Play about Mary Lincoln’s seamstress is dressed for success

Elizabeth Keckly was a freed slave when she met Mary Todd Lincoln. Keckly, a gifted seamstress, became the private dressmaker for the first lady; a century and a half later, for Tazewell Thompson’s play about their improbable friendship, “Mary T. & Lizzy K.,” the Arena Stage costume department was tasked with re-creating Keckly’s iconic couture creations.

“It all starts in two places: the script and good research,” said Joe Salasovich, Arena’s costume director. The recon included a trip to Gettysburg; a visit to the Smithsonian, where a purple velvet gown of Mrs. Lincoln’s, designed by Keckly, is on display; a trek to Elizabeth Keckly’s final resting place (Keckly’s grave has been relocated twice; her remains spent over 50 years in an unmarked grave at National Harmony Memorial Park in Largo, until funds were raised for a marker, a bronze-on-granite slab, in 2010); and “pick[ing] every book that we could off the shelf about these women.” Total time spent researching and sewing: almost three months.

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In Gettysburg, the costume team met a woman who had dedicated her retirement to creating all the materials necessary to make “a sincere, exact replica of a crinoline hoop” which, Salasovich claimed, “was the biggest skirt moment in fashion.”

“Everything was as couture as it gets,” said Salasovich. “It’s incredible. There’s a reason it’s on display at the Smithsonian.”

Also, it’s expensive: For the dresses in this show, the cost of labor far exceeds the cost of the material, and Salasovich estimated that “the material alone could be the equivalent of 40 pairs of Levi’s.”

In “Mary T. & Lizzy K,” said Salasovich, “you actually will get to see the process kind of from start to finish. . . . It should be a beautiful moment to see the humble beginnings of how things come together and how the finished product ends up.”

Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris is making her Arena Stage debut as Keckly. “In the arena of a fitting room, [Keckly] called the shots. She would tell you: You’re going to wear this. She was a trendsetter. And I think that’s what drew Mary Todd Lincoln to her. I think they were both women who were maybe a little ahead of their time, and they both had something to say.”

Although in any other circumstance, the power dynamic would clearly have been in Lincoln’s favor, the relationship between a public figure and the person entrusted with her attire is possibly one of the most intimate-yet-professional bonds there is.

“It is a moment of vulnerability,” said Salasovich. “Look at it this way: In any relationship like this, it’s a situation where they’re meeting on the same plane. They both need each other so much. It’s very high-stakes for both of them. . . . They’re both bringing something very specific to the fitting room. What I find most intriguing is they both need each other very much, for different reasons.”

“Elizabeth Keckly’s creations allowed Mary Todd Lincoln to express herself fully and allowed Elizabeth to express herself fully as well,” said Luqmaan-Harris.