also Costume Dyeing or Aging;

Patination is a technical term that refers to the aging weathering and or soiling of costumes according to the requirements of a role. There are often several copies of the costume used for the various stages of soling or aging. The dresser must be able to reproduce the exact stains or soiling of each costume according to a scene for reasons of continuity. Even after a costume is cleaned it must be re-patinated exactly as before it was cleaned.

Prime examples of costume dyeing or patination include:Wear and Tear - a piece of clothing must be aged through numerous washings using a special aging agent.

Costumes only look authentic when the following elements are present:

- lightly soiled, e.g. work clothes that are dirty

- threadbare, e.g. threadbare pant hems, pockets

- big streaks of dirt, e.g. a tramp, homeless person

- special effects, e.g. burns, freezing, explosions, corpses found in water, gunshot wounds -- the effects on a costumes by any sort of catastrophe

- metal patination: Corrosion (Rust) und the aging of precious metals on costumes (jewelry, buttons and fasteners must often be blackened, burnished or tarnished

The position of Costume Dyer in German Film was nearly extinct, save for a renewed demand for the technique in recent years and the renaissance of old techniques.

The look of large international production has evolved from "clean" high-gloss films to milieu films. This naturally has had an effect on domestic productions. A good example of this is "Das Parfum" or "Gangs of New York" increasingly modern productions that must be "dirty" cannot of course have fresh, newly tailored costumes. This trend is now seen more often including in Germany.The patination of costumes is a high art. The expectations and wishes of the Director, the DP and Producers requires an increasingly authentic (used) costume design.