Wardrobe is probably one of the most neglected departments of filming, which is mind boggling because wardrobe is important. A couple of things stand to happen if wardrobe is not attended to professionally on set. Allow me to highlight a few of these things. You run the risk of outfits being repeated. Continuity “in sy moer in”, plus your talent may end up wearing and acting with clothes that are in conflict with the overall impression the character is trying to create. French? My bad. 

In the filming world, wardrobe is an actual department that conceptualises actors’ and actresses’ costumes. Think of your favourite movie or music video. The costumes are deliberate. Designed to fit the character or theme of the music video or movie. If the character is a homeless person, you think dirty or torn clothes, right? Exactly the point I’m making. Wardrobe handles that. 

If wardrobe is not treated with the importance it deserves, your end product runs the risk of falling flat. Wardrobe deserves an actual budget and attention. If it’s treated like some obscure element – as is the case with a majority of productions in Namibia – we run the risk of producing substandard work. 

I say it’s the case with a majority of productions in Namibia, because actors will tell you that wardrobe or whoever is in charge will tell them to bring their own clothes to set. Which for the life of me, I always find incredibly perplexing. Yes, I know, I know it’s Namibia, and generally, budgets for productions are shoestrings. But until when will we entertain this narrative? This “it’s tog Namibia” narrative; doubling down on quality simply because “it’s tog Namibia”. 

No wonder no one takes us seriously on the international stage. As a matter of fact, Namibians don’t take anything Namibian serious. And it’s because of “little” things like not respecting wardrobe. Would I be wrong to demand that productions in Namibia that are guilty of not making an effort with wardrobe, stop asking actors to bring their personal clothes to set? Would I be wrong to demand that productions that are guilty of this start making a conscious effort in soliciting costumes that actually fit the character? 

I literally do not have clothes to wear in my personal spaces because 90% of my clothes have been used in one or another production. And honestly, it’s just dumb to wear clothes that appear in productions. I hope we will not be petty about this and actually take the demand for what it is…a cry for help with the overall end game to improve what we present to Namibians and the rest of the world. 

Until the next loop, we say “GMTM”!

NSK is a professional MC. For bookings, email naobebsekind@gmail.com

@naobebsekind (Twitter)