My foray into dressing myself up to photoshop myself into Outlander scenes began slowly and long after I had taken an interest in Steampunk. My sister and I made our steampunk outfits to attend the weekend extravaganza down in the South Island at Oamaru – Steampunk capital of the Universe. When I saw the potential hilarity in putting myself into some settings in the Outlander series, I cobbled together the parts of the steampunk costume that at least gave me an air of belonging if you didn’t look too closely. I take the photos on a self-timer, and then photoshop.

I had so much fun doing it, and then received enough of a warm response, that I kept making these and finally set up a FB page called OutrageousOutlander. The costume developed over time, and I ended up with such a library of poses, I haven’t needed to squeeze into the corset for a while.

I have a friend I met through Outlander in New Zealand – Rhonnie Brinsdon – who is a clever and very generous designer, living in Wanganui. To my amazement, she offered to make me a proper shift and corset to wear when I went to Scotland earlier in the year. Naturally, I was delighted, and it features on the Scottish Herald article I was interviewed for.

And then along came the filming for Season Two.

As if she hadn’t done enough, Rhonnie then took it upon herself to make the much more elaborate costumes I would want for my memes in the French Court. I am still gob-smacked. I traveled down to Wanganui to get a body mould made, so that Rhonnie could continue to create her fabric wonders on my own accurate shape. We had fun doing that:

So far all I’ve seen of these have been the pictures she has taken and posted, but I, like so many others, have been astounded by the detail and craftsmanship involved. I can’t wait to put them on and insinuate myself into some Outlander new season shots. Rhonnie has made not just an elaborate ball dress, but a skirt, shift, and reversible jacket for day wear. I don’t know if I will want to remove them once I put them on:

To say I’m lucky is a major understatement, but I will be dressing and posing in these for many months to come, and hope that Rhonnie receives the reward she so richly deserves. Watch this space.