Costume Design for American Buffalo
Posted by Nan Cibula-Jenkins on 11/30/2009
When the director, Amy Morton, and I first met to discuss the costumes for American Buffalo, we talked about keeping the play within the period that it was written (the late 1970s). Technology has changed our world so much with cell phones and computers that plays like American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross can’t realistically be updated to contemporary dress. This is not to say the plays don’t speak to their audiences today… they do! The themes are universal and powerful even if the costumes the actors are wearing represent the world 20-30 years ago.
My next step was to research clothing that would be worn by Teach, Bobby and Donny. I looked at old catalogs and magazines as well as photographs from the era. And I visited vintage clothing shops, both in person and online. The images of a leather jacket and nylon shirt from vintage clothing websites were springboards for the costume of the character, Teach, played by Tracy Letts.
With Amy’s approval of these images, I did a rough pencil sketch of Tracy in a similar jacket and shirt, along with bell bottom trousers of the period. I hoped that the rust-colored leather jacket and the “disco” style shirt of the late ’70s would convey to the audience that Teach considered himself “a player” in his world, but somehow his intended effect misses the mark.
