Conscious Costume

Mission Educate fellow artists on the urgency of new forms of design and production as relate to climate change, consumption, waste, and environmental justice. Create tools for costume artists to be responsible stewards of the resources we use in our art. Provide decentralized and physical spaces for resource and idea sharing with an emphasis on empowering young and under-resourced artists. Advocate for change on an institutional level by developing retail partnerships and identifying and lobbying for legislation that facilitates our vision. Acknowledge that the cornerstone to what we think of as "sustainable" art is based in practices that have been used for generations in Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color and that Decolonizing our theatres is foundational to ethical design and production. Conscious Costuming is anti-racist and community connected. Conscious Costume is proud to provide low cost, accessible, and easily available costume rentals to theatres and performers, with emphasis on community membership and collaboration. While we welcome creators of all stripe to rent from us on a per-project/need basis, Member Individuals and Organizations get access to special discounts and benefits. Our stock includes donated costumes from companies all over the Mid West and Mid Atlantic regions including The Goodman, Steppenwolf, Troika, The Hypocrites, and from designer’s private collections. We see ourselves as friendly collaborators, we operate from abundance rather than scarcity and want to work with you, your budget, and your needs to see your full design vision come to life. We would rather our costumes be used than stored. Though this page will discuss our pricing, please inquire about opportunities to remove capitalism from your costume acquisition.