Here is a NEW Interview with Caitriona Balfe and Matt Roberts from Refinery 29
From Refinery 29:
Outlander is pretty much my ideal show. There’s time travel, ambitious female characters, intrigue, sex with hot Scottish rebels, and — do you really need more convincing?
But while 18th century Scotland appears to be flush with excitement and gallant lairds, it’s pretty short on baths, which is why I regret to inform all of you that IRL, Outlander would actually be disgusting.
More after the jump!
Picture this: You, an average mid-20th century woman, who has known electricity, running water, moderately clean toilets, gas stoves, and the telephone, are dropped into an era in which people bathe approximately once or twice a year (in their undershirts, known as a chemise), have only recently discovered that teeth should be brushed (with fun things like rosemary ash, or even gunpowder), and throw their excrement in the middle of the street to run downhill towards the sewer, otherwise known as the closest body of water. Do you feel the stirrings of lust, knowing it would probably mean dealing with crusty body parts?
Season 3 of the Starz drama, based on Voyager, the third novel of the series by Diana Gabaldon, takes place on two different timelines, which eventually converge. The first, which follows Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) after the Battle of Culloden, a bloody conflict pitting George II’s British troops against Scottish supporters of Charles Stuart, picks up in 1746. The second, which follows Claire Randall Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) back to the 20th century, runs from 1948 until 1968, when she decides to once more venture through time to find her lover. When Claire returns to 18th century Scotland, she’s a doctor, having gone to medical school and become a surgeon in Boston during her period away from Jamie. Though it’s a long way from our current technology, she’s gotten used to livi
ng with modern conveniences not readily available in 1766.
“Bathing [is] such an essential part of life,” Caitriona Balfe told me during a visit to the Outlander set last fall. “Heat and hot water. That’s probably the one thing I would miss the most. When you think back to that time, — yeah we’re doing this very romantic, epic show — but they all must’ve stunk. Imagine! No toothbrushes, no toothpaste, no soap.”
But according to the show’s costume designer, Terry Dresbach, women had even more to be concerned about than just being smelly. “No underwear,” she wrote in a 2014 blog post detailing some of the considerations that went into planning an 18th century wardrobe.
Read the rest of the article here
I think it is kind of funny – but when you really think of it – personal hygiene and nutrition wasn’t on the top of their “to do” list in those years.