Visit to the American Revolution Museum

I had a great time last week visiting the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, VA. It's my favorite historical museum, and when I heard that they were going to be doing an exhibition of costumes from OUTLANDER Seasons 1-4, naturally I had to go and see it!



I started off my visit to the museum by exploring the Continental Army camp. I always enjoy looking at the 18th-century medical equipment on display in living history areas like this. It was still early in the morning, so there weren't many people around. I was just chatting with the re-enactor in charge of the surgical supplies, telling her how much I love the museum, and then she asked, "Are you the one with the blog?"

I laughed and said yes, Outlandish Observations is mine. Apparently she spread the word to the other employees, because an hour later when I was looking at the OUTLANDER costume exhibit (see below!), she came to find me along with the museum's Director of Operations, a woman named Mariruth.

Mariruth said the museum staff were all excited when they heard the news: "The blog lady is here!" I giggle every time I think about that!

Mariruth confirmed that I was the first to post on social media about this costume exhibition, and when she asked how I knew, I said, "Simple. I'm on the museum's mailing list, and I got an email about it." She was very appreciative of the way I've helped to publicize the American Revolution Museum and tell OUTLANDER fans about it. It was a thrill for me to be treated as a VIP like that, as you can imagine, especially since I had not told anyone at the museum I was coming!

Here are some other items of interest to OUTLANDER fans that I saw in the army camp:



Army Tents. The one on the right is an officer's tent. The one on the left would house several soldiers.



Laundry area. Camp followers (women who accompanied the army) would do the washing.



The sharpened logs are called abatis, designed to keep enemy soldiers from climbing up a hill or embankment. You may recall Jamie encountering them at Saratoga in ECHO:

The redoubt itself stood fifteen feet high, a packed earthen wall with a palisade of logs built atop it--and between earth and palisade were abatis, logs sharpened to a point and flung down pointing outward.

Balls were spattering the field before the redoubt, and Jamie ran, dodging bullets he couldn’t see.

He scrabbled with his feet, clawing for purchase on the logs of the abatis, got one hand through a gap and onto a log, but lost his grip on the flaking bark and fell back, landing bruisingly on his rifle and knocking out his wind. The man beside him fired up through the gap, and white smoke spurted over him, hiding him momentarily from the Hessian he’d glimpsed above. He rolled over and crawled fast away before the smoke could drift off or the fellow decide to drop a grenade through it.

(From AN ECHO IN THE BONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 65, "Hat Trick". Copyright © 2009 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

With the latest episodes of OUTLANDER Season 8 fresh in my mind, I was particularly interested in the Continental officer's tent they had in the army encampment. As you look at these pictures, imagine General Bleeker using the various items on display.



Continental officer's uniform. Notice the gorget, identifying him as an officer.



Portable writing desk. Lord John has used one like this, and Roger used one in FIERY CROSS to write his account of how he came to be hanged at Alamance.



Campaign chest for the officer's personal effects.



A well-worn copy of COMMON SENSE by Thomas Paine, on the table in the officer's tent.



Finally, I couldn't resist a selfie with the 24-pound siege cannon in the background. This cannon is similar to those used by French forces during the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. It's enormous!



I was impressed by the amount of OUTLANDER merch for sale in the gift shop, including almost a full set of OUTLANDER hardcovers! What a change from the first time I visited there, in 2013, when there wasn't a speck of anything OUTLANDER-related in the whole museum. The "OUTLANDER Effect" is real, and clearly they're taking advantage of the final season of the TV series to draw in fans who otherwise might not have heard of this wonderful museum.

I was told that they were hoping to sell 5,000 tickets for the costume exhibition, and as of last week, they'd sold at least 7,000 -- with a month left to go! (Tickets are still available if you're interested! The special exhibition runs through May 18, 2026.)

OUTLANDER: COSTUMES WOVEN IN TIME



This is the sign at the entrance to the OUTLANDER Costume Exhibition.



Frank and Claire in Inverness in Episode 101.



Black Jack Randall's uniform.



Claire wore this skirt in Season 1. Look at how carefully it's pleated, just like a kilt would be.



Jamie's wedding outfit. "A Highlander in full regalia is an impressive sight," indeed!



Claire's wedding gown from Season 1. It's just stunning in person! The skirt is too wide to get the whole thing in a photo.



Closeup of the bodice of Claire's wedding gown. I like the metallic pieces sewn into the gown. Quite a distinctive look!



The infamous Red Dress that Claire wore on her first visit to Versailles in Season 2.



I love the embroidery on this waistcoat that Jamie wore in Paris in Season 2.



This ensemble Claire wore in Paris was inspired by a Dior outfit from the 1940s.



Claire's "batsuit" from Season 3. I was very surprised to see that it's a sort of grayish-blue color in real life, not the light blue color we see on TV. Perhaps something to do with the lighting in the museum? I know not everybody is a fan of this outfit, but I've always liked it. I thought it was a clever idea, a versatile and ever-changing costume, built to last the whole season. It almost becomes a character in its own right in Season 3, and it was interesting to see it up close.



Here are some of the Cherokee costumes from Season 4.

It's a wonderful exhibition and I'm glad I had a chance to see it!



In the afternoon, I saw a cannon demonstration, which was very entertaining and informative.

I highly recommend the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown! It's a real treat for OUTLANDER fans, and the staff are very friendly and willing to answer questions.