Outlander season four introduced a lot of big changes for Claire and Jamie—a home at Fraser’s Ridge, a reunion with their daughter Brianna, and even a new villain in Stephen Bonnet, to name just a few. But there was another, more subtle shift happening onscreen that might have escaped your notice: the character’s costumes. As Nina Ayres, the costume designer alongside Terry Dresbach, tells Glamour, Jamie, Claire, and their loved ones are literally in a new world. That means new cultural influences, new weather elements, even new fabrics that they wouldn’t have known or used before. “We’re making sure we’re telling the story as to where those clothes might have come from,” she explains. “Because they are really out in the wilderness, there’s barely anywhere to get anything.”
Oh, and several of these outfits had to be designed while keeping in mind what a twentieth-century woman would think an eighteenth-century outfit looks like. That’s a lot of work and research, but Ayres and her team pulled it off. They even found time to sneak in a subtle callback or two. Here, she explains.
Glamour: This season mostly takes place in colonial America. What was it like prepping for that?
Nina Ayres: The most important thing this season has been to try and establish that new world, what it was about eighteenth-century America that defined it, and then finding those key pieces to introduce to our characters. We started on Wilmington, in North Carolina, and did a lot of research into what, exactly, those elements would be. Really, it’s the mix of cultures. We looked into the cultural and traditional costumes of Europe, where [most of] the settlers would have come from. Then mix that with the Native Americans who were obviously there, as well as previous settlers. Then [we thought about] the practicalities of the terrain. What sort of practical garments they would have worn?
Glamour: For Claire, were there any specific challenges?
NA: It’s always hard because you want to make sure that nothing is just emerging from out of nowhere. So you start off with a question as to where her costumes would have come from. Then you’ve always got the fact that she’s a twentieth-century woman, so practicality is her thing, as well as trying to blend in with everybody else. She doesn’t want to stand out too much. And she’s not a very frivolous dresser, so one of the elements we brought in were block-printed cottons from India, which were exported to the Colonies at the time. We kept a silhouette that people understand as Claire’s, something she’s used to wearing, but we use linens more than wools [from Scotland]. Linens were a big thing, and generally used in warmer climates.
Claire (Caitriona Balfe) at Fraser’s Ridge on Outlander
Aimee SpinksI think the most interesting thing was working out what she might have made herself when they get to Fraser’s Ridge. She’s more layered this season than we’ve ever seen her before. We used rabbit skins and things like that—that’s what they’re eating all of the time, so it’s what she has access to. We made quite a few garments that are simple, as if she has made them herself. We used the most basic techniques while [thinking about whether] it’s a practical thing that would keep her warm, or it’s waterproof, or it’s what she’s actually doing in these things.
Glamour: Whereas with someone like Jocasta, her costumes might reflect her wealth and status?
NA: For Jocasta, we made her wardrobe quite old-fashioned. She’s a little bit of a relic from the past. And Claire doesn’t particularly enjoy being with Jocasta, or at River Run. Jocasta is getting gowns made for Claire, so they’re not…she’s being forced to wear things she wouldn’t generally choose herself. But she’s just playing the part.
