Cersei Lannister: Episode 1

     Cersei Lannister is the epitome of southern style, which makes sense, considering she sets the style. Notable aspects of her personal attire include rich jewel tones (especially the color red), sumptuous fabrics and intricate embroidery, all ostentatious displays of wealth and power. Even her crazy, crazy braids form a crown upon a her head, a crown which gets larger and higher throughout season one.

     The first time we ever see her she is in red tones with her hair down; she often wears this style when interacting with her family, and especially with Jaime, for whom she nearly always wears her hair loose.

 

The royal procession comes in a burst of color (still muted because of travel and Winterfell’s grey filter). It is immediately clear how much Cersei’s style influences the fashions of the court. As in Ancient Rome, when everyone tried to emulate the styles of the empress, here the women are all fully on board with Cersei's Valkyrie braid helmets.

Seeing this fur as a lion’s mane is a pretty literal interpretation, but then Cersei is a pretty literal person, particularly about the whole Lannisters = lions thing.

The warm colors of Cersei's outfit makes her stand out from the cool blues and grays of the Starks and their home. The red and gold denotes power; again with the lion thing.

 

This hairdo is pretty subtle for Cersei, but make no mistake: IT’S ALL ABOARD THE CERSEI BRAID TRAIN TONIGHT.

 

"Toot tooooooot." 

This is Cersei in full royal regalia. Previously we've only seen her in more informal settings; she is attending this feast as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Her crown is of Baratheon antlers - the jewel in the setting matches the red in her dress (later we will see differently colored jems to match her other outfits). However her braids overshadow her actual crown, a powerful statement of her own devising, separate from her husband (who is currently making out with a tavern wench in front of her and everyone else in the feast hall).

Cersei's okay though, because she's got...

 

FULL ON PRINCESS LEIA BRAIDS

And now for a small detour into...

The Many Expressions of Cersei Lannister

Clockwise from top left: Amused, Annoyed, Hiding her feelings, failing to do so.

In the final scene of the episode, Bran Stark and the audience witness Cersei having sex with her brother Jaime.

This is one of Cersei’s “scarlet woman” dresses. (Notable that the dress is actually scarlet. Like we said, Cersei tends to be pretty literal.) Red is commonly used to symbolize sex, power, and sexual power, and with Cersei it symbolizes all three. For Cersei, sex is almost always about consolidating her power. This scene demonstrates that power when she convinces her brother/lover to defenestrate ten-year-old Bran Stark in the scene that infamously closes out the first episode.

Welcome to Game of Clothes! The site dedicated to analyzing the costumes of Game of Thrones in agonizing detail. Using color theory, character discussion and exhaustive screencapping, we will look at A Song of Ice and Attire from a whole new perspective.

In our opinion, Game of Thrones is all about the ladies! Our first few posts will focus on the Stark women, Cersei Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen and their evolving styles; going forward we will add in Margaery, Roz etc., and eventually even some of the dudes.

Now let's look at some pretty dresses and awesome armor, and sometimes both at the same time. 

The Stark Women

 

Can you tell the Starks are from the North? 

     Everything is grey inside Winterfell, including the fashion. The other colors all lie under a layer of grey – even the light blues which serve as a standout color for the Starks evoke the cold of the north. Insert ice blue joke here.

     The Stark Women all belong at Winterfell – they blend seamlessly with the grey stone walls.

     Sansa and Arya are often dressed nearly identically, tying them together as sisters but also highlighting their differences. The knotting on Sansa's dresses is always neat, and she obviously places a lot of stock in her appearance, whereas Arya is always messy and usually covered in dirt; she is a tomboy and still a child. 

     Arya hair is always in braids; in this way she is her southern mother’s daughter. Her braids are thicker and less fussy than Sansa’s, probably because they were tired of dealing with Arya’s hair when she got back from shooting arrows out of bows that are BIGGER THAN SHE IS like a boss. Note the lacing detail on Arya's dress: Winterfell is a fortress, and Ned Stark a soldier: the lacing evokes armor.

     Mama Stark was a Tully once upon a time, but she is fully entrenched in the life and family she has at Winterfell. In her dark blue cloak she almost blends in perfectly to the gray walls of the keep as well as the deep green of the forest. Also note the gray fur on her cuffs; gray fur positively screams “Stark!” in most of the scenes where it appears. She works hard to represent her husband’s house, often looking more 'northern' than the natives.  There is, however, a small nod to her southern heritage in her subtle braids and the light blue gown, though it’s barely visible under her heavy robe. (We will also see Sansa in light blue later in the episode.) Catelyn never wears blue anywhere but at Winterfell, where she is queen.

    Sansa stands out from the rest of the Starks, a column of light blue. Cat wears a subtler, darker blue brocaded among the Stark green in her cloak. Note Sansa's braids. Braids are gonna be important.

     There isn’t really a reason to include this picture of Arya, except that it is adorable and this our blog and we can post pictures of tiny adorable heads in giant helmets if we want to.

                                                                                                           

     Time for some southern braids. This is easily the most elaborate hairdo we’ve seen Cat in thus far (including the other seasons, because we’re from the future and we know what’s going to happen to them all, whooooooo, evil laugh, etc). Cat is braiding Sansa’s hair for the feast welcoming the Royal Family, which includes Cersei’s Crazy Pile O’Braids. Fashions are set by the queen – everyone in Cersei’s retinue has some version of her hairstyle, and already this look is being copied by the northern nobility, from which it will trickle down to the common folk (especially the prostitutes – gotta have your own look, even when you’re naked).

     In this scene, Mama and Ginger Stark discuss Sansa’s possible impending betrothal to Prince Joffrey the Worst. Cat has some reservations (if only she knew) but sweet, young Sansa wants nothing more than to marry a handsome prince. This scene serves to highlight the fact that Sansa is basically a younger version of Cat; they are wearing two versions of the same dress here. The fact that it’s Cat, rather than a servant, braiding Sansa’s hair says a great deal about their relationship.

"No, Cat, we cannot be friends; your hair is gonna have to get a lot more fabulous first."

     Sansa laughs with her friends (remember when Sansa had friends?) and eye-flirts with Joffrey. Cersei looks Sansa over as the potential mother of Joffrey’s heirs. Cat remains wary of the Lannisters. (TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS, GIRL!)

    As in the previous scene, Sansa has the same dress as Cat; her hair is a homemade version of Cersei’s Princess Leia do (we say "homemade" because Cersei’s hair is a creation that probably took three servant’s several hours to construct. Sansa is a beautiful girl, but her hair and outfit look downright sloppy by comparison.)

So young, so innocent.

    Hey Sansa, you know how you look like you truly belong here? DON’T LEAVE. Trust us, we have seen the future, and those braids look heavy.