The costume designer's art lies in effective interpretation, collaboration, and execution. Doing so successfully requires a solid foundation in general artistic principles and specific knowledge of how those principles apply to contemporary costume design. In The Magic Garment, Rebecca Cunningham presents readers with just such an artistic foundation and develops it to expose beginning costume designers to the myriad skills they need to develop in order to costume successful stage productions. She begins at the most basic conceptual level--reading plays from a costume designer's perspective. She then follows through with the practical considerations that must be considered at every stage of the costuming process--research, development, sketching, and costume construction.