Reel Talk
The reel talk began when TikTok stopped ticking
Meme Hub
Visually connecting though humorous tales
Meme Hub
Visually connecting though humorous tales
Press to add some music to the show
Outlander : Dressed In Time
An armoury of costumes that helped in the process of traversing across two timelines, transporting to different eras by forming a pedestal for character justification-through the art of clothing
Claire and Jamie - the lead cast for outlander
Image Credits : Outlander
Outlander is a British period drama on Netflix, adapted from a set of novel series of the same name written by Diana Gabaldon. The show has had 5 successful seasons and as we await the 6th season, this is a moment of appreciation where we deconstruct the legendary attires designed by the costume designer Terry Dresbach- for this show.
Costume dramas have been gaining more popularity with the passage of time, be it on the silver screen or the OTT platforms. The clothing of this show garners utmost attention because of the two eras that the lead character - Claire Randall Fraiser played by Catriona Balfe finds herself in. This time travelling actress has found a varied proportion of styles in her closet, that shows her whereabouts in both the centuries.
Costuming is an art of visual communication that is erroneously underrated. For people fail to understand the costume linguistics, that strengthen the core of the narrative of films, exponentially. Films come with a plethora of genres and not all of them will have the same importance of costumes as that of period films. This genre of films is said to be a lot tougher because every minute detail matters. From the era to the costumes to how it will culminate into carving out distinctive characters in the time period being represented-there is a lot of research that goes behind into adding onto the storyline through costume designing.
Rushi Sharma, an Indian costume designer who has designed for multiple Indian period films such as Byomkesh Bakshi, Thugs of Hindostan and has a couple of other costume dramas lined up, shared her views on the need of forming a balance through costumes, “ There will always be a few eagle-eyed viewers who will spot the inaccuracies in no time. What they expect is a justification. You cannot replace a typical fabric seen in an era with something else without providing some logical reasoning. That is why, it is so much tougher and takes so much more time to design for period films. The character sketches are like a blueprint, based on which we do our research of the era and how people dressed in that era, on top of that we have to keep in mind the key attributes of that personality we are designing for.”
18th century costumes for Claire Fraiser Randall - the lead actress of the show
Illustrations of costumes worn by Claire in Season 4 when she visits the French Society - Floral prints, Puffy sleeves, pannier worn underneath gowns
Illustrations Credits : Aimen Tamboowala
The costume designer of the show-Terry Dresbach in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, for an article named “ 24 'Outlander' Costume Secrets You Definitely Never Noticed”, written by Julie Kosin which was published on December 18,2018, says “Her costumes have taken time-traveling heroine Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) from World War II to the 18th-century Scottish Highlands and the French court of Louis XV, back to Scotland for the Jacobite Rising of 1745, to mid-20th century Boston, and finally, to pre-Revolutionary America for Season 4.”
Plunging neckline, full sleeves, heavy bosom, puffy sleeves and elaborate gowns key elements in the costumes worn by Claire in the 18th century France
Corsets were an essential clothing piece in her wardrobe for the 18th century timeline. Most of the gowns sported by her had ample showcase of bosom and cinched waistlines
Claire's 18th century costumes were an essential parts of her characterization as she was constantly moving from one place to another. Each costume had a characteristic meaning that represented her personality better in the given context.
Illustrations Credits : Aimen Tamboowala
Sometimes it is also about the availability of materials that causes inaccuracies.
Rushi Sharma further elaborates,“ You do not get exactly what you are looking for all the time. Sometimes that might too be the reason why you are unable to bring in cent percent accuracy to the era-appropriate costumes. You have to mix and match and create something that is closest to the period, more importantly closest to the character being played. And this kind of inaccuracy is fine, in fact it is inevitable, but justification for it is the key.”
The two time periods of the show are - 1945 and 1743. There were vast differences in clothing in these two time periods, and as a designer, it was extremely important to know the details in order to maintain certain levels of historical accuracy. But more than that, it was important to level up with the characterization process of the cast because of the constant back and forth of the time spans and the representation of the central characters in each of them.
Nachiket Barve, an Indian costume designer who has designed for both commercial and period films, his latest film being Tanhaji, shared his thoughts by saying, “The era is of prime importance. Your creativity flows in when you can assemble the period essentials and character essentials in your designing process. Costumes have their way of connecting with the audiences. Especially if these are history addicts, they will definitely pick up inaccuracies in the elements you have used for costuming. In such cases, justification is needed, and if the justification is about characterisation - then it better be believable for the sake of mass appeal.”
Modern Classic
Brianna was a strong and opinionated woman. Just like her father Jamie she had a swirling wanderlust within her. she was a modern woman, way ahead of her time, and her maverick personality plays a crucial role in the show as a part of her characterization.
Image Credits : Outlander
Clair’s daughter in the 1940’s who decides to time travel to 18th century to meet her mother. Re-purposing, hand me down clothing are some of the aspects embedded in the costuming of her character which are also one of the most relevant trends of today. Builds a bridge between the audience and the show.
One of the most relevant things about Outlander’s costuming was the re-using and re-purposing of costumes. A trend that has made a splashing come back in recent times, makes this show’s costuming process even more relevant.
Nina Ayres who joined hands with Terry for the costume designing of season 4 was quoted saying in an interview with Elle, for an article named “How Outlander's Costume Designers Took Jamie And Claire Into The New World, written by Emily Zemler which was published on December 10,2018,“At the time, one of the things people did was to re-work and re-make old clothes, so we were able to reuse some of the Paris costumes seen in season 2, and just reduce the size of the bum rolls and make everything a bit more practical. That helped sell the pioneering look.”
Brianna (On the right) wears the same outfit as she time travels to the 18th century, the one that her mother Claire (On the left) had worn on her visit to the Scottish highlands
Image Credits : Outlander
(On the left) This outfit was also taken by Bree from Claire’s closet filled with old clothes. The cape is a 1940’s addition that she donned as she made her way through the stones to the 18th century.
Image Credits : Outlander
(On the right) Another hand-me-down piece of clothing that Bree gets from her Aunt Jocasta for her wedding day. It was a beautiful cream wedding dress with embroideries of orange blossoms and Scottish thistles
Image Credits : Outlander
Coral Ecstacy
Aunt Jocasta was the matriarch of the high society. Her wardrobe had to represent her high status. This peach ensemble does full justice to her high status - it is full of details as you spot lace cuffs and collars, intricately designed luxurious jacquard bodice in the subtle coral hue is nothing short of stupendous because of the powerful vibe that it gave.
Aunt Jocasta was an affluent plantation owner. She was Jamie's aunt and considered herself to be one of those Europeans who travels to foreign to set up a land and create a business out of it.
Image Credits : Outlander
Lost In Transition
Claire is the real hero of this period drama. But what makes it interesting as readers who want to find a meaning behind those costumes, is how the time period was kept in mind, but letting her personality and intention in the concerned scene trumped over the need to be a stickler for accuracy in the costumes department.
Claire's character is the lead protagonist of the show. Extremely sensitive, empathetic, resourceful, strong - willed personality. These character traits shape her evolution as she plays her role in two different timelines.
Image Credits :Outlander
Crème-De-La-Crème
One of the first premier outfits, where Claire is transported to the 18th century, was one of the most iconic costumes ever. This was a belted white shift dress-it had full sleeves and a keyhole neckline It had to be deeply symbolic. Not only did it have to represent the 40’s but also the 18th century shift that had to be present in the styling.
Image Credits : Outlander
On Red Alert
A scene from when she went to spend time with Aunt Jocasta in River Run.
Image Credits : Outlander
Aunt Jocasta was an affluent rich plantation owner. Claire is extremely uncomfortable in these elaborate gowns with lace sleeves and collars which is a sign of aristocratic dressing as such fabrics were only used by the upper class, and the suffocating silhouette is a form of symbolism of her discomfort with Aunt Jocasta.
Sailing In Comfort
Here she is seen wearing a men’s shirt with a belt and a skirt - the ensemble is in all muted shades. The outfit has a much more relaxed silhoutte. Being with her family gives her the liberty of more practical dressing.
Image Credits : Outlander
A direct contrast in her clothing, when she moves to her home - Fraser’s ridge and dresses a bit more comfortably compared to Aunt Jocasta’s house. Here she is seen in much more relaxed silhouettes, she even dons men’s shirts because she is at the comfort of her own home.
Green With Envy
Both the fabric colour of this jade dress and her white gemstone necklace has characteristic explanations.
Her hair is tied up in a typical French lady style braid.
Image Credits : Outlander
In season 2-the accessories and flattering silk and lace dresses worn by Claire was extremely symbolic.Ample bosom was the highlight of French fashion at that period.Her gowns for the France phase saw a lot of brocade work on the bodice.The white gemstone is a representation of her high stature in the French society. Season 2 saw her travelling to France and her wardrobe saw a considerable change. Interestingly, the colour of her dress is a befitting reply to the magical properties that the gemstone had of detecting poison.
Image Credits : Outlander
Lady In Red
The goal was to represent her as someone you need to watch out for. Red always does the trick, it makes you conspicuous instantly. She had to look overpowering in the scene as she wore a classic blood red gown with a plunging neckline and a pannier underneath the skirt. Her hair was tie up in a neat bun so as to draw more focus to the deep neckline. She was on a mission in this scene where she visits Paris to find a way out of the Jacobite war in the 18th century Scotland. She had to look like her part where people would take her seriously and notice her presence.
Image Credits : Outlander
The iconic red dress has been ridiculed time and again for its inaccuracies. It does not represent the 18th century clothing elements and that led to the audiences rummaging up a storm of fury.
But Terry Dresbach is all about the characterisation, and she stood by her statement as she told Harper’s Bazaar, “It's because they haven't seen the show yet! They're not seeing the context. There's a reason. This isn't fashion, it's costume. It's different.”
The Wedding Gown
The iconic wedding dress : Corsets were simply a must during the 18th century. This cream coloured wedding gown had a lot of metal encrusting on the corset in order to make it glisten against the candlelight backdrop. A
Image Credits : Outlander
It is believed that back in the 18th century, there were hardly any references to be taken to design a wedding dress, because probably there were none. The designer played boldly with the scene and the characters in it. Also, since there was no record of white wedding dresses from that period, it had to be designed in a way that audiences could truly believe that it was indeed from that period.
Black & Ivory Frosting
This dress was inspired by Christian Dior’s “New Look” in 1947. Here she is seen wearing an oyster silk coat paired with a track silk skirt. The black hat is the kind of accessory that is needed for a women of her status in the French society It is the first outfit she wears in Paris in the 18th century, but the 40’s silhouette was deliberately used to establish the fact that she will always be a woman from the 40’s.
Image Credits :Outlander
The idea was to always represent Claire as a woman of the 40’s. Even though she time travels to a different era. The goal was to always show Claire trying to inculcate the modern women aesthetics in the way she dresses.
Bat-Woman
Claire’s bat-suit worn in the 18th century as she makes her second visit to the Scottish Highlands was extremely symbolic.
Image Credits : Outlander
She designed the suit for herself and made it extremely practical. She had pockets sewn as the story showed that she was smuggling some 20th century medical equipment back to the 18th century. The outfit had plenty of layers. The top layers consisted of a top coat and cape, beneath it there was a loose blouse which she paired up with billowing skirt and accessorized it with a belt
T- renched In The 1940's
The trenchcoat, salt-pepper hair with white streaks also shows that she has aged in this scene is a characteristic element of protection and her deep sorrow for the fallen Scotsmen as she clings onto it.
Image Credits : Outlander
Sunny Side Up
Claire’s culloden overcoat is deeply symbolic of the time period she is in. She is back in Scotland, but this time it is the 1940’s-which is her time, and not the 18th century she has time travelled to.
Elaborate gowns in vivid shades with floral prints were a common sight for the wardrobe curated for Claire's character during her visit to Paris
Image Credits : Outlander
In a fashion conscious setting of Paris, Claire’s dresses had to be as elaborate as it could get. Even though the floral prints were not from the 18th century, the focus here was on the characterisation where Claire did not belong to the 18th century time period, she belonged to the 1940’s time period and hence some elements more accurate in that era, made sense here for her character.
Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue
Here she is seen in a purple peplum top and skirt. The top has intricate pink floral threadwork. The sleeves also sees some frills.
Image Credits : Outlander
The fact that Claire is making an attempt to stand out in the Paris society had to be made very evident. Clothing in Paris, at that time, was incredibly fussy and very ornate. That element had to be there because we were representing Claire particularly in that context.
Scottish Highlander
Jaime Fraser, the lead male protagonist of Outlander. Paired opposite Claire - he is an extremely stubborn yet passionate man. His characterization is deeply embedded with a sense of duty, honour and loyalty towards his responsibility and family
Image Credits : Outlander
Jaime is considerably less dressed up and his costumes don’t attract as many eyeballs as that of Claire’s.
He was a lot more accurately dressed and mostly in dark shades considering the wars and constant threats that were prevalent in his life.
Jaime is considerably less dressed up and his costumes don’t attract as many eyeballs as that of Claire’s - but the black suit was reminiscent of the 18th century period. Every man had a black suit, however their styles of wearing it was different.
Image Credits : Outlander
This was one of his iconic suits from the show which he carries everywhere, the outfit had to look worn out because Jamie’s character travels across places and has to fight for his safety. The designer’s went to the extent of ripping out the fabrics and restitching it again and again, so that it looked worn out and a piece that has been repaired countless number of times, because of the adversities faced by the character being portrayed.
Image Credits : Outlander
Terry Dresbach is of the opinion, “Costume design tells the story of the characters"-She made a tweet saying this which was mentioned in her interview with Harper’s Bazaar, in the same article mentioned before, named, “24 'Outlander' Costume Secrets You Definitely Never Noticed”, written by Julie Kosin which was published on December 18,2018,
Outlander is not only a show about two shifting eras, but the costumes play a very pivotal role in the various shifts of time period and representing the varying personalities distinctly. This is not just decoding some iconic period looks, this is about finding the meaning and connection in the storyline through the creative use of iconic outfits.
If you want to purchase some Outlander merchandise, click on the link below to buy it from the official store of the show :