Daenerys Targaryan: Part 1

     And now it's time for our favorite true queen of Westeros: Daenerys Targaryan!

     She may be the dragon's daughter but she doesn't know it yet. Just look at that face! Would you believe we see this exact same expression when she realizes FIRE CANNOT KILL A DRAGON? Let's keep that in mind, shall we?

     In Dany's first appearance, she wears a simple, diaphanous lavender gown with her hair down. She wears no jewelry or adornments or, for that matter, shoes. This particular gown is almost an exact match for the gown that Mhaegen (young prostitute and mother of one of Robert Baratheon's numerous children) wears in her first appearance. Shae and Roz also wear versions of this dress. A notable difference are the bands over her shoulders, symbolic of restraints. Just as the dress Cersei wears at the end of this episode is representative of her sexual power, Dany's dress in this scene is largely about her lack of control over her own fate and even her own body. Both the dress and Dany herself are almost invisible. Lest we forget, this is the scene in which her older brother informs her that he is going to marry her to Khal Drogo, a man she has never met, and instructs her to put on an even more see-through dress while creepily pawing at her body.

Seriously, Viserys, have you never heard of lining?

Ohhh, we are gonna enjoy it when that smile gets burned off his face.

     In the next scene, Dany puts on the dress Viserys instructed her to wear. She is exposed, literally and figuratively to a group of strangers. Her creepy brother is using her body as a bargaining chip in his gambit to reclaim the Iron Throne. It is, however, worth noting that even though this lavender dress is even more invisible than the last one, Dany herself is brighter and more vivid in this scene. Also important: the two dragon pins on her shoulders (Viserys only has one) and the two small braids in her hair. We cannot stress this enough: braids are important.

     And now it's time for the big wedding! Doesn't Dany look excited and happy to be there?

     Dany's hair is still loose and flowing here, but this is the first hint of intricacy in the styling of her braids - note the metal clips that call to the armored aspects of her attire.

Hey look, Dragon Eggs! I wonder if those will be important later.

     The halter is a woven metallic, contrasting with her wedding dress, another pale and floaty dress that makes her recede into the background, even as she's the center of the celebrations. She is wearing her Targaryan pendent in her bodice, and her armbands finish the illusion of armament. She is in a princess fantasy version of armor, even as Daenerys (a true princess) sits through her less-than-fairytale wedding. She is wearing a ring in this scene that we don't see again. It could be a Targaryan relic, or even just a reference to a more western type of marriage. The halter and armbands continue the motif of restraints in her early clothing.

 

     She's so young and obviously terrified, but her bravery is evident even now as she walks toward her new husband's gift to her,  a white horse (continuing this theme of the wrong type of Disney wedding). Oh Dany, we can't wait until you realize your power and we can worry about you less than we do right now.

     Take a good look at this dress you guys. Not only is it a beautiful dress and interesting within its current scene, just you wait. There's more in store for this particular gown.

     

     This scene was a lot less problematic in the books. There was hair braiding. It was nice. (And then the writing staff of Game of Thrones decided to change it to a rape scene because... why?)

     And here Dany is a while later, depressed and back in her first dress, fading into the background:

    Dany may have married a Khal, but she's a Khaleesi in name only. She has not yet realized her power.

     This is Dany's first real scene as a member of the Khalasar. This is the most covered up we've seen her thus far. She doesn't fade into the background here; instead she melds with the trappings of her adopted culture, dressed in the earth tones of a Dothraki woman. The cut and style of the dress in halfway between the drapey gowns she's been wearing thus far and the more functional clothes of a Khaleesi. (We also think it is slightly reminiscent of Jedi robes.)

 

     It is in this dress that we see Dany initiate her first loving, consensual sexual encounter with Drogo. And even though it's a sex scene, this is still the most covered-up we've seen Dany thus far.

Well someone's started taking control of her life and is looking more at home.

 

     By episode three, Dany has truly started to come into her own as a Khaleesi. She wears a functional outfit; halter top, trousers, boots, split skirt and riding gloves in deep earth tones. She looks at home in the saddle and in the Khalasar. (Especially in comparison to her brother, who clings to his Westerosi clothes almost as hard as he clings to his delusions of grandeur.) Her braids are also more numerous, and thicker than they have ever been. The only remnant of her Westerosi clothing and heritage is the dragon pin she wears on the front of her shirt.

Not a Queen. A Khaleesi.

"Yeah, Viserys, turns out I'm in charge here. We're gonna get back on our horses, and you can walk."

     However, her transition to powerful Khaleesi is not totally complete. This outfit exposes some of her stomach, which makes her look somewhat younger than she might otherwise. And while we are completely in favor of awesome warrior women with bare midriffs (we grew up in the nineties, can you tell?) we do believe that the style reads as somewhat young/adolescent.

Boob what?

     Dany is wearing this outfit, and having her hair braided when Irri tells her that she is pregnant. This pregnancy secures her position within the Dothraki, the mother of the Stallion who will Mount the World. News of her pregnancy also makes her a threat in the eyes of Robert Baratheon's council. A plot to poison her is afoot, and while we're on Team Khaleesi, Ned Stark was wrong: they should've taken her out at this point: it was their only chance, and now she's a comin'.

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.

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.