Outlander star Duncan Lacroix looks back on his days as the kilt-wearing Murtagh, recalling the versatility of the Scottish garment.
Outlander is known for its Scottish fashion, and I lot of fans surely fell in love with the kilt look that we saw so much of back in the beginning seasons. Of course, the series has come a long way since then, with many of the characters migrating overseas, and the kilts have sort of become a thing of the past.
And that’s a shame, because Jamie Fraser sure looked great wearing that Scottish kilt, didn’t he? At least we got to see him wear it once again during the fifth season! Duncan Lacroix (Murtagh) talked to Cinemablend about his days donning the iconic Scottish attire.
“Actually, the plaid, the kilt was incredibly comfortable to wear and quite very practical as well,” Lacroix recalled. “I remember that the huge battle scene I was involved in, which was the Prestonpans battle scene in Season 2. We spent a good few days on a field sprinting around the place. I mean, we had training as well from this group of people… who right from the outset would show us all the Highlanders’ weapons, how much of a utilitarian kind of piece of clothing that was, the plaid. We actually got quite attached to them and we had devised different ways of wearing them, because we were shown you can kind of bunch it up behind, have it brooched over your shoulder, and it was kind of left to us to go our own way and design the way we would wear the kilt.”
Based on what we’ve seen of the kilts, I don’t think many of us would have imagined there are multiple ways to wear them. The utility of the kilt was actually something I got a little familiar with when I visited the Battle of Culloden site during a trip to Scotland. They broke down a lot of the info, including the clothing, artillery, and methods of fighting on the field. In a post-COVID world, I’d recommend everyone interested make the trip to learn more about the history Outlander is based on.
It was a bummer that we didn’t get to see Murtagh don the Scottish garment one last time before his death. If any of the writers want to honor him in future seasons by having other characters wear the outfit, we’re on board!
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