It’s no secret that I’m a HUGE fan of Outlander (books and show) and a HUGE fan of Claire’s character. So much that I’ve costumed several of her season 1 looks in 18th century Scotland, working on a couple season 2 costumes from her time in Paris, and working on pieces from her versatile season 3 costume as well. For fun, because that’s why we do it, I also duplicated her white dress that she wore on her journey through the stones in the very first episode of season 1.
This post contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, Red Shoes. Red Wine. will earn a small commission for the referral at no cost to you. Read more about affiliates & disclaimers here. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
I searched high and low for a comparable dress pattern and found a similar (though not exact) pattern from the 1950s on Etsy. The only size available in this Vintage 1951 McCalls 8762 Dress with Keyhole Neckline pattern was smaller than I could comfortably fit into so I knew I had to modify it to accommodate my curves. The pattern called for 3.5 yards, so I bought 7 yards of eggshell colored wool crepe looking cheap polyester just in case I royally screwed it up. My line of thinking was: make the dress modified to my size, figure out what worked and what didn’t, use the first dress as her dirtied “after time travel” version, then make another pristine dress the “right” way.
I found the belt and shoes on Amazon and the shawl on Etsy to complete the “before time travel” outfit. When I travel with costumes, I like to also wear these accessories with modern clothing, so to minimize packing, I don’t look for legitimate vintage shoes and accessories, I look for something in between. So what I ended up purchasing was a simple 1/2″ Skinny Faux Leather Fashion Belt, Brown | S – 30″
Since I didn’t get to wear this costume at DragonCon this year, no thanks to Hurricane Harvey, I brought the costume with us on a recent trip to Savannah, Georgia. We took a very chilly stroll through Forsyth Park across the street from our hotel so we could get a few quick pictures of it before I dirty it up to make it into the “after time travel” version. We’re heading back to Scotland in September 2018 and I would like to find some standing stones on our trip. Alas, the dress will be remade properly for its “before time travel” version.
So what did I learn from my attempted modification of a vintage 1950s dress pattern into a 1940s screen accurate dress? My keyhole at the neckline could be smaller and thinner, the closure should be a pearl button rather than a hook and eye, I should attach the chest pattern pieces to the skirt pattern pieces so the fabric will be seamless at the waist, and I need to add an inverted pleat at the bottom opening of each sleeve (if there’s a technical term for this, please tell me because I don’t know it).
Outlander inspired costumes also on the blog:
Costuming Claire from Outlander: Season 1
Outlander Inspired Druid Lanterns (DIY)
Costuming Claire from Outlander: Season 3
Costuming Outlander Inspired “Cross Creek” Claire
Costuming Claire from Outlander: Season 1 (Additions)
Costuming Captain Black Jack Randall from Outlander
Costuming Claire from Outlander: Season 2 (& the Red Shoes)
Please follow me on Instagram @redshoesredwine for almost daily updates, adventures, and stories! All tutorials, patterns, travel tips, and packing lists are provided free on my blog. I do not charge for them nor allow advertising on my site, but if you would like to donate towards my domain/hosting costs or craft supplies, consider buying me a “coffee”: https://ko-fi.com/redshoesredwine -Thank you, and cheers!
omg this is amazing! i would love to sew my own claire dress.
would you mind sending me the link to the pattern to my mail address? dahi(dot)koch(at)email(dot)de
thank you!!!