Is It Accurate? Outlander
For lovers of 18th-century fashion, Outlander is a beloved show, known for its beautiful costumes, scenery and fiery romance. Outlander’s costume designer, Terry Dresbach, is often praised for her stunning designs that help bring the 18th-century Scottish highlands to life. With Outlander having five seasons, packed full of wonderful costumes one can not pack the entire show into one article, so for this ‘Is It Accurate?’, we will be focusing on season 1 and 2 of the show, taking place in Scotland and France respectively. So, is it accurate?
Claire’s wedding dress, Season 1 episode 7. c, Outlander on Starz.
The stand out costume in season 1 of Outlander is undeniably Claire’s wedding dress for her hurried marriage to Jamie, a dazzling gown of cloth of silver, with a low cut neck. Jamie himself says in the wedding episode of Claire in the dress “It was as if I stepped outside on a cloudy day and suddenly the sun came out.” - This dress was made to shine, with Dresbach saying in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2014 “I wanted a dress that would be incredible in candlelight.” While dresses could be quite low cut during the 18th-century, I feel that the dress is perhaps inappropriate for Claire’s status. After all, by marrying Jamie she is becoming a Lady. It is not just her cleavage that is on show, which would have been acceptable, her shoulders are too and I struggle to find examples where this is appropriate in the time period outside of brothels. The dress features a lovely, full and wide skirt that is period-accurate and falls correctly when worn. Although liberties were taken with this dress, it is a rare instance in season 1 and thus I think it can be forgiven.
Examples of Claire’s season 1 outfits. c, Outlander on Starz.
For most of season 1, we see Claire dressed in 18th century everyday clothing, nothing too extravagant or ostentatious (that is saved for season 2!). The overall silhouettes worn are accurate to that of the time period, especially for a lady who would have to ride horses daily and traverse tough terrains. These are not the everyday dresses of a member of a Royal court, instead, they are that of an active woman. The use of a few layers of petticoats and sleeves that leave the shoulder and elbow joints loose further aids this. Of course, since they are in the Scottish highlands, almost every character (excluding the Red coats) are wearing some form of plaid or tartan, which is lovely to see, especially when you know that within a few more years the use of tartan and plaid would be outlawed by the British following Culloden. Considering that the highlands are an often chilly place, and with the main heating source of the time being fire, the use of woollen gloves and scarves are a lovely touch to many costumes.
The red dress. c, Outlander on Starz.
In season 2 of Outlander, Claire and Jamie have travelled to Paris, France and with this comes a whole new wardrobe, especially for Claire. We see her in exorbitant silks and more excessive silhouettes, for Claire is now a Lady of the French aristocracy. Riding horses in the Scottish highlands is a thing of the past. Perhaps the most famous dress of the season is that red dress, the extremely low cut, red silk pannier gown worn by Claire to visit Versailles. Something that is important to note for the show as a whole, but especially in season 2, is that Claire is from the future and so, when designing her own clothes, she is, of course, going to take inspiration from the time she came from. This accounts for the dramatic neckline of the gown, which makes it so iconic. Although I think the dress is beautiful I am not sure how appropriate it would have been in Versailles, in an environment around the King. Whilst the French were known globally for their outlandish fashion choices and eccentric designs, there were limits, and a Lady of the aristocracy wearing a dress that practically put her breasts on show was probably not decent. After all, the only other people in Versailles in those scenes with a breast out were there for ehem...entertainment. While the bodice may have accuracy flaws, the skirt does not. This dress features excellent panniers that were worn almost religiously at the French court in Versailles.
c, Outlander on Starz.
Dior’s New Look. c, The Met
Another dress in season 2 that I want to touch on, is the Dior inspired dress worn in episode 2. This is another example of Claire designing a dress based on her own time period, the 1940s. It is abundantly clear when you put the dress worn by Claire and the famous Dior new look suit side by side that Dresbach took the Dior look and translated it stitch for stitch into the 18th-century. And it works! Dior himself took a lot of inspiration from the 18th-century, and so the two go somewhat hand in hand. I think it is a very clever costuming choice, because if you are not into fashion you may not even notice that this outfit is based on a mid-20th-century fashion style. However, I am going to be pedantic here. Dior released his new-look style in February 1947, but Claire travelled back in time in May 1946, meaning she wouldn’t have actually seen the new look at all!
Overall, Outlander sticks very closely to the 18th century and strives for accuracy which is very much thanks to Terry Desbrach herself, while taking one or two major liberties per season, a rarity for a major television series. The costumes in Outlander always serve their purpose of immersing the audience further into the scene and helping aid character development, they are an example of costumes done to the highest calibre of excellence.
