I get asked this more than you’d think. Someone’s planning an event with a fashion element, or a costume change, or a themed awards night, and they’re trying to work out whether they need a wardrobe HOD or whether they can just ask someone on the crew to keep an eye on the clothes.
The answer depends entirely on what you’re actually doing. So let me break it down.
What does a wardrobe HOD actually do?
HOD stands for Head of Department. A wardrobe HOD is the person in overall charge of everything costume and clothing-related at your event. That means they’re responsible for the clothes themselves, the dressers working under them, the organisation of what goes where, who wears what and when, and making sure every costume change happens at exactly the right moment without anyone missing their cue.
They’re not just there to steam a jacket. They’re managing a department – even if that department is two people – and they’re doing it under live event conditions where there is no margin for error.
When do you actually need one?
If your event involves any of the following, you need a wardrobe HOD:
Multiple performers with costume changes – anyone stepping off stage to change and back on again needs someone tracking exactly where they are and where their next outfit is.
A fashion show or catwalk element – the timing here is relentless. A wardrobe HOD keeps the whole backstage machine running.
A themed event where many attendees or performers are in costume – someone needs to be responsible for what’s there, what fits, and what needs sorting before the show starts.
Anything with dressers – if you’ve got dressers on your crew, they need a HOD to coordinate them. Without one, it’s chaos.
When can you probably get away without one?
If you have one person on stage with one outfit change and a runner who can hand them a jacket, you might not need a full wardrobe HOD. But that’s a narrow set of circumstances, and if anything goes wrong – the zip breaks, the quick-change doesn’t go to plan, a performer arrives late – there’s no one who owns the problem.
The ironing comment in the title is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it’s not far off. I’ve seen events where someone assumed the dresser could handle everything, and the dresser was brilliant at dressing but had never managed a team or tracked multiple costume changes at once. That’s not their fault – it’s just a different skill set.
The honest answer
If there’s any complexity at all in your wardrobe requirements, book a wardrobe HOD. The cost of getting it wrong – a performer missing their entrance because a costume isn’t ready, or a quick-change going sideways in front of the audience – is far higher than the hire fee.
If you’re genuinely unsure what you need, that’s exactly the kind of conversation we have every day at Maverick. Tell me what your event involves and I’ll tell you what crew makes sense.
Need the right crew, fast? Get in touch here – or call Jill on 07764 460008.
