It’s fair to say many fans weren’t sure of the direction Trisha Biggar would take Outlander in costume. However, since she has costumed a galaxy (Star Wars) in all shapes and sizes, it certainly helped in taking on a lead actress who was pregnant during filming, when she was supposed to be very ill and thin. Between Caitriona Balfe’s amazing work and Biggar’s adapted wardrobe, only a few times did we see angles we weren’t meant to. That aside, Claire Fraser is at another part of her journey in the colonies and Biggar wanted to show that a modern woman living in colonial times would have made some adjustments. Especially if she was a doctor/healer.
it’s a slightly modern twist on what women were wearing at the time, which I always feel is so important… that Claire would always find a way of retaining some of that comfort, some of that ease, some of the practicality from the future while also being able to kind of blend in. – Caitríona Balfe
However, the extravagant scenes at River Run, and meeting Flora MacDonald, meant some glam had to come back. Trisha Biggar and her team created a lovely blue frock that also cleverly hid things, as a woman in the era would have done up until confinement.
“For the party, I did a lot of experimenting with styles to make sure we had a dress that front-on she doesn’t look pregnant and from the back we can also shoot her quite easily. From the side it was covered or minimized by a shawl.” -Costume Designer Trisha Biggar
Brianna had her own journey for Season 6, she was a working-at-home mom, experimenting with plumbing, firing pottery pipes, and matches. With another child on the way, Sophie Skelton’s character had a lot of adapting and work to do. Not to mention a husband who decided to follow a path to the clergy.
Jamie was now becoming Laird of the Land again, being the landholder at Fraser’s Ridge. As the seasons 5 and 6 progressed, we see Sam Heughan wearing much richer, natural tones of color for the American Colonies, blending in his tartan hues of old with the new frontier.
“The Frasers are leaving the Ridge slightly more often than they did in Season 5 so we developed slightly different looks for them. They’re not always at the Ridge working and doing domestic things. They are meeting society and having to do business with people nearby.” -Trisha Biggar, Costume Designer
All images ©2022 Starz® and Sony Pictures
It’s 24 more sleeps. Droughtlander is over in two weeks. The stills and previews keep flooding in. We are getting glimpses of what’s to come in Season 5, including plenty of costume shots and BTS from many on the production and cast members. More is hitting us every day. So here is a short roundup of images in the last two weeks.
Terry Dresbach has been sharing some great inside knowledge this season. Although she officially left Outlander design department last winter, she has been staying on with the @OutlanderCostum Twitter feed through the airing of Season 4. As you can guess, she gets inundated with a lot of costume information requests. For episode 409 The Birds and The Bees, Dresbach shared some more information on costuming design for Brianna and Young Ian. The series has been getting a great deal of praise, while at the same time getting a lot of fans questioning design. As always, the design team at the series goes through extensive research for all characters and what would be available to them.
The Theatre location, possibly 
Roger and Brianna fans will have a delight in this weeks episode Outlander 407: Down the Rabbit Hole. With a perfect reference to Alice in Wonderland, what is it like for an inexperienced Brianna to travel through the stones, and come through the other side, over 200 years in the past? And Roger (Richard Rankin) to go chasing after her? What do you bring with you on such a journey? How would you find your way back? Answer: Compass, Map, a watch perhaps, matches, and period coin. Someone you love.
She comes across time in the 1970’s ideal of country clothing, in a Gunne Sax style dress, with a cloak. She did not have the experience and time that Claire had to prepare to go back, therefore threw together what she could find for clothing. Not very practical or warm. What does she bring with her? A watch, something from the future, a map, period coinage. Bringing anything that is too foreign or strange will get you noticed by the wrong people. Practicality with the period map, Brianna can find her way to Ayr to take ship for the colonies. With her hair and attire she’ll attract attention, along with her manner of speech and accent. Wandering the highlands, she heads for Ayr, what she finds after a tumble is an ankle injury and that travel by foot is extremely difficult at the best of times. And she has had no contacts in the area, or so she thinks.
Roger has been handed a letter telling him that Brianna has traveled to the future and that he is to forget about her. That’s not going to happen, as a historian Roger knows only too well how women are treated in the 18th century. Plus he’s still madly in love with her despite their clash and his anger over the marriage refusal. He begins preparing to follow Brianna through the stones and get’s help from Fiona Graham (Iona Claire), who is now the caller of the Druid group, in order to travel through the stones. He dresses as period close as he can, has a gemstone, and a map, compass and coin. He can hear the stones calling him, that eternal buzzing sound.
help, only icy streams. She has collapsed on the road and is taken in by Laoghaire and her daughter Joan. Brianna, none the wiser that this is her mothers enemy, is cared for and meets Ian Murray when he comes to bring money. Arguing ensues between Laoghaire and Ian, with Brianna in the bedroom starting a series of flashbacks to Frank Randall, her mother, and her side of the many issues that came up in the marriage. In one episode,Frank had the obituary notice copy of the burning on Fraser’s Ridge, and the death of Jamie Fraser. At this point Brianna has no idea about her real father, who he is.
free and takes her to Lallybroch to Ian Murray, who acknowledges her as Jamie’s daughter rather quickly, provides her with yet another trunk of her mother’s clothes. He helps her to get to Ayr to find passage to the colonies to find Aunt Jocasta, and a maidservant for her journey.
Of course who turns up to beleaguer Roger, but that villain and brigand, Captain Bonnet (Ed Speleers). Bonnet, who stole Claire’s wedding ring in an attack on the Frasers, has done quite well for himself. He is captain of a ship, The Gloriana, and rules her with an iron fist. Roger is forced to work his way on board as they are full on passengers. During the voyage, he meets his Great Grandmother Morag MacKenzie, and tries to protect them from the captain, who has discovered a plague of pox on the ship and begins throwing those that look affected, overboard. The passengers are for his profit, to become indentured. The children make him no money. A confrontation between him and Roger over murdering children begins and Bonnet goes back to flipping a coin game after telling him of his fate with near death some years before.
An Outlander Muse 