Yes, the Game of Thrones Costumes ‘Always’ Have a Hidden Meaning
Game of Thrones can be classified as a lot of things. A sprawling multigenerational family drama. A very twisted romance. A cautionary tale about the dangers of raising dragons and claiming power as your own. But a fashion show? Most viewers wouldn't give Thrones the same style credit as the Gossip Girls and Grownishs of TV. Still, wardrobe has played a huge role in how the fantasy drama unfolded over the past eight years.
Whether it's a sigil's placement on a coat or a distinct dress pattern, the outfits worn by Houses Stark, Lannister, Targaryen, and Greyjoy are about so much more than Winter's arrival. They're often the first place that the showrunners will embed details about the characters—and where a ton of fan theories are born. Ahead of the final season, we talked to Game of Thrones costume designer Michele Clapton for an inside look at Westeros' best outfits, from Daenerys' angelic white fur coat to Cersei's twisted Lannister crown. She confirmed that hidden meanings have "always" been a big part of wardrobe design in Westeros—a trend that will continue in the show's final season.
Warning: This post contains spoilers if you're not up to date on Game of Thrones.
Glamour: What, to you, is the most significant fashion moment from the past eight seasons? And why?
Michele Clapton: A number of designers say that they have been inspired by the designs on the show: Rick Owens, Helmut Lang, Alberta Ferretti, for example. Some don’t say, but I can see an inspiration sometimes! But it’s a two-way street. I’m influenced by them as well to be brave and to magpie-like [and] steal from all around. Rick Owens and Hussein Chalayan were both a great influence on the northern silhouette. John Galliano and Alexander McQueen and Vivianne Westwood were also an influence due to their brilliant and brave cutting. Sometimes it’s a family look, or a region like the North that influence looks, sometimes it’s an individual look. I believe [John] Varvatos has recently bought out a GoT-inspired collection in conjunction with HBO, although I, sadly, wasn’t directly involved. I’m flattered.
It's been reported that Jon Snow's coat was made from Ikea rugs. Are there other character wardrobe staples this season that originated from a surprising place or places viewers might shop? If so, what?
MC: It was not Jon Snow’s; it was Samwell’s. And a few other of the Night's Watch that wore them. We did it on the pilot when the budget and time were limited. It made sense. They continued to be used throughout the series. We aged the wool rugs and added heavy leather straps that crossed at the chest and buckled behind the waist to stabilize. They worked well.
Did any of the actors keep their costumes or anything from them?
MC: Some small items. Earlier on we gave more pieces away, but as the show grew in popularity and we started to show the costumes in exhibitions, HBO wanted us to keep all. I seem to remember someone was gifted quite a memorable piece, not by me…. We had to remake it!
It's been said that Sansa's hairstyles are influenced by her interactions with other characters on the show. Is this true of her costumes too?
MC: Yes, absolutely. I think you can see that she is influenced throughout her journey until she finally comes into her own style in season seven. The look is a culmination of her difficult story. The "Little Bird" initially copied the style of Cersei, when she first arrives in Kings Landing. She then retreats to the cut of her mother's costume, a refuge, showing how she feels, wounded and scared, but she can’t speak it…. She tells of her pain through embroidery and color.
Later Littlefinger’s look influences her as they travel to Winterfell. This is post–her dramatic statement black feather dress, her dark Sansa look. This was supposed to imply that she now understands that she can learn and take from those that hurt her. She copies Littlefinger’s look not because she’s impressed by him, but that she needs him. She suffered at the hands of Joffrey, her mother's sister and Ramsey; this influences the design of the belt in season seven that wraps around her body, protecting her. The wrap-over front and laced dress, the shorter length and the stitched, quilted heavy cloth, all tell of protection and the ease of movement if needed.
There is also reference in the fabric to her mother's family's sigil, the fish, and the fur cape at her neck [shows] respect to her father's family, the Starks.
All the women in season eight seem to have more strong-looking shoulders and other symbols of power. Is that intentional?
MC: Yes, the silhouette of the women is strong and their bodies are covered. [It's] partly due to climate but more than that, they are not using their sexuality to achieve or claim power, unlike Margaery, for instance, earlier in the show. We’ve moved beyond that. They have all had a journey, some harder than others. They’ve all been abused or disrespected by men, usually, simply because they are women. They all want power, some at any cost! Except maybe Arya, who wants freedom.
If you could pick one outfit that, to you, was the most emblematic of a character—from any season—what would it be? Why is it symbolic of that person, specifically?
MC: Dany's white fur coat! It’s the only time I can remember that she seemed to perform a selfless act. No gain to be had, and she dressed like a furry angel to carry it out.
Tell us more about Cersei's costume development this season. What can we expect to see?
MC: All of Cersei’s costumes tell of her story. We might hate her, but she is a product of her treatment.
When we first met her, eight years ago, her fabrics and colors were softer. She was subdued, hunted. The imagery she embroidered onto her costumes were birds in swirls of stitches. It was supposed to speak of her feelings of being trapped—bird in a cage—within a marriage that she was forced into, forced to be weak and manipulated only because she was a woman, by a drunken boar of a man who her father chose for her. The style was a wrapped kimono in paper silk, implying availability, not dressed for the day.
As her position changes with the murder of this husband, we start to see the colors become stronger and often to be shades of red. The cloth becomes stronger, and the Lannister Lyon becomes prominent in the embroidery. The silhouette also changes, especially when Margaery arrives on the scene. Ultimate power dressing, this is with armor and heavy symbolic jewelry to insist visually of her belief in her rightful place within the family. Of course undermined perfectly by Margaery.
Later, as her children die, she shifts to black; this becomes leather as she is crowned queen. Here the dress is shortened and the leather is stamped in the same way that her father's was. Their relationship was complicated.
In the final episode of season seven, as she meets Dany, the costume becomes more warlike with chain mail, and the silhouette changes with strong molded shoulders, like a exoskeleton. There is also a slashed and twisted detail on the back of her coat. It feels lizardlike, cold-blooded. It creates an illusion that you can see into her soul, and it’s dark.
About Cersei's crown—what does it reference and how was it made? Any details you can share?
MC: I loved simplifying the Lannister Lyon sigil for Cersei’s crown to just a few elegant strokes. Again this was to somehow state a clarity of mind: a changing of the guard and clear thinking. She also changed the armor on the Queen's Guard. A rebrand!
I actually designed this while I was filming The Crown in Africa. I started by drawing lions to get their movement. I remember someone from production asked me what I was doing. I couldn’t say, so I just said "life drawing." They were actually great about it. So long as my work on their show didn’t suffer, and it didn’t. I love multitasking!
Did you ever make a costume that the producers or directors felt was too obvious for spoilers?
MC: I discuss costume ideas with David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss]. Sometimes they are not sure about something, [but] we will develop ideas until we are all happy. But we of course have disagreed. Ninety-nine percent of the time we solve it and we’re happy. I do love them, and they have always given me space. Frank Doelger, one of the executive producers, has an amazing eye and really helps, and Bernie Caulfield is really supportive. We all want it to be right.
Finally, any hidden clues or messages in the costumes this season we should look for?
MC: Always—but you know I can’t say!
Halie LeSavage is the fashion associate at Glamour. Follow her @halielesavage.
