Costumes communicate the details of a character's personality to the audience, and help actors transform into new and believable people on screen. ... A costume is worn by one actor, as one specific character, in a specific scene or scenes in the story. In order to come up with ideas for a character you could start by defining the time that the character is to be created in. Costumes tell us a great deal about the time and place in which a play is set. Costumes give us information on individual characters, on the relationships among characters, and on groups of characters.  First consider your own wardrobe, and what you would choose to wear on a job interview, on a big date, to wash the car, or to come to class.  What you wear says a great deal about who you are and about what you are intending to do.

The first way to find examples of appropriate styles in costuming is to read the script. Then google the play or musical that you will be designing and see what others have created for the production. If you want to be more original start by searching the time period and the place of the production. If you have several variations of the type of costume you would like to design you will be able to dray a sketch or silhouette over a crocuis.