After some brief time off, costume designer Michele Clapton returned to Game of Thrones for season 7. Which of her designs were the best? Let’s talk about the costuming over the past seven episodes of the show. Vote in the poll below!
COREY: Overall, I think it’s hard to argue that season 7 was not the best dressed season of Game of Thrones. Almost everyone got a wardrobe upgrade this year, and honestly, it was about time. While I understand these people don’t have the modern wardrobes we enjoy (I color-code my clothes, and arrange them by purpose), it was getting a bit hard to believe characters like poor Jorah couldn’t find another shirt. And coincidentally, he’s my choice for best outfit of season 7.
Let’s be honest: no one deserved a wardrobe upgrade more than Jorah the Explorer. That poor guy had been wearing the same yellow shirt since the show began. Surely, at some point during his wanderings around Essos, there was a tailor available? Are there no Goodwills in Vaes Dothrak, Qarth, Yunkai, Astapor or Yunkai? For crying out loud, Dany had a new outfit every other episode.
Anyway, when Jorah finally did receive a wardrobe upgrade, it was pretty damn awesome. His new outfit keeps with the black theme of seemingly everyone else in season 7, and his leather doublet is quite stylish. The pleated hip armor invokes Jaime’s samurai armor. Paired with a black cloak and undershirt, Jorah cut quite the dashing figure.
Gone is the tattered yellow shirt of our collective nightmares. May we never see its like again.
SEBASTIAN: I have to say, I am of two minds here. On the one hand, the costumes on Game of Thrones have always been great and have even gotten better in season 7. On the other hand, I have always felt like Game of Thrones could do a better job concerning armor. Your choice, Corey, epitomizes that. That outfit looks great! It looks like a lot of craftsmanship went into it and it is a beautiful style. Yet, the Middle Ages enthusiast in me can’t help but object.
I wonder, is this actually meant to be armor? It certainly looks like a covered breastplate or maybe, just maybe, a brigandine. That’s fine by me so far, although I do not get the fascination in fantasy and historical productions with dark leather, Game of Thrones at times being different in that respect. If that is indeed a covered breastplate or something similar, however, what is this … shirt (?) he is wearing underneath? If this is supposed to be actual armor, why not wear something protective along with it? And even if you don’t, why use dark leather again? His old armor at least had shoulder protection, by the way.
Since I am a better judge of armor than of dresses and the like, I will go with armor here, too. I choose Gregor Clegane’s (or Robert Strong’s) new armor. Why? Because it looks practical. It looks more like actual, functional armor and is in that respect superior to most armor shown on TV in general and on Game of Thrones specifically. The Mountain’s armor shows little of the ubiquitous leather (at least above the hip), it covers the shoulders and parts of the arms properly and there is even some (fake) mail to be seen beneath. It’s intimidating – and beautiful – armor for an intimidating fighter.
I have to say though: The helmet is awful. Those three additional ridges on it are basically inviting strikes to the top of the helmet. (Maybe he’s thinking he is big enough that that won’t happen.) The middle one is fine, but the other two a nonsense. I don’t particularly care for the skirt. I don’t really know what it is made of, but I would much rather have a proper skirt of plates. A bigger problem for me is, however, that I would love to see more mail. There seems to be only black fabric beneath the helmet. There should be mail. Maybe it’s under the fabric, I suppose, but that doesn’t make much sense either. The face and the throat would be rather easy targets, especially for a spear. If I had to face the guy, that’s what I would go for. Well, I would probably run as fast as I can, but anyway. Still awesome armor overall.
DAN: No, not all of the Game of Thrones costumes make sense all of the time, but costumer Michele Clapton more than makes up for that with her stirring, striking designs. I agree with you two that the costumes in season 7 were probably the best yet, which is very impressive considering that so many of them had the same color scheme. And by that, I mean DAMN there was a lot of black. That’s part of the reason reason why Daenerys’ gorgeous white winter-wear stood out so much when she donned it in “Beyond the Wall.”
Still, working within that dark color scheme, Clapton gave us a ton of variety, from Daenerys’ red-and-black cover-all gowns to Sansa’s belted-and-caped number to Tyrion’s handsome doublets. But even with all this goodness, I have to give the best-dressed nod to Cersei Lannister.
In the male-dominated world of Game of Thrones, women have to exert control where they can, and it was established very early on that one of the ways they can do that is through what they wear. Margaery was always great at this, as is Cersei. Her clothes tell a story. This season, Cersei’s clothes said that she wasn’t taking shit from anyone and that she was to be feared. I also think there’s a bit of the mourning mother in there — she didn’t want to talk about Tommen’s suicide with Jaime, but she’s signaling that it’s weighing on her with her wardrobe choices.
Gone is the elaborate brocade, structured shoulders and baggy sleeves of her earlier gowns. Everything Cersei wears in season 7 is so sleek, the better to draw your attention to the crown, which is what she wants you to notice.
Cersei wore a lot of awesome pieces during season 7 — her black-on-black jacket-and-dress combo from the Dragonpit meeting was terrific, as was the furry-shouldered look she sported in her final scene of the season. My favorite was probably what she wore in “The Queen’s Justice” when she accepted Euron’s gift — you can see it from the side above. I love the drama of the sleek black dress contrasted with the elaborate, spiky shoulder-piece.
Cersei knows how to make an impression, whether by blowing up a sept or walking into a room. I’m looking forward to seeing what she brings to the table sartorially in season 8.
RICHARD: I agree that Game of Thrones season 7 was a stunner as far as its pret-a-porter costumery, from the Targaryen all-blacks to Cersei’s silver shoulder spikes (this really was Cersei’s year) and the new Lannister war armor. I’m trying to think back to when an outfit appeared onscreen that truly took my breath away, and I think that moment belonged to Daenerys and her white dragonrider coat.
The appearance of the white coat marks a point in the story when Daenerys is taking her destiny into her own hands (flying off to do battle with her dragons). Costume designer Michele Clapton elaborated to Business Insider: “You can see in the way dressing that she’s almost assuming the power, but not quite. The width of the shoulders give her strength, the chain gives her strength.”
Clapton feels that the white coat is Daenerys’ new armor, speaking both to her defiance of the White Walkers and her newfound love for Jon Snow. “I felt that there should be a definite shift in her look to reflect her decision to go to the aid of Jon and his team trapped north of the wall. I think it’s the first time that she has really been to the aid of another individual. And let’s face it, she’s not going because of the Hound and the other members of the team!”
As well as being nicely bundled-up and toasty for wintry expeditions, the white coat further symbolizes the Targaryen fire queen’s choice to link herself to the Stark bastard (and unknown-to-her-so-far nephew) who has won her heart and represents the icy north. Yes, this is a song of ice and fire, and the two must come together to defeat the White Walkers.
“She is putting herself and her precious dragons at risk and who for?” Clapton asks. “A threat? A King?” Daenerys is on her way to save Jon Snow (and a whole host of other important characters), and at the same time she is “elevating her look to that of warrior queen, with the beautiful silver dragon chain completing the look.”
And she looks absolutely awesome doing so.
RAZOR: I usually try to avoid the “Best Costume” segment of Small Council because I just don’t care what the actors are wearing, at least insofar as it pertains to thinking back on who wore it best. However, I will give it a try with Jon Snow and his King in the North armor and cloak, which are quite fetching.
We’ve only seen three major wardrobe changes with Jon Snow over the years: 1. His Night’s Watch blacks and armor, which after many seasons of traipsing through the snow had to be getting kind of threadbare. 2. His “I’m a Stark and I’m gonna kill Ramsay Bolton” armor. Sadly, that getup was ruined during the Battle of the Bastards, covered in mud and the blood, blood, and guts.
So, no. 3 gets my vote — Jon Snow, the King in the North. His armor is the best thing we’ve seen a Stark wear yet. His gorget is silver and bears two House Stark direwolves facing each other — it’s badass right off the bat. The armor is still leather, but is adorned with silver rivets, and his cape (not pictured below) is much furrier and Stark-like. For the gorget alone, I would pick Jon’s new armor as the best costume of season 7.
You can pick up to four options from the poll below!