How To Dress Like Your Favorite Outlander Character
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS THAT SUPPORT HANDY LITTLE ME CONTENT AND FREE PATTERNS.In this post, you will see how to dress like your favorite Outlander character.
Style yourself with inspiration from Claire Fraser for everyday casual or go full-on cosplay!
Make yourself something to wear, from a traditional costume to knits seen on the show.
The Outlander Phenomenon
Outlander is a huge worldwide phenomenon from Dianna Gabaldon’s book series to the Starz TV Show.
If you haven’t watched the show yet, there might be some spoilers for the TV series and the books.
We fell in love with Claire (Caitríona Balfe), Jamie (Sam Heughan), their daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton), and all of the other Outlander characters.
Claire and Jamie’s star-crossed lovers’ story has made all of our romantic hearts beat wildly for over six years now.
It starts in season one/book one, as Claire is a married nurse reuniting with her husband Frank just after World War II.
Together, they travel to Scotland, and Claire stumbles upon some magical stones that lead her to 1743’s Scotland.
There she meets the young man Jamie Fraser, they get married, fall in love, and get involved in games of war, politics, time travel, and more as the entire series unfolds.
Outlander Costumes
Just like all series set in the distant past, Outlander has a lot of period costumes.
And the Outlander costumes are truly magnificent!
Along with the beautiful knitwear, it’s another reason for the show’s popularity.
Beautiful tartans, corsets paired with knitted shawls, gloves, arm warmers, and cowls.
Jamie wears truly accurate and traditional kilts and clothes, and Claire and Brianna wear dresses with corsets and bum rolls under their dresses to keep their shape.
Some costumes that stand out are Claire’s wedding dress, Claire’s red dress from the French court, and Brianna’s wedding dress.
The geniuses behind our favorite characters’ wardrobe….
Behind the costumes in seasons one to four is designer Terry Dresbach, followed by Trisha Biggar in later seasons.
If you want to learn more about the Outlander Costumes, the knitwear, and historical accuracy, check out this post – Outlander Costumes {Including The Knitwear And More!}
Dress Like Your Favourite Outlander Character
If you love Outlander as much as I do, there is no way you haven’t thought, ‘I would love to dress like Claire this Halloween’.
And not only for Halloween, but you could also dress up as your favorite Outlander character for an Outlander-themed party, or if you love to cosplay.
You could also take inspiration from Claire or Brianna for your everyday outfits and hairstyles.
So you want to do an Outlander-themed costume and don’t want to know where to start?
Keep Reading…
Costumes
Well, the most important thing is the costume.
Outlander is set in 1700s Scotland, so you will need a costume.
You can find ready-made costumes online, especially on Etsy, or sewing patterns to make your own.
And if you want your costume to have modern touches and, most importantly, to be able to wear again in your everyday life, you can put together your own with modern clothes.
All you need is a dress with puffy sleeves, a corset top for the female characters, and if you want to dress like a male character, you can always fashion a kilt out of tartan fabric or buy a tartan skirt and a white dress shirt.
Image of Claire ©Starz.com
The Red Dress
You can grab your own version of Claire’s red dress from season 2 here.
While Claire and Jamie are in France in King Louis’ court in Versailles , she wears a beautiful red gown that’s not loyal to the time period but will always remain iconic.
It’s one of my favorite costumes.
A Traditional Costume
If you prefer to stay faithful to the era, a traditional costume that can be seen in an Outlander season is perfect.
You can buy ready-made traditional costumes on Etsy here.
Or this one on Amazon here.
DIY your costume
You will need:
- Tartan skirts – A tartan skirt like this one on Etsy would look amazing as part of an Outlander costume.
- A corset top – Corset tops have been in fashion and can be easily found in many online stores.
- A Simple white shirt – A simple oversized white shirt, worn with jeans, boots, and a knitted shawl, can also look very Outlander-inspired.
Sewing Patterns
- Women’s 18th Century Dress Historical Costume Sewing Pattern, Sizes 6-14
- Women’s 18th Century Dress Historical Costume Sewing Pattern, Sizes 14-22
- Men’s Historical Outlander Halloween and Cosplay Costume Sewing Pattern, Sizes 38-44
- Women’s 18th Century Undergarments Historical Costume Sewing Pattern, Sizes 6-14
- 18th Century Gown and Panniers Women’s Historical Costume Sewing Pattern, Sizes 14-22
Outlander Knitwear
The next thing you are definitely going to need is knitwear.
Outlander has beautiful knitted pieces, like shawls, cowls, arm warmers, fingerless gloves, capelets, and more.
All the characters wear knitted pieces, so to make your costume more authentic, knitwear is going to be needed.
- You can’t possibly dress like Claire and not throw on her famous Carolina shawl (Outlander Carolina Shawl Pattern ) and a pair of arm warmers.
- Or like Brianna without her trademark reunion capelet – Brianna’s Capelet Outlander Knitting Pattern
- Or any of the clan characters without their traditional tams (berets) – Beret Knitting Pattern (Beginner Friendly!)
- These are beautiful arm warmers – Craigh na Dun Cable Fingerless Mittens Knitting Pattern
- If you are planning a modern-era Roger outfit, this beautiful sweater is the perfect pattern for you – Free Men’s Sweater Knitting Pattern (Roger’s Sweater)
- To complete any Jamie outfit, try this pair of arm warmers – Knit Fingerless Gloves For Men With A Cable Design
- Shop all of my Outlander patterns here.
Shoes
For women, you are definitely going to need socks and covered pumps, and tall horse-riding-like boots.
And for the men, you are going to need tall socks, preferably in a greyish color, and for shoes, boots.
Tall boots or cowboy boots can always work too if they are simple and without designs.
Jewlery
The female characters wear beautiful jewelry throughout the series, and today we refer to them as statement pieces.
You can find a lot of replicas online, especially on Etsy; you can even grab Claire’s wedding ring.
But you can always wear your own, hanging earrings that look vintage, and statement necklaces that look like rocks or crystals.
Jewelry is one of the little details that can uplift your costume and make it memorable for a long time.
Hair and Make-up
Outlander doesn’t have a lot of complicated hairstyles.
Claire Fraser has curly hair, and she either keeps it down unruly or in messy buns.
Only on special occasions, she does tighter curls and more complicated updos.
Brianna and the rest of the characters keep their hair in updo buns with braids.
Jamie also has curly hair, and in the first season, he kept his hair unruly and down only on special occasions; he wears it in a low curly ponytail.
And in the later seasons, he kept it straight and in a ponytail.
When it comes to make-up, it’s mostly natural make-up, which we call a no-makeup makeup look.
With an even complexion, bright, big eyes, blush, and natural pinkish lips, you can see a tutorial here – Outlander Makeup Tutorial | Claire Fraser Inspired Look.
While she is in the future, in the 1950s or 60s, her make-up is considerably heavier.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and are inspired to now dress up like your favorite Outlander character!
