Margaery Tyrell's Wedding Dress

(This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 4 and the third book in the series. If you're avoiding spoilers TURN BACK NOW.)

So the big day is here, and Margaery’s put on a smile, some bigass hair and a dress made more of thorns than roses.

When they married Sansa off to Tyrion, her dress was beautiful; but it was also large and heavy, literally embroidered with all her family’s heartache. But this dress is pure Margaery. Light and airy, in her signature blue and embroidered with silver. The detailing subtly says money (one of the reasons for this marriage) and femininity. The train is a spill of roses, the back is open, the shoulders frame her face in soft petals. But the core of this dress are the thorns curling around her. The height of elegance, and absolutely dangerous.

This dress would not look out of place at a contemporary wedding. Margaery is so fashion forward, she wears a dress that would look good at a high society wedding in 2014!

There's actually a big demand for replicas of this dress for upcoming brides. We would totally wear this dress, but would be super worried if our fiancé put in an order.

Tyrell roses twining about a Baratheon crown, the thorns taking prominence over the antlers. Symbolism! (Click here for a closer look at that crown.)

We really think this is an awesome subtle bit of acting by Ms. Dormer. Her facial expressions are very minimalist, and yet they convey a great deal. We tend to think this moment with everyone behind her, not seeing her face, is quite symbolic of Margaery’s whole deal. Very few people see her as she truly is. Dramatic irony!

Check out Joffrey’s creepy hands on her shoulders. Creepy creepy.

Color is often used to symbolize a connection between characters (see Margaery and Grandmama Redwyne). The color palette here accomplishes the opposite: Margaery in her airy, light blue stands apart from the dark reds and golds of the Lannisters. In comparison, the Lannisters are a solid block of color and unity. Dysfunctional unity.

Just. Take a moment to appreciate the detailing of that dress.

Her outfit actually kind of clashes with the ridiculousness Joffrey is wearing. (OK, maybe Joffrey’s outfit wasn’t even that bad, but we are contractually obligated to hate on him and look at all the lion stuff at that wedding, COME ON, no wonder Margaery was having trouble keeping it together.

Natalie Dormer: congratulations on your face

A note on the setting: visually, this is pretty much the opposite of the Red Wedding. At the Red Wedding, the guests were crammed into a tiny, grim, dark room that practically screamed “MURDER” but at the Purple Wedding, we have sunlight, bright colors, and fresh air.

~ SPOILER WARNING DANGER TURN BACK NOW~

In a previous post we touched on Olenna's grooming of Margaery into her successor. Olenna is known as the Queen of Thorns, a moniker referring to her wit and sharp tongue. Margaery and Olenna have always been a united front, but now Margaery has become a literal queen of thorns, just in time for Olenna to put her name into action. The roses covering Olenna's robe hide the danger beneath the petals, while Margaery's dress is taken over by thorns: together they are deadly, and entirely unsuspected.

FACE. Seriously, she is barely moving her face at all but projecting all kinds of intensity and intelligence through her eyes alone.

Subtle power, that’s Margaery’s whole deal.