Outlander Wardrobe and language

[Terry1948]

We want to make things as authentic as possible. But we are making a dramatic television show with a creative vision to aspire on one side, and real limitations on the other. There is no way we are going to make everyone happy. Some people are upset that Claire has too many changes (we have been too good at making three outfits look like six), some people are unhappy that there is no evidence that they would have had knitting needles big enough to knit Claire's pieces. But if we made it intensely accurate, there would be another set of people who would say that it was too dry and academic.
We want everyone to like all of our choices, but it is not realistic to expect to meet 3 million expectations. We just do the best we can to make good, respectable television that we can be proud of and hope most people enjoy.
I am sorry that you are missing the colors you feel should be there, I really am!

You know, the reality is that unless there is an unlimited budget, which from my experience does not exist in any enterprise, one decides which are the important "battles" and which are the ones where compromise is needed. I imagine you have a notebook somewhere which lists all the "if I only had time and money" modifications you would make -- sort of a wish list.

I think you and Ron, and the rest of your talented team, have done a wonderful job. The very fact that there are a myriad of people who want this change and that change, and why could this not be done this way, etc., points to the fact that your work has been noticed and is important enough to be commented on.

Keep up the good work.

[terry dresbach]

You know, the reality is that unless there is an unlimited budget, which from my experience does not exist in any enterprise, one decides which are the important "battles" and which are the ones where compromise is needed. I imagine you have a notebook somewhere which lists all the "if I only had time and money" modifications you would make -- sort of a wish list.

I think you and Ron, and the rest of your talented team, have done a wonderful job. The very fact that there are a myriad of people who want this change and that change, and why could this not be done this way, etc., points to the fact that your work has been noticed and is important enough to be commented on.

Keep up the good work.

Someone was pointing out our machine stitching. I tried to calculate when the show would have gone on air if we made a couple of thousand costumes by hand. I think it was something like 10 years from now for the first season.
Since we had seven weeks instead of ten years, it is a very long list. But not really as long as it could be. Getting it right was our number one priority. So when you see things that there is no evidence could have existed or happened, it is not because we are lazy, or didn't care or didn't have time, it is a clear and conscious choice. The list would be composed of creative components that we wanted to add or perfect, but just didn't have the time.
Thanks for your support and your clarity.

[Nathan]

We want to make things as authentic as possible. But we are making a dramatic television show with a creative vision to aspire on one side, and real limitations on the other. There is no way we are going to make everyone happy. Some people are upset that Claire has too many changes (we have been too good at making three outfits look like six), some people are unhappy that there is no evidence that they would have had knitting needles big enough to knit Claire's pieces. But if we made it intensely accurate, there would be another set of people who would say that it was too dry and academic.
We want everyone to like all of our choices, but it is not realistic to expect to meet 3 million expectations. We just do the best we can to make good, respectable television that we can be proud of and hope most people enjoy.
I am sorry that you are missing the colors you feel should be there, I really am!

Let me first stress that I really hope you don't feel like anyone is picking on you. When I started this thread, I had no idea that we'd be lucky enough to have you join in and share your insights. I should also add, as others have, that I appreciate all you, Ron and everyone else have gotten right. I'm pleased that Gaelic exists on your show and not just thick Scottish accents.The portrayal of the women waulking the wool is very authentic and ultimately, the story seems to be well adapted, the characters are compelling and the show is both very nice looking and very watchable.

Further, to be fair, it's not just your show. In fact, your show gets it much better than other attempts by Hollywood to portray this culture.

It's just frustrating that this people, my people, who were later proscribed, cleared, ethnically cleansed and basically forcibly assimilated, while often depicted in popular culture, are seldom depicted as they actually were.

The way they dressed and spoke are two pretty fundamental aspects of that culture. The other is their music. So many times I'm watching a film or television show about the Highlands and I only hear Irish music.

You folks have done better than most, for sure. Just once I'd love to see a compelling drama that depicted the Highlanders and their culture accurately without sacrificing the quality of the writing. These artistic choices contribute, however innocently, to a lot of myths and misconceptions.

I know you folks have a duty to be entertainers, to be faithful to the books, to make a show people will watch and are not historians...*sigh*

In the mean time, I'm enjoying Outlander and I didn't think I would because I had been told that it was aimed at a female audience.

Thanks for explaining your perspective and staying engaged.

[tpa]

Thank you Terry for your repeated involvement and perspective. My wife and I are very much enjoying the show for its entertainment value. We don't watch fictional entertainment shows with a view to picking holes in them, they are either enjoyable or we press the off button. Documentaries are another story. In any case I'm not at all clued up on historical costume, my wife is, but not that era in Scotland.

[OC Richard]

About colour schemes, as a professional artist I think I understand where the costuming and sets are coming from.

Taking, say, landscape painting for example, untrained/unsophisticated painters will make one or both of two common mistakes 1) relying on 'local colour' and 2) relying on unmodulated colour as it comes from the paint tube.

Sophisticated/trained artists, rather, impose a colour scheme upon the scene. Probably the best artist who ever lived at this was Van Gogh.

This is what 'art direction' in film is all about. The colour scheme, the warms and cools, the lights and darks, saturation level, what artists call the 'palette' is decided beforehand and everything in the scene must work in coordination to create the overall 'painting' (as it were). Fabrics are chosen, sets painted, filters used on lights, makeup chosen, and many other things an outsider like me doesn't understand, to achieve the 'look'.

Yes we who have spent most of our lives looking at 17th and 18th century portraits and existing original clothing in museums etc have a very clear notion of what everything would have looked like. But the concern of a filmmaker is to make a beautiful film, not be a museum.

I believe a similar issue came up with the kilts in The King's Speech.

About accents, a Highland accent is far EASIER than a Lowland accent for non-Scots to understand, with its pure clear vowels and gentle lilt. It's much closer to a so-called "mid-Atlantic" accent than, say, a Glasgow accent.

[The Wizard of BC]

And I'm not sure you noticed Terry but we here are nit-picking about Tartan colors and shoe styles.

When we could be gripping about how this character or that one does not fit our mental image from when we read the books.

But if you want we can start a thread about how Jamie isn't tall enough or how Clair's hair style is not how it is described in Chapter 4, page 158, line 3

[Pleater]

Knitting needles not big enough - must have been someone unfamiliar with knitting.

When a friend of mine bewailed not having a hooked needle large enough for her blankets I made her one in an evening from a length of wood using a Stanley knife. Before the sheep ate the trees there would have been no problem in getting - for instance willow wands to strip the bark from then smooth off and wax for knitting needles. Fine needles could be made by a smith, perhaps in brass or bronze, and if they were shorter than needed you just add more. I've made carpets with numerous needles. I had to sit at a table to support the weight of it all but it wasn't a problem to achieve the size.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[HootinHoller]

Is the Inverness Cape worn by Ned (The Lawyer character in Rent as I might not have the name right) off the rack?

It is gorgeous! I would love to see it in detail and maybe get a copy of the pattern or better yet buy one, although I doubt I could afford it at the moment.

[jhockin]

I'm curious about how the kilts are worn. It seems to me that many, if not all, are worn at "jeans waist" instead at the natural waist, where kilts are traditionally worn, and, if I'm not mistaken, historically speaking, all mens "lower" garments, including pants, were worn, until relatively recently ( say, since about 1960?).
Was this a consciously made decision?

I also noticed, in episode 5, that "Black Jack", while flogging Jamie, appears to be wearing pants that are at "jeans waist" level. Again, is this "historically correct", or an adaptation?

[Jock Scot]

What a fascinating discussion. I know absolutely nothing of the books, or the TV series, but Terry's inside knowledge of the decisions and practicalities of equipping the cast does give an insight to aspects that us mere mortals probably never even consider.