Film crew hire/Edinburgh/Costume
Hire a costume designer or stylist in Edinburgh. Everyone dressed for the part, and the same from take one to wrap.
Costume designers and wardrobe stylists for adverts, brand films, drama and fashion across Edinburgh and the Lothians. They buy the wardrobe on Princes Street and in the St James Quarter or hire it in from Glasgow and London, fit the cast, and keep every outfit the same from the first take to the last. From £519 a day, paid in full.
- 54 five-star Google reviews
- 2 hrs for our team to read your brief, in working hours
- £10m employers’ liability on every crew member we book
- 2,800+ freelance crew on our books, across the UK
Photos: Anna Rafal, Aubrey Odom, bovin wook, Here Now Films and Stuart Hay
The role
What costume and wardrobe do on your shoot
A wardrobe stylist chooses and fits what people wear on camera: buying, borrowing or hiring the clothes, fitting the cast before the shoot and dressing them on the day. A costume designer does the same for period or character work, designing and sourcing costume to the story. On set, wardrobe keeps every collar straight and every outfit in continuity.
On a corporate interview, wardrobe is usually a note on the call sheet: what to wear, what not to. On an advert or a drama, it’s a department.
For contemporary looks, an Edinburgh stylist shops the city centre. Period costume comes from Glasgow, about 45 minutes away by train, where Scottish Opera hires out more than 10,000 costume items (checked October 2026), or from the London costume houses, so the stylist plans fittings and returns around the trip. We’re a crew agency with 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, so we can scale from one stylist for a morning to a wardrobe department for a week. Stylists who live in or near Edinburgh come first; when the brief or the date needs someone else, they come from elsewhere in Scotland, the north of England or London, with the travel on the quote before anything is booked.
- Dressed to the brief. A mood board agreed, the clothes sourced, and nothing on camera that fights the set or the brand.
- Fitted before the day. Fittings with the cast, alterations made, labels and logos dealt with.
- Continuity kept. Photos of every look, so day two matches day one.
- Returned on time. Hires and purchases tracked, returned and accounted for.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- Sourcing, buying or hiring the wardrobe to the brief
- Fitting and dressing the cast
- Steaming, pressing and running repairs on set
- Continuity photos of every look
- Returns and the wardrobe budget, accounted for
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- The wardrobe budget: purchases and hires, at cost
- Prep days for sourcing and fittings, and a returns day, which most jobs need
- A wardrobe assistant, for a bigger cast
- A van for collections and returns, and couriers for costume hired in, at cost
- Travel from outside Edinburgh, and mileage and parking where the day needs them, at cost
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: crew rates in Edinburgh.
Two ways to book
Crew hire or full production: who’s the producer of record?
One question sets the price: who’s the producer of record? Book wardrobe for your own Edinburgh shoot, or have us take the whole production on.
Crew hire
You run the shoot.
10% + 2% booking fee and insurance, on everything we book for you: crew, kit and travel.
We do
- Find, book and brief the crew, and pay them
- Book kit, travel and hotels too, if you want them
- Send the full price before anything is booked
- One person to call all day
- Employers’ liability for the crew we book, and insurance on kit we hire in
You do
- Run the shoot, or your producer does
- The plan, the schedule and the call sheet
- The location, its permission and its public liability
- Responsibility for the production: you’re the producer of record
What the 2% insures: employers’ liability for every crew member we book, and the kit we hire in for you. Nothing else on the shoot. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote.
Full production
We’re the producer of record.
15% + 5% production fee, plus insurance and contingency, on the whole production budget. Quoted as a production.
We do
- Our producer plans it with you and runs the day
- Locations, permits, kit, studio, travel and hotels, booked and paid in our name
- Insurance for the whole shoot, public liability included, plus the risk assessment and the call sheet
- One contract and one invoice, so overseas teams need no UK company
You do
- The creative calls
- Signing off the plan and the budget
What the 5% pays for: our production insurance across the whole shoot, £10m public liability included, and the contingency.
Not sure which you need? If your own producer or director will run the day, it’s crew hire. If you want us to take the production on, it’s a full production quote.
On the day
A day with a wardrobe stylist, call to wrap
A brand film with four cast in a Georgian townhouse in the New Town, two looks each, after a fitting the week before. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- Prep The week before Contemporary looks bought on Princes Street, a period jacket hired from Scottish Opera’s costume store in Glasgow, and a fitting for each cast member.
- 06:30 Wardrobe in Rails, a steamer and the labelled outfits up in a spare room near make-up. The wardrobe van, which meets the Low Emission Zone, in a pay-and-display bay suspended three working days ahead and charged at the bay’s hourly rate (checked October 2026).
- 07:00 Cast dressed Each cast member dressed in the first look after hair and make-up, checked against the mood board.
- 08:00 Camera check Looks checked on the monitor: a pattern that strobes on camera swapped for a plain one.
- 09:00 On set Collars, cuffs and lint between takes, and a continuity photo of every look.
- 13:00 Lunch The second looks steamed and ready.
- 14:00 Change Cast changed in the order of the schedule, so the camera never waits.
- 18:30 Wrap Everything back on the rails, labelled, and booked for return to the shop or the house it came from.
Which kind
Which wardrobe role do you need?
From advice on the call sheet to a full costume department.
Wardrobe stylist Contemporary looks, to a brief Card £519–647
Chooses and fits contemporary clothes for cast and contributors, from shops, brands and hire.
Best for adverts, brand films, fashion and lifestyle shoots, and presenters on stage at the EICC.
Costume designer Period and character Card £519–694
Designs and sources costume for period, character or fantasy work, from costume houses or made to order.
Best for drama, reconstructions and heritage films in the Old Town’s closes or the New Town’s Georgian streets. Period stock is hired in and fitted before the day.
Wardrobe assistant Dressing and continuity on the day Card £341–398
Dresses the cast, steams and repairs, and keeps continuity, working to the stylist or designer.
Best on shoots with a bigger cast or several changes.
Wardrobe advice only Interviews and corporate Free with any booking
A note for contributors: plain colours, no fine stripes or small checks, no logos, a spare top.
Best for interviews in an office on St Andrew Square or in the Exchange district, where people wear their own clothes.
What it’s for
What people book costume and wardrobe for in Edinburgh
Adverts and brand films
A cast dressed to the brand, with no logos that shouldn’t be there, on location in a New Town townhouse, on the Shore at Leith or on the beach at Portobello.
Fashion and lifestyle
Looks styled to a mood board, often alongside hair and make-up, on a studio cove or the curve of Victoria Street.
Drama and reconstructions
Period costume hired in, fitted before the day and returned after it, for the Old Town’s closes, a kirkyard like Greyfriars, or a stage at FirstStage Studios in Leith.
Conferences and events
Presenters and hosts at the EICC dressed for the stage and the camera.
Uniforms
Medical, police, trades and hospitality, sourced to look right on camera, and police uniform covered between takes, as Edinburgh’s filming code asks.
Recent work
Wardrobe on our jobs
Full production · Oslo, Norway · 2026
A stylist on a shoot in Norway
For the Oslo chapter of AI for Empowerment, the stylist was booked for a prep day, the shoot day and half a day for returns, which is the way most styling jobs run, in Edinburgh as anywhere.
How we crew it · Edinburgh
Princes Street, and period stock from Glasgow
A contemporary wardrobe can be bought in a morning on Princes Street and in the St James Quarter; the stylist keeps the receipts and returns what doesn’t go on camera. Period costume comes from Glasgow, about 45 minutes away by train: Scottish Opera hires more than 10,000 items to film, TV and photo shoots, from Tudor and Elizabethan to Victorian and Edwardian dress, for a week at a time, though not shoes or wigs (checked October 2026). Anything it can’t supply comes up from the London costume houses, by courier or with the stylist. On the day, the wardrobe van takes a suspended pay-and-display bay, or stops on a yellow line under a £16 parking dispensation (checked October 2026).
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- 11 hours, including an hour for lunch.
- Overtime at card rates, agreed with you before it happens.
- Prep and returns days are quoted separately.
The wardrobe budget
- Purchases and hires at cost, each on its own line.
- Returns made on time, so hire charges don’t run on.
- Costume hired in from outside the city is couriered or collected, at cost, and the trip is on the quote.
Edinburgh locations
- Actors in police uniform: Edinburgh’s filming code asks for Police Scotland’s guidance first, and for the uniforms to be covered between takes.
- A suspended bay costs its pay-and-display rate for every hour it’s out of use, booked three working days ahead, and only while the bay is in operation: not evenings or overnight (checked October 2026).
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the stylist.
- 50% by card when you book, 50% on receipt of the final rushes.
- Every line on the quote: day rate, booking fee, kit, travel.
- Cancellation terms are on every quote.
What our insurance covers
- Employers’ liability for the stylist we book: £10m.
- Kit we hire in for you is insured. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote.
- Nothing else on a crew hire. Public liability, the location and your own kit stay with you, and your venue will want your certificate. When we’re the producer of record, our policy covers the shoot.
- Film Edinburgh asks for at least £10m public liability on every application, with a risk assessment where the shoot needs one.
£519 a day
APA/Bectu card: £519–694 a day, stylist to costume designer.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £519 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £51.90 |
| Insurance, 2% | £10.38 |
| One day, before wardrobe and travel | £581.28 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the stylist we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the booking.
- 50% by card at booking, 50% on the final rushes
- Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours
- Every line on the quote before anything is booked
Or call us on 07412 543822.
Reviews
What clients say about our crews
Straight from our Google Business Profile.
Book a costume designer or stylist in Edinburgh.
Tell us how many people to dress, the look or the period, and the dates. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in Edinburgh, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our day rates in Edinburgh, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 06
- Director From £500
- Producer From £450
- Production manager £504–627
- 2nd AD £355–448
- Production assistant £400
- Runner £245
Camera 07
- DOP From £850
- Camera operator £529–656
- Focus puller £461–575
- Clapper loader £355–448
- Steadicam operator From £950
- Gimbal operator £529–656
- Drone operator From £750
Data and playback 02
- DIT £527
- Video playback £334–518
Sound 01
- Sound recordist £550
Hair, make-up and costume 02
- Hair and make-up £398
- Costume This page £519–694
Art department 02
- Art director £675–878
- Set builders £341–512
Post-production 01
- Editor From £350
How our rates work: crew rates in Edinburgh. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in Edinburgh.
Production support
Everything around the crew
Wardrobe works with hair and make-up, the props team and a van bay outside, so here’s how the rest of an Edinburgh shoot fits around it.
01
Kit rental
Kit houses in Leith and out towards the airport, the crew’s own kit, and what comes from Glasgow or London.
02
Locations and permits
Film Edinburgh, Historic Environment Scotland, Waverley, the kirkyards, the trams and the drone rules.
03
Studios and set builds
FirstStage in Leith, smaller studios for interviews and product, and set builds.
Questions
Hiring a costume designer or stylist in Edinburgh: questions
How much does a wardrobe stylist cost in Edinburgh?
The APA/Bectu card puts a stylist at £519–647 for an 11-hour day and a costume designer at £519–694, and we pay that in full. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so a day starts at £581.28 + VAT. The wardrobe itself is at cost. Our rates are national: an Edinburgh day costs the same as anywhere else we crew.
What does the insurance on a crew booking cover?
Two things. Employers’ liability for every crew member we book, up to £10m, and insurance on the kit we hire in for you. That’s what the 2% pays for. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote. The 2% doesn’t insure the rest of the shoot: public liability, the location, your own kit and anything you book yourself stay with you, because you’re the producer of record. If you’d rather we were, it’s quoted as a full production, and our insurance covers the whole shoot, public liability included.
Where do you source costume for an Edinburgh shoot?
Contemporary clothes come from the city centre, from Princes Street to the St James Quarter. For period costume, Scottish Opera in Glasgow, about 45 minutes away on the fastest trains, hires out more than 10,000 items to film, TV and photo shoots, for a week at a time. Anything else specialist comes up from the London costume houses, by courier or with the stylist: Waverley is about four hours ten from King’s Cross on LNER’s fastest trains (checked October 2026).
Can actors wear police uniform on an Edinburgh street?
Yes, with Police Scotland’s guidance first. Edinburgh’s Code of Practice for Filming asks productions to seek the police’s guidance before artists are dressed in police uniform or a pseudo police vehicle is used, reminds them that impersonating a police officer is an offence, and asks for the uniforms to be covered between takes. Film Edinburgh passes the shoot’s details to Police Scotland when you apply (checked October 2026).
Where does the wardrobe van park?
In a suspended pay-and-display bay, charged at the bay’s hourly rate for every hour of the suspension, from £4.20 to £9.00 an hour depending on the zone, with three working days’ notice; or on a yellow line under a parking dispensation, £16 a vehicle, with at least 24 hours’ notice (checked October 2026). Bays can only be suspended while they’re in operation, so an evening or overnight shoot is better on a traffic order. The van has to meet the Low Emission Zone, and we only book ones that do.
What should contributors wear for an interview?
Plain, mid-tone colours; no fine stripes, small checks or big logos; and a spare top in case. Ask them to bring it on a hanger.
Do I need a wardrobe assistant too?
For a cast of more than four or five, several changes, or period costume, yes: one person can’t dress everyone and watch the set.
Are your stylists and costume designers from Edinburgh?
We book stylists who live in or near Edinburgh first. We’re a crew agency with 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, so for a period job, a big cast or a date when the local stylists are booked, we bring one in from elsewhere in Scotland, the north of England or London, and the travel is on the quote before anything is booked. Our base is London, at 124 City Road, with bases in Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall.