Student Blog: Prioritizing Passion With A Growing Career, College, and More

Ella Sigurdsson is a Costume Designer, makeup artist, and theater artist; along with being a full-time student in the department of theatre arts at Western Connecticut State University (WCSU). She is the recipient of two awards and eleven additional nominations from the Seven Angels Halo Awards, as well as a nomination and recognition from the Stephen Sondheim Awards this past May. On top of being a costume design student at WCSU, she is currently a Costume Designer for the Ridgefield High School Department of Visual and Performing Arts and works regularly in the costumes and wardrobe department for the WCSU department of theater arts. Additionally, Ella has worked in costume design for the New Canaan Summer Theatre Program, co-created and toured theater-based assemblies promoting kindness and empathy for school children, and regularly posts her makeup designs to her upcoming social media platforms. I recently had the opportunity to speak to Ella about how she handles her life as a Costume Designer, pursuing a career, being a full time student, and her social media presence; all while keeping her passion for design. Read the full interview below, and be sure to check out Ella’s work on Instagram and Youtube at @frenchella06.

How did you first get into creating clothing and costume design?

Well, I had been doing theater in terms of acting for a couple of years, and then freshman year of high school I took a costume and makeup design class. Then, Sophomore year I found out that I could help out with the costumes in the shows at my high school. I’ve always loved sewing and clothing; I’ve been doing it ever since and I love it.

And how did you get into makeup design?

I just loved watching my mom do her makeup every day. I started experimenting with makeup in middle school, and when I got my first Ben Nye makeup kit from costume and makeup design class I started messing around with liquid latex and bruising. I just really liked it. And from then on I realized that I could create anything I wanted if I thought of it. 

You also post your makeup and clothing designs on social media, why did you decide to start doing that?

Well, I was taking pictures of all the makeup that I was doing and I was making videos for fun, just for myself. And then, I remember showing friends or family and they were like ‘oh you should share this- like this is fun and it looks good’. So I remember talking to my mom one day and I was like, ‘I want to try this out and share what I can do’. Because I love seeing other people’s makeup work online, so I thought it would be fun to do it. And I love it. 

Would you ever want to focus on social media, maybe going towards being more of a full time influencer or online creator?

That’s definitely something that I considered for a while, going into it fully. I just don’t know if [social media] is the only thing I would want to do. Like have it be my full time job? Because I really do love working in theater and doing costuming. And I need to socialize with people, I feel that as an influencer you’re working from home. So I would consider doing more of it, but I would also still want to always be doing something else, too. 

Right now, what would your ideal career path look like?

Ideally, I pass through college so great, so easy. My resume is fabulous, built up, maybe I’ve designed a show in college. And then I'll step out into the world and I'll immediately get a designing job on some huge show. (laughs). But preferably, yeah I mean I’d like to continue working through costuming or hair and makeup, however that may be. And then find a consistent job in something that I find interesting and fun. 

What is it like being a student in school for costumes and design when you have such a passion for it?

I mean, it’s so great to be able to go to classes and be learning stuff that I feel like I'm actually going to use. Especially this semester; right now I'm in costume tech, so I'm learning all the different kinds of stitches. I've always been sewing, but I never knew the names of the hand stitches because I've always been teaching myself. So it’s great to feel like I can use what I'm learning in productions and in the future. 

Since you pretty much taught yourself, what do you think are the benefits of teaching yourself anything creative like costumes or makeup?

You can go at your own pace, because you don’t have to be worried about being in a class setting where everybody is ahead of you and you feel like you’re behind. You’re kind of doing it all on your own. It’s challenging because you don’t have anyone there helping you as you’re figuring things out, but I feel like it forces you to be more creative. You have to find solutions to issues that you wouldn’t have thought of… it’s how you learn to be more creative in your craft. You’re making it your own instead of just doing something that everybody else does. 

But now that you are in college and studying this, do you think that attending school for costumes and makeup, or any area of theater, is necessary?

I mean, I don't know if it's necessary. I feel kind of that way about any art, I don’t think school is a necessity but I think that it’s great. Like in terms of theater, I think it’s great for making connections and meeting other people in your field. And I mean, I'm studying costuming but [the program] is design and tech, so I’m learning about scenic design and lighting and sound and all the stuff which I wouldn’t have learned about before. And I'm also learning how to work in a professional environment. I'm building my resume by working on productions where we’re being treated like professionals, so I think it’s a great experience. 

How is it balancing school with other productions that you’re working on?

Well, it’s a lot. It’s better now, but my first semester the shows I was working on overlapped. That was a challenging time for me personally, because the shows were opening at the same time and I was designing one and I was the head of wardrobe for the other, so it was a whole mess. But now I'm feeling pretty good about it. You do have to keep track of a lot of things, so it’s good to be organized and try not to procrastinate work. If you can get the stuff done earlier it’s better, because you have to keep track of schoolwork, work for the shows at the school, and a whole other show that I’m designing. So it’s trying to figure out where I'm going when, what I’m going to do, and making sure that I have enough time. It’s making sure that I'm not overloading myself by saying yes to a bunch of things, and realizing that I need to take a step back and know my limits.

Since you have so much passion for costuming and for makeup, is it at all hard to keep that passion while doing so much hard work on productions and going to school for it at the same time? You said it started as a personal hobby, so how do you keep that for yourself a little bit?

Yeah, it is kind of hard. Especially tech week, it gets rough. Because I get drained from sewing really fast, or having to do the same thing over and over again, or being on set timelines that I have to follow for finishing certain projects and stuff, so I’m not doing it as much for myself. It is challenging sometimes because I feel like the only time I get to follow my passion is when I’m doing work. But whenever I do have free time I try to make sure that I give myself time to sew something for myself, or to make sure I sit down and get a few hours to do some makeup for fun and not think about anyone else’s opinions or what anyone else wants. Just some time to do what I want instead of following a director’s vision of what they want something to look like, just something fully my own. 

For more images and information on Ella Sigurdsson, visit her Instagram or Youtube pages (@frenchella06), check out her current productions!