Costume Internship at the Zephyr Theatre

School of Rock has twelve youth performers, playing students at a private prep school who feel stifled by their parents and pressured to be academically perfect, disciplined, and serious, despite their young age.

Throughout the course of the show, their "substitute teacher" leads them to loosen up and express themselves through music.

The climax of the show is a performance of the song "School of Rock (Teacher's Pet)" by the students, having snuck out to compete at the Battle of the Bands.

It's a high-energy rock number about breaking free of the expectations of their parents and their teachers.

I was responsible for the styling for this number, with the idea that the students themselves (mainly Billy, the aspiring fashion designer, seen far right) had taken their school uniforms and DIY-ed them into glam-rock performance outfits.

I thought a lot about the characters and what matched their personality.

Each of the students serves a different role in the band, whether it's music, dancing, or backstage, and I incorporated that into their costumes.

All of the students ditch their school blazers, and if they're wearing a tie/bow tie, it's either loosened or removed entirely, and potentially replaced with a rhinestoned one.

Some examples of the elements I added were rhinestoned versions of their normal school accessories (glasses, hairbows, shoes) as well as chain belts, leather pants and vests, and fishnet or fingerless gloves

Some of the costume changes, like the addition of the drummer's spiky armbands, happened between acts because the blazers hid them until the final number.