I have a big list of looks I want to make for costuming, and with a general starting theme of the 1700’s and more specifically, the 1740’s and 1770’s, I wanted to make pieces that would work for both historical costuming, as well as cosplaying some of the characters from my favorite historical dramas, like Verity Rutter from Jamestown, Demelza from Poldark and Claire from Outlander (I’m not a superfan of the show. There is a lot of violence and over-the-top nudity. I am a fan of the costumes).My first pick was an outfit Claire wears in Season One in several episodes, working in her healer’s dungeon at Castle Leoch, and when she is doing laundry and attending Jenny at the birth of her child at Broch Turoch. These three tasks spoke to me, and added a layer of appreciation for the costume.

One of the things I’ve really appreciated about the online costuming community is the inclusivity. At a point in time, I would have talked myself out of making a cosplay because it seems like a frivolous waste of time, and besides, I don’t have the body or looks to pull it off.

The actress in Outlander is a former Victoria’s Secret model, while I’m the former breastfeeder of seven. What the costuming community has taught me is that what we are doing has value because it brings us joy, and physically resembling the characters whose clothes we admire really has nothing to do with it. The sewing community has taught me that I can make clothes that fit my body just the way it is. I still have to remind myself of this. I also don’t have a good answer to the most common question I hear when I talk about my new interest, “But where will you wear it?”

Because of my streaming service dims the screen when I pause a show, I could only get a couple of decent screen shots of the costume I wanted to make. There are only about 5 stills of it available online. The photos I was able to find don’t really do the costume justice or show all the sides of the outfit. It was hard to see the details to recreate it.I have basically all the underpinnings for an 18th century look: a shift, a bum pad, stays, and a quilted petticoat, as well as a petticoat I made from a king size bedsheet which will work for an underlayer (and possibly an outer layer for future costuming).

On the show, Claire’s outer petticoat is brown. I’m not big on brown clothing, so I planned to go for another dark neutral for my outer skirt. Also, the skirt on the show is wool, and I’ll be wearing my costume in the summer, at least at first, so I wanted something lighter weight.The look on the show is a sleeveless bodice with a grey and white striped fabric and a brown wool skirt. I like the cut of the bodice, which is visually interesting and also very utilitarian, but the colors aren’t my style. I got a couple of subtle striped ikat fabrics to consider for the bodice. I want it to be recognizable to someone who is familiar with the show, but more of a nod to the look than anything else.

I thought to add some 1740’s appropriate accessories that I would be wearing with the outfit if I lived at that time – namely, a cap or headwrap, a neckerchief, and an apron. Right now, these are on the To Make list.

I started with the Justacorps pattern I used to make my jumps. I needed to add several seams so that I could use striped panels to create the chevron pattern, as well as completely change the front pieces to create the overlapping parts at the front of the bodice. I’m left-handed and have difficulty distinguishing left and right, especially STAGE left and right, which is probably why on my first version I reversed the two front pattern pieces.

The back of the bodice is six separate pieces, and the front looks like two pieces on each side, secured in the front by a shell button and a little loop of fabric. After studying the stills I found, I re-watched the sections of the episodes where Claire was wearing the costume so I could see it from every angle and hopefully pick up any details I’d missed from the stills (my first draft of the pattern nailed the shape but didn’t have enough panels). This also helped me to figure out how the bodice was secured in front, and what the neckline and piping looked like.

Another mystery re-watching solved was what Claire was wearing under the bodice. The bodice looked very soft. Clearly there was support either under it or built in, but I couldn’t see what – until a fleeting shot showed Claire bending over from the back and I caught a glimpse of stays. This led me to do a try-on  with my stays underneath to make sure of the fit. After that, I knew I could keep the bodice very thin without boning or other supports.

I debated whether to hand-sew the bodice as practice for other, more historically accurate pieces to come.  It had so many panels that I decided to abide by my personal rule for historical sewing: Excepting boning channels, I would hand-sew visible seams, but hidden seams were fair game for the sewing machine. Part of this decision came from the fact that I wasn’t able to figure out how to translate The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking instructions for hand sewing a bodice to the pattern pieces I had, and after reading through the instructions a couple of times and not getting it, I quit. (I have already used the book to make a split rump, which is as hilarious and fun as it sounds. In our house it’s alternately known as butt bags. I didn’t have trouble understanding those instructions, and I plan to come back to the bodice instructions when I start a project that is closer in design to the one featured in the book).

In the show, Claire uses a number of different under-supports for her outfits, including panniers and a bum roll. I already had Simplicity 8162, which is an American Duchess underpinnings pattern collection that was intended as a companion to the Outlander knock-off pattern in the same collection, so I opted to use the stays and bum pad from that pattern. Claire doesn’t wear a bum pad (at least in Season One, which is the one I’ve watched all the way through), but I liked the silhouette I got with the bum pad. It’s pretty close to the shape Claire had in the show and to the look of other clothes from the period.

This post does a comparison of the difference between different 18th century underskirt supports. I’m still trying to figure out if I can wear the same petticoats over different supports without the hem looking crooked, but the support comparison post let me know that there were lots of options and that most of them provided a similar look. If you have any ideas about this, please let me know!

I’m still working on the skirt and bodice, but in the name of imperfection wanted to write a little about my process with the intention of following up as I complete more of the look.

Have you ever dreamed about wearing a costume from one of your favorite shows?