during performance nights. These crews are made up of staff and volunteer students who work during shows to ensure everything is set-up, costume quick changes are ready and laundry is done after the show so it’s ready for the next performance. 

The whole operation is incredibly detailed and requires many moving parts. Although managing the many tasks is challenging, Sidell finds joy in bringing the humanities to campus.

“I think that the most important part of having a Christian in this job is the ability to invest in others’ lives and collaborate in creating,” Sidell said. “The humanities are so important and so necessary for life and I think as Christians, we sometimes forget how important they are for the formation [of] a healthy theology of art. So, getting to practice that and encourage others to participate and collaborate in that has been really special.”

Beyond art and costume creation, Sidell finds that her favorite part of managing the shop is the people. 

“The relationships I’ve gotten to form with my shop workers and to be someone who sees them regularly and is able to check in with their life; someone around who can support them,” Sidell said. “That’s what I think is the most important. And it’s also my favorite part of my job: I love my girls.”

Katlynn Rossignol is a junior Strategic Communications Major and A&E assistant editor for Cedars. She loves arts and crafts, spending time with friends and watching superhero movies.  

Photos by Logan Howard