Michele Carragher: Game of Thrones' Embroidery

     If you follow our tumblr, you'll have already seen a post on Michele Carragher. Carragher is the artist behind all the FREAKING AMAZING embroidery in Game of Thrones' costumes. The attention to detail, both in artistry and in commitment to story detail is truly extraordinary. The tumblr post includes pictures and information from her website (which everyone should visit, seriously). Here we'll be doing a comparison between the detail pictures by the artist and the costumes in play during the episodes.

Sansa and Catelyn Stark, Episode 1:

     Getting to see the embroidery up close really adds to the experience of these costumes. In our original post we said that Sansa and Cat were wearing two different versions of the same dress. We can now see the details that set these dresses apart: Sansa's dress has a lot more decoration, including embroidered bows, flowers, and (you guessed it) dragonflies.

     You'll see a lot of this detail to the lives and experiences of the characters in Carragher's work; she's an artist who knows that costumes should tell stories.

     And check out the Tully trout jumping all over Cat's scarf... roll... thing. Whatever. It's awesome.

Cersei, Episode 3:

     This is the first, but by no means last time we'll see this bird-embroidered dress, which is good considering the INSANE AMOUNT OF DETAIL the artist put into it. The bird pattern on the shoulder in repeated throughout the rest of the garment, but it is the only part visible during this scene. (Appropriate, considering the main topic of conversation here concerns Sansa.)

     This dress in all its glory will repeat in future seasons. Larger views of the dress as a whole are available in the artist's Game of Thrones Gallery.

Sansa, Episodes 4, 5 and 8:

     Amazingly, this dress has even more detailing than previously thought, due to Sansa's habit of draping a shawl around her arms.

     It really is a pity (for a lot of reasons) that Sansa and Loras couldn't get married. Sansa's got the embroidered roses down, and we know that Loras appreciates her style.

Arya, Episode 4:

     Our original assessment of this outfit included the observation:

     "The scarf/collar beneath her tunic looks like northern roughspun but is embroidered in  a way that calls to Sansa's richer and delicate roses."

     Sarah is waaaay too smug about this.

     Going forward, we'll be featuring spotlights on the embroidery as we analyze more and more costumes. The seasons to come feature a lot of Michele Carragher's truly extraordinary work. We recommend checking out her website, for the artist's own explanations of her work, which include features on Sansa's wedding dress and the new embroidery technique she invented for Daenerys known as 'Dragonscale.'

     We cannot wait to get back to Dany. 


     Also, it's Fan Art Week over on our tumblr! Every day we'll be featuring the Game of Thrones work of our favorite artists, so come join us for A Dance with Drawings!

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.