The costume vault

The Scottish Highlands were a very isolated territory for a very long time and, therefore, were considered the backwater of Europe. That's why there is so little documentary evidence regarding fashion in the medieval highlands. Most of the pictorial representations of the time are done centuries later, so there's little reference or base with which to work. Even in later periods, documentation, especially for women's clothing, is sketchy at best. So, how do you design the costumes for a movie set in the medieval Highlands? That's the dilemma that Jacqueline Durran, the costume designer for Macbeth (2015, Justin Kurzel) had to face. Macbeth comes out in cinemas this 25th of December, but I was lucky  enough to watch it early (this past October) at the Sitges Film Festival. Because it hasn't had a wide release yet, and I don't want to spoil the  movie for anyone, in this article I won't focus as much on narrative (as I usuall...