Many fans have questioned why Claire has kept the same costume for the last handful of episodes, leading to the Outlander costume designer defending the decision.
If you’ve been on Twitter lately, you may have seen the official Outlander costume handle defending the choice for Claire to be in the same dress for the last few episodes. Ever since going through the stones, Claire has worn the item that has lovingly been described as the bat-dress, or at least variations of the bat-dress.
Sometimes she’s had the jacket off, sometimes she’s taken everything except the shirt and underskirt off, and other times she’s had the whole outfit on. Regardless, throughout the last few episodes it’s been hard to miss the lack of wardrobe.
It’s become such discussion that an Outlander costume designer took to Twitter to defend the choice. Quite honestly, though, we can’t really understand why this is up for discussion. The designer explained that the costume budget hadn’t been reduced and there were actually multiple versions of the bat-dress; not surprising considering how much it had to be worn and everything it went through! Each item, although replicas, took the exact same amount of money to create.
Do me a favor??
— Terry Dresbach (Outlander Costume) (@OutlanderCostum) December 5, 2017
Spread it through OL fandom. My budget was not cut for S3. It is the same as it was for S2. It did not cost LESS to do the bat suit. We had to make 12 of them. It doesn’t matter if 2-12 are replicas or different costumes, they cost the same to make
There was also a discussion as to why this has even become a thing, especially when fans questioned the use of the yellow Paris dress in “The Bakra.” The men rarely change their costumes throughout the series. Whether it’s been kilts or trousers, they tend to have the same jacket, shirt, neck tie, and everything else! Nobody bats an eyelid about this, so why when it comes to women?
It goes to show that there is still a conscious focus on women’s clothing. There’s the expectation to always wear something new; and if you don’t, people will notice.
To make a point of Claire’s outfits throughout the season, Twitter user Outlander Kat put together a creation of every single different costume. There were 38 other costumes in the series and it seems they’ve all been forgotten about.
https://twitter.com/mymtbrain/status/938245177193279488
Also it’s not that surprising a costume was worn for days on end in the 18th century. This was a time when repurposing was extremely common. It’ actually only been in the more recent years that people have thrown away damaged clothing and shopped on a regular basis for new clothes. Even our grandparents and in some cases parents would mend clothes and repurpose them, rather than buy whole new outfits.
Seeing Claire in a bat-dress for weeks or months on end really isn’t that surprising. She wouldn’t have had access to a lot of new clothes and definitely not practical ones for what she needed. Why would she change when she could wash her clothes and stash everything she needed to in hidden pockets?
Next: Why that slave market scene was so important on Outlander
The truth is if women want to stop feeling like they’re being judged for everything they wear, they need to stop judging others. That includes the women on TV, even characters on a TV show. The Outlander costume designers shouldn’t need to defend the decision to keep a female character in the same dress for multiple episodes, especially when the males are also in the same costume over and over again.
Outlander season 3 continues on Sunday at 8/7c with the finale on Starz.