Claire and Jamie Fraser got married in the seventh episode of season one (Image: Starz)
Outlander is much-loved across the globe, popular for its storytelling detailing the love story of Claire and Jamie Fraser, a time-travelling nurse and a Highland warrior.
And as well as the storytelling, the costume design team is a massive part of the growing success of the show. From ball gowns to corsets paired with knitted shawls, the stars are always draped fashion pieces from the 1700s.
There are many memorable fashion moments throughout the seasons, but one of the most significant costumes was Claire Fraser’s wedding dress when she and Jamie Fraser had an impromptu wedding in season one.
Talking to STARZ Balfe said: “It was a beautiful wedding dress, but I couldn’t sit. I could barely walk. To get to set they built me a popemobile.”
According to Variety, the dress was made of metal, woven into the fabric, very similar to how it was done in the 18th century, making it extremely big and heavy. The white and grey ensemble cinched the waist and expanded from the waist down, and thanks to this, hilariously required its own car.
Talking about the dress, Costume designer Terry Dresbach said: “I had about 5,000 dress pictures on my wall of every conceivable look that existed and I had really had gotten directions from Ron [Moore, the show’s creator and Dresbach’s husband] that this needed to be a fairytale; a beautiful moment that cements and entire book series and an entire television series.
“It’s a series about a marriage and the foundation is this moment, but it’s two people who didn’t know each other and who didn’t plan to be married and are being forced into this.
“And yet, we had to make it so impossibly romantic that we could believe that our heroine and our hero could just fall in love so completely at that moment.”
He added: “I wanted a dress that would be incredible in candlelight. And in the 18th century, metallic fabrics were made with actual metal woven into the fabrics. When you put them in a room filled with candles, they just glow. They’re quite remarkable. There are museum exhibits that actually show the dresses in candlelight so you can see the effect.”
