| The following article is written from an Out of Universe perspective. |
A costume designer is, in the broadest sense, someone who develops the look of costumes in a theatrical performance or piece of filmed entertainment. However, as employed by Doctor Who and sister shows, a costume designer is the head of the costume department, itself a division of the art department. They oversee every aspect of wardrobing the actors in a given episode of a Doctor Who universe, from the original concept to the actual production or purchase of the clothes, to the mundane personnel management issues his or her staff may face. They are one of the key department heads, and reports to the production designer.