‘Anyone Can Put On Clothes, Right?’: Costume Design and Styling as Women’s Work in Dutch Media Production

Abstract

Over the last thirty years, the frustrations of women working in costume design and styling in the Dutch film and television industry with their poor working conditions and lack of recognition have grown strong enough to now culminate in a form of collective resistance. At the cusp of what might be a turning point, this article locates the key developments that have led to this moment at the intersection of the peculiarities of this national media industry, the way costume design and fashion are culturally rendered shallow and feminine, and the repercussions of gender for this trade. It suggests that the grassroots collectivisation of costuming staff in the Dutch media industry challenges the postfeminist tendency to individualise workers’ problems.