"Outlander" from a HISTORICAL perspective.....

[Pleater]

One of my professions is making garments out of yarn and I can assure you that the series also takes liberties with garments such as bodices and shawls, - well with just about everything really - and I have had a few internal struggles when people want to pay me money to create 'something off Highlander that is authentic historical garb'.

Anne the Pleater

[Dollander]

One of my professions is making garments out of yarn and I can assure you that the series also takes liberties with garments such as bodices and shawls, - well with just about everything really - and I have had a few internal struggles when people want to pay me money to create 'something off Highlander that is authentic historical garb'.

Anne the Pleater

That's when you ask them, "Which one? Do you want something from Outlander*, or do you want authentic historical garb?"

I understand the frustration when people take period fiction at face value. But like Steve pointed out, it's fiction. It's not meant to be a documentary. It's like scientists picking apart the physics errors in scifi shows. Even a show like Battlestar Galactica that kept fantasy technology to a minimum still had to take liberties for the sake of entertainment, e.g. having sound in space (a commentary track revealed that they tried being authentic, but it was incredibly distracting to watch). Likewise, if Outlander had been full of brightly-colored kilts on clean-shaven men, the bulk of the audience would've reacted "Are you kidding me? "

And yes, I admit, it was a bit of tartanry on my part that got me interested. I was a huge fan of BSG, so it was like, ooh, Ron Moore has a new show? Oh, it's a period drama based on a series of romance novels? But wait, it takes place in Scotland?





* I'm assuming you meant Outlander and not Highlander; otherwise you could say, "I'm sure you could find 80s fashions at a charity shop or on eBay...oh, you mean the flashback scenes?"