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This essay explores the systemic challenges faced by those in the field of costume education. As co-founders of the American Theatrical Costume Association, we draw on five years of observations gathered from participants in our annual ‘ReDressing the Narrative’ workshops. Workshop participants – primarily costume design educators working in higher education – report a widespread sense of isolation, lack of support and agency, feeling undervalued in their institutions and disproportionate workload increases. We share how these individual experiences point to the widespread marginalization of costume studies as an academic discipline, including the exacerbation of challenges as a result of both social changes and the COVID-19 pandemic. We suggest that addressing these systemic problems requires a collective approach centred on advocacy and resource-sharing. Our workshops positively demonstrate the power of collective engagement through discussions which foster validation of shared struggles and the exchange of best practices and teaching resources. As a result of the workshops, participants have implemented policy changes at their home institutions in their classrooms, costume shops, production meetings and design practices. By foregrounding topics such as sustainability, cultural sensitivity and embodied practice, costume education can shift narratives across higher education and the broader professional industry, sustaining both current educators and the next generation in the field of costume practice.