Film Career · Costume And Wardrobe
Wardrobe Mistress
Costume And Wardrobe · IATSE costume locals (incl. Local 892 for designers)
- Union
- IATSE costume locals
- Day rate
- ~$400–$800/day
- Experience
- 3–7 yrs
What does a Wardrobe Mistress do?
The wardrobe mistress is a working craft position in the costume and wardrobe department on film and television productions.
On union productions the position falls under IATSE costume locals (incl. Local 892 for designers), which sets the rates, hours, and conditions the role works within. The role is engaged show by show, and careers in costume and wardrobe are built on the department heads and crews who hire the same trusted people back.
What does a Wardrobe Mistress make?
- Costume crews are paid by the day with overtime: costumers roughly $400-$800 a day, and supervisors and designers above.
- Roughly $60K-$400K+ a year across the department (IATSE Local 705 and the Costume Designers Guild, Local 892).
Film work is gig based, so crew are paid a day or weekly rate rather than a salary. These are realistic 2024-2025 ranges grounded in union rate cards and industry data; actual pay swings with budget tier, market, overtime, and reputation.
Sources & how we estimate pay
Union scale is the floor; the ranges above also reflect market day rates above scale. They are grounded in the following 2024–2025 sources:
Union rate cards & wage schedules
Official guild scale — the floor each craft is paid from.
- IATSE — 2024 Basic Agreement wage scales (PDF) ↗
- IATSE Local 600 (International Cinematographers Guild) — camera rate cards ↗
- DGA — minimum salary rate cards (director, unit production manager, assistant directors) ↗
- WGA — schedule of minimums (writers) ↗
- SAG-AFTRA — theatrical & background rate sheets (cast, stunts, background) ↗
- Teamsters Local 399 — basic feature wage rates, 2024–27 (transportation, locations, wranglers) (PDF) ↗
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You know garment craft, fitting, and continuity
Soft skills
- You take pride in doing your specific craft well, day in and day out
- You are a dependable team player who makes the department run
Career progression
The role advances the way most costume and wardrobe careers do: repeat hires from the same department heads, growing responsibility within the craft, and a reputation that travels between productions faster than any resume.
How do you become a Wardrobe Mistress?
The working route in is through the costume and wardrobe department's junior positions: assist the people holding this chair, learn the standards the department runs on, and take the small versions of the job wherever they are offered.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by IATSE costume locals (incl. Local 892 for designers) contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.