It’s not that Claire could ever look less than beautiful but somehow her exquisite clothing in the show helps to create the ethereal facade she presents to viewers on Outlander. She is always convincingly dressed the part as an 18th-century beauty, in costumes which seem to have been snatched out of time to be featured on the series.
Female fans in particular have probably wondered about the dresses, skirts, bodices and bonnets worn by Claire. Where do they come from and how were they produced? Because in all honesty, Claire wouldn’t be quite Claire without them. Here are 10 unknown things about Claire’s costumes:
Everything Is Hand-made
The stunning dresses and ensembles worn by Claire on the series are all hand-made. This is according to costume designer Terry Dresbach. She explained that pretty much everything, including the fabrics, had to be tailormade and stitched together by hand.
This is because there were not many stores selling 18th-century clothing. Even the fabric had to be designed for the show. Buttons, shoes, hats and everything else were tailormade by Dresbach and her team. Many of the pieces also had to be hand-painted and hand-embroidered by the costume team.
Corsets ahoy
Zips and velcro weren’t invented in the 18th-century and the costume design team behind the ensembles worn by Claire and the others were determined to make the costumes in true 18th-century style.
For this reason, it was mandatory for all the females on set to wear corsets. This might have been a challenge for Claire for the more active sequences, and possibly was hard work during long filming sessions. Still, she pulled off wearing a corset with such finesse that most viewers probably didn’t realise she was even wearing one.
The Costume Team Are Busy bees
The team responsible for Claire’s outfits and the rest of the Outlander cast’s costumes were busy at work throughout the filming of the Outlander season. To give an example of the bulk of work they had to carry, 10 000 garments had to be produced for Season 2 alone.
That’s a lot of cutting and sewing and embroidering. Still, who wouldn’t want to feature their handiwork on a popular series like Outlander and who wouldn’t want to put together the perfect 18th-century dress for beautiful Claire?
The Details take centre stage
It might be hard to notice the finer detail of the fabrics and costumes while Claire is busy on set, doing her Claire thing. However, all of Claire’s outfits are full of exquisite detail.
The design team insisted everything be done properly, whether or not viewers could see the detail on screen. The thinking was that if the production team and characters knew it was there, this would translate to better performances and more credibility to the overall impression of the cast. Designer Dresbach explained that with fashion design, it was all about the details.
Talent at its finest
Just how talented was the team who put together the beautiful floral dresses and skirts with accompanied gilded bodices for Claire? Very, if designer Dresbach’s comments are anything to go by. All the exquisite girly designs on Claire’s outfits, as well as the finer details carried on her costumes, had to be hand-painted.
This was because had this not been so, the team would have had to have spent their entire budget on the fabric alone! The luxurious fabrics used for the set cost around $200 per yard.
Claire has so many outfits
Most TV shows have many costume changes during the filming. However, Outlander is said to have had just that many more. Designer Dresbach explained that usually there were around six costume changes for a lead actor for an episode. Outlander cast members changed their costumes more frequently.
Even the supporting actors and actresses changed costumes around 20 times for a few episodes. Claire, however, was the most frequently changed character, wearing around 30 costumes for the filming of just six episodes.
There are no back-ups
Each elaborate costume from the Outlander series took a few months to make. This meant that each time Claire put on one of the exquisite dresses, she had to be super careful as to not damage it in any way. Also, dresses couldn’t be soiled during the filming, as can you imagine trying to clean something so finely and beautifully crafted.
For Claire, this meant being a real lady when wearing the outfits, while at the same time, being flexible enough to show her feistiness and adventurous spirit. A fine balance which actress Caitriona managed to pull off.
Claire’s Signature pieces
Claire’s wardrobe has a signature piece for each season and these pieces were inspired by the great designers and put together after much research. Dresbach explained that Claire’s signature piece for Season 2 was not designed by her but was a Dior Bar Suit, reimagined by her.
This same piece was also actress Caitriona’s favourite dress from the series. Let’s hope the designers let the talented actress take the dress home after the filming of the series - just for keepsakes.
Couch Fabric Destined To Be A Dress
Remember Claire’s Dressage Dress? She wore it with a floral hat, fashionably tilted at a seductive angle. The dress is a dark fabric with beautiful floral detail. The fabric for this dress didn’t have to be hand-painted. It was bought from a store in San Francisco.
The costume design team found the fabric in the basement of the fabric store and discovered it had been set aside to make a couch. Fortunately, they got hold of it in time!
The Cast have Large dressing-room doors
Having been dressed up beautifully, corsets, tied ribbons, flowing skirts, petticoats and all… the character of Claire had to be able to exist outside of the dressing room, which wasn’t always possible through a regular-sized door, wearing such a large-skirted dress.
As such, large dressing-room doors were created for the characters of Outlander. This was because the skirts for the dresses were so large that big doorways were required so characters could exit the rooms after changing.
