Behind the Seams
Exploring the Gender Pay Gap in Costume Design
What is the gender pay gap?
The gender pay gap is generally defined as the difference between the median (average) hourly earnings of men and of women, as a percentage of men’s earnings.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), as of April 2023, full-time female workers earned 7.7% less per hour than their male counterparts.
Interestingly, for part-time workers, women actually earned 3.3% more than men, when overtime is excluded. The median pay is a key figure here—it is the middle point in a list of wages, showing what a typical employee earns more accurately than the average.
When we look at all types of employment, the gender pay gap is much wider. This is mainly because more women work part-time, where the hourly pay is usually lower.
In April 2023, women's median earnings across all employment types were 14.3% lower than men's.
Although the pay gap for full-time workers has been steadily closing since 1997 and the overall gap has shrunk over time, the part-time pay gap has consistently shown that women earn slightly more than men on average.
The causes of the gender pay gap are complex and varied.
Direct discrimination plays a part in women’s lower wages, particularly for older women who entered the labour market on less equal terms to men and who may face dual discrimination on the grounds of age and gender.
However, structural factors are the key cause of the gender pay gap. These include occupational segregation; the part-time pay penalty; women’s disproportionate responsibility for unpaid caring; and women’s concentration in low-paid, highly feminised sectors.
What is a costume designer?
Costume designers are responsible for designing, creating, and selecting the clothing and accessories worn by characters, which help to define and express the story's visual narrative.
To do this, they collaborate closely with other heads of department (HoD), such as production designers, cinematographers, and directors.
They are often among the first to arrive on set and the last to leave, sometimes putting in 18-hour days before starting all over again.
Despite their significant contributions, costume designers, along with assistant costume designers and illustrators, are among the lowest paid professionals in the film and TV industry.
Ilona Haldemann
Ilona is a budding young designer specialising in costume design, primarily for short films.
She completed her studies in Costume Interpretation with Design at The Northern School of Art before securing her initial role as a costume making trainee for theatre, contributing to productions like Mary Poppins, Hamilton, and Scottish Ballet’s Mayerling. In 2023, she designed costumes for the yet-to-be-released short film “Bluff” by Silver Salt Films, which received funding from BFI and the National Lottery. Ilona is a recent alumna of the Sara Putt Trainee Scheme 2023.
Currently, Ilona works alongside costume designer Rikki Finlay on various projects for clients including ITV, Netflix, and NBC.
I have strong ambitions for my friends and myself.
According to Ilona, experiences on set can vary greatly depending on who you are working for. However, being in the early stages of her career, Ilona often feels that she is not compensated fairly for her work, particularly when it comes to the daily rates offered for short films. On the other hand, other department heads who have been in the industry for a longer time are able to negotiate better pay.
Reflecting on her work on a music video project, Ilona observed that while she and most other creative heads were not compensated, the camera operator was, noting that the camera, sound, and direction departments often receive preferential treatment.
She said: "Typically, roles in sound and camera are always paid for, as these professionals usually must bring their own equipment and so are reluctant to work unpaid.
"On the other hand, because there are always individuals in the costume department who are willing to work for free to build their portfolios, this leads to a cycle of low or no pay."
When asked about the existence of a salary structure, Ilona highlighted the importance of adhering to union rates.
However, she noted that producers sometimes offer less than these rates, using tight budgets as justification.
She said: "Budgets set by production houses often reflect past expenditures and fail to consider inflation or the historical underpayment of certain departments."
Ilona also shed light on the stigma around discussing pay and what this can lead to, saying:
Speaking on the ways in which gender plays a role in how professionals in the creative department are paid or promoted, Ilona added:
Reflecting on what changes professionals within the creative department can apply to tackle the gender pay gap, Ilona added:
When asked how up-and-coming designers can advocate for fair pay and equal opportunities in their careers, Ilona said:
What is a trade union?
A trade union is an organisation composed mainly of workers and employees who come together to safeguard their interests in the workplace.
This includes negotiating with employers on pay and conditions, addressing significant issues such as large-scale redundancies, discussing members' concerns with employers, and accompanying members to disciplinary and grievance meetings.
Bectu
Bectu is the union for creative ambition, and they represent more than 40,000 staff, contract and freelance workers across the media, and entertainment industries.
Its members are involved in a wide range of non-performance roles across sectors such as live events, broadcasting, film, cinema, digital media, independent production, leisure, theatre, and the arts.
Bectu is thus dedicated to the ambition of its members and is committed to supporting them through workspace issues by advocating for their rights an protecting their jobs.
As an experienced campaigning union, Bectu has also successfully tackled a wide array of issues across the creative sectors.
This includes addressing the long-hours culture in the film and TV industry, enhancing diversity within theatre, standardizing freelance pay in major films, and continuing to secure excellent pay and conditions for its members at the BBC.
Being a part of the politically independent Prospect union, Bectu's independence empowers the union to speak truth to power across all political parties, ensuring that its members' voices and interests are heard.
The world of work is changing. [...] As a union we are dedicated to keeping pace with that change to ensure workers can thrive through this change instead of being left behind.
Bectu's Costume Film Rate Card July 2023
Bectu's Costume Film Rate Card July 2023
In addition to pioneering collective agreements on pay, terms, and conditions with employers and industry bodies, many of Bectu's craft branches also provide recommended rates for roles ranging from junior to seniors across various types of production.
Except for Bectu's theatre members, whose rates are set through collective bargaining agreements with the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) and UK Theatre (formerly the Theatrical Management Association), this information represents the advised going rates established by the relevant freelance branches for film and independent productions.
Bectu also recommends minimum terms and conditions for those not covered by an existing agreement.
Yet, costume designers, assistant costume designers, and illustrators are among the least well-compensated professionals in the film and TV industry. A significant wage gap is evident, especially when considering the typical 60-hour work week: Even according to the Bectu rate cards, the scale rates for costume designers are between 37-40% lower than those for their counterparts in other creative department head roles, who are majority male.
Image Credits
[1] Pride & Prejudice: Caroline Bingley. https://www.dressupbyilona.com/costume-portfolio/pride-prejudice-caroline-bingely
[2] Giorgia Bianchi. Ilona Haldemann sorting through costumes.
[3] April Johnson. Millinery. https://www.dressupbyilona.com/costume-portfolio/millinery
[4-7] Felicity Yifan Wu. Costume Designing: Freeze. https://www.dressupbyilona.com/costume-portfolio/costume-design-freeze
[8] Garry Knight, Public Domain Dedication
[9-11] JC Monaghan. BECTU MARCH PICS (32 of 35) - BECTU presence at the TUC National Demonstration Against Austerity 2015 (04/10/2015), Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/129547872@N04/21762592200/in/photostream/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
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