Costume Work | Jillian Skara

Costume Designer

A Game of Love and Chance, American University

Directed by Karl Kippola

In A Game of Love and Chance, all actors participated in a lottery system at the top of each performance to determine what role they would perform. The actors also improvised the dialogue, the Rococo aesthetic was important to ground the story in 1730s France. Additionally, the actors had to start the show in base layers to allow for quick dressing after the pre-show, so I worked with each member of the cast to create a personalized look based off of historical undergarments.

"...indeed manages to maintain the “truth of Marivaux’s play.” This truth carries on through the intricate costuming of Jillian Skara, whose work makes early modern aristocratic dress spry and sexy."

- Ian Kirkland, DC Theatre Arts

"Jillian Skara’s costume design is the most visually appealing of the bunch. Particularly, the neutral layers worn by the actors at the top of the play were evocative both of the period and of present day: they also didn’t follow the gender binary, which added to the theme of unknown possibility in a really exciting way."

- Caro Dubberly, The Medium

Assistant Costume Designer

Sleeping Giant, Rorschach Theatre

Costume Designer: Ash Ludwig

For Sleeping Giant, I completed alterations, pulled pieces from various stock and did a whole lot of distressing on garments. In addition to my ASM duties every night, I also applied an airbrush tattoo to The Butterfly King with the help of a stencil designed by Ash, and dealt with a whole lot of stage blood, dirt, and glitter

Assistant Costume Designer

Head Over Heels, American University

Costume Designer: Sydney Moore

In addition to playing the role of Pamela,

I assisted Sydney Moore by completing alterations, and designing and executing detail work on many garments.

For performances, I did hair and makeup for a number of cast members

Costume Coordinator

Overture 2023, American University

Overture is a yearly devised performance created by the first year students. Director Nancy Bannon wanted the students to be able to show who they are through their performance and clothing. As the costume coordinator, I created costume concepts and renderings, personalized clothing to show student's personalities, created accessories, and pulled from stock to help students express themselves while have a cohesive image.