When she was 15, she would take garments from the thrift store and modify them.  During college Nichols majored in English and minored in French and planned on becoming a high school teacher.  “I wanted to save kids the way my high school teachers saved me and given me hope and set me on the right path,” says Nichols. She also saw an advertisement during freshman orientation for a job in the costume shop.  “I can get a job doing this? I mean I do it for free,” thought Nichols.

When she was looking at masters programs for teaching she realized she no longer wanted to teach high school students.   “I had thought that college would toughen me up and make me no longer terrified of high school students but it turned out that I was only 21 and still kind of intimidated by them,” said Nichols.

Her costume shop advisor explained that she could apply to grad school and present her strong technical portfolio showing the production side of costuming.  Nichols attended Temple for grad school and learned the design end of costuming.  A few months after she graduated, a position at Rowan opened up and it was a perfect fit.

Nichols is also an accomplished ballroom dancer.  She became involved in dancing as an undergraduate and she often had to help out with making costumes for performances.   Nichols dance and design skills fit together because, “I have the best costumes of any of my dance friends,” explains Nichols.

Overall Nichols loves costume designing because, “I love playing with color and texture.  Sometimes as a designer I refer to myself as a texture junky,” says Nichols.

The costume classes that Rowan offers include:

• Costuming I-Students learn the production end of costuming through hand and machine sewing, as well as techniques such as pattern making, dying and millenary (hat making)
•  Costuming II- Students learn costume design theory though concepts such as texture, color, light and movement.  The second part of the semester students learn costume history
• Costume Design- Students make one paper project after another although they do no actual work with fabric.
• Stage makeup-Students practice basic stage makeup such as special effects and old-age

*Costuming I and II students also have to do 15 hours of work in the costume shop or serve as a wardrobe crew member. Nichols explains, “ it’s vital,” for performers to know how to make their own costumes and respect their designers and wardrobe crew.

Nichols encourages fashion-interested students to take Costuming I.  Nichols loves having non-majors in her class, “There always my favorites because they are really excited.” However, students also should recognize that there are differences between fashion and costuming and these are not fashion classes but they are related.

Sometimes inspiration for costumes can come from fashion around campus, “I know that there have been times when I’ve seen somebody wear something and thought, ‘I want to use that in a show or that reminds me of this particular character in a show,’” said Nichols.

Overall, if you are interested in sewing and learning about design, these classes could be for you.  You never know if your interest in costuming could turn into a career like it did for Nichols.