Costume designer Michele Clapton discusses Game of Thrones fashion
With the end of Game of Thrones drawing ever nearer, fans will soon have to say goodbye to the people and places of Westeros—as well as the stunning costumes. Emmy-winning designer Michele Clapton has handled dressing our favorite characters for the past eight seasons, and she’s brought plenty of fascinating designs to the table, each of them with meaning that adds to the context of the story.
But while fans won’t be seeing any new Game of Thrones designs from Clapton after the series finale, they’ll be able to appreciate the fashion choices of the last eight seasons thanks to Insight Editions. The publisher is releasing a four-part book series called Game of Thrones: The Costumes, with the first book hitting shelves on May 28.
In honor of this new collection, Clapton sat down with Vanity Fair to discuss the various costumes she’s put together over the course of the show. And having created pieces for so many different characters and cultures spread throughout Westeros, she had plenty to say.
When it comes to Clapton’s favorite looks, she said that she’s enjoyed dictating the style journeys of “all the women, really.” Getting a bit more specific, she added, “Especially Sansa. Her style is closest to my personal taste, maybe because she’s closest to me in height! I also loved creating the armies, their armor, and the looks of each day.”
Sansa Stark has had one of the more interesting story arcs over the course of the show. Clapton has done an excellent job of capturing her growth over the seasons through her wardrobe.
Clapton cited Braavos as her favorite culture and location to craft costumes for. “I loved Braavos,” she said. “It was so distinct and complete. I loved how Arya sat within it. I particularly like the bankers wearing their sabots [a kind of clog] for interiors—it was a play on the French peasant (and others) that put their sabots on to go outside to do ‘dirty work.’ To me, it implied that banking is a dirty business.”
It’s the small details like this that make Clapton’s designs on Game of Thrones such an accomplishment. She said as much when asked how people should evaluate the characters’ attire. “Well, I guess it is so often subliminal, because [costumes] shouldn’t dominate, and it’s different for every character.” She also noted that viewers often interpret her costumes differently than she does.
And the fans aren’t the only ones to gush over Clapton’s pieces. When asked about the performers’ reactions to her work, she reported plenty of positive feedback. Lena Headey apparently loved Cersei’s coronation dress, and Pedro Pascal even kept his Oberyn costume on after the fitting. It’s a good sign when the actors and actresses wearing your designs don’t even want to take them off.
Clapton also mentioned how great it was to work with Aidan Gillen on Littlefinger’s stylistic journey over the years. Although fans’ minds don’t immediately jump to his character when considering the outfits on the show, it appears Clapton and Gillen put quite a bit of thought into his look. “We discussed trying to show how his confidence grew, the little details in his costume that reflected his complicated existence,” Clapton explained. “All quite subtle, as it should be. Aidan and I really enjoyed his development.”
Clapton also emphasized that she tried to remain as historically accurate when making her designs as possible. She even cited historical evidence when going over her approach to making costumes for this season, particularly in regard to the Southerners traveling North. “With the Dothraki, whose ethos is to take what is not theirs through force, I thought it much more interesting to have them take trophies from the fight with the Lannisters—their army coats and elements of their armor. There is so much evidence of this happening in battles throughout history.“
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With any luck, we’ll see more creative takes on history in Clapton’s designs for the final two episodes.
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