Melisandre Shows her Asshai Spirit
While the hexagonal motif in her necklace seems common to all Red Priestesses, it’s with this hexagonal patterned dress and the introduction of the mysterious Qaithe that this motif becomes firmly associated with Asshai, a strange land at the edge of the explored world. Game of Thrones has never visited Asshai, but the two characters confirmed to have originated there—Melisandre and Qaithe—suggest it must be a weird and dangerous place. And as such, this pattern now functions as a warning sign by association.
Brienne of Tarth’s Plate Armor
We are introduced to Brienne of Tarth as a mystery knight battling against Loras Tyrell at Renly Baratheon’s camp. It’s only after the mystery knight wins that Brienne’s face is finally revealed to us. While she’s not the first warrior woman to appear on Game of Thrones, she is the first to wear full plate armor. As Gendry tells Hot Pie on the Kingsroad, any fool can buy armor—but not just any fool can pull it off. Brienne of Tarth is no fool.
Margaery’s Burrito Dress
It’s a ridiculous name, but I don’t know what else you would call this funnel-shaped look. While we’ve already seen Margaery at this point, this one-on-one conversation with Petyr Baelish is where who she is and what she wants really comes into focus. She wants to be the queen, but she’s still trying to figure out how to reach this goal. Much like she’s still developing her strategy, she’s still in the experimental stages of developing her image, which explains the outfit—experimentation usually features at least a few misfires, after all.
Daenerys’ Qarthian Dress
Just before being handed off to Khal Drogo, Daenerys Targaryen is gifted a dress. Upon arriving in Qarth, Xaro, Daenerys’ first post-Drogo suitor, offers her a dress. Daenerys is somewhat hesitant about wearing it but ultimately acquiesces. It’s a pretty dress, but it also marks the end of an era for Daenerys—while we will see her taste evolve after this as she continues her journey across Essos and then on to Westeros, she will incorporate bits and pieces of various styles into her outfits as opposed to fully assimilating her aesthetic to wherever she happens to be at the time.
Daenerys Starts Mixing Styles
While Daenerys doesn’t really start coming into her own fashion-wise until season 3, she starts moving towards the development of a distinctive personal style with this outfit in the latter half of season 2, which combines Dothraki-style leatherwork with a shimmery fabric that speaks to Qarthian fashion.
Varys’ Yellow Robes
Before leaving the Red Keep behind to throw his lot in with Daenerys Targaryen, Varys dons these bright yellow robes on more than one occasion over the seasons, and there’s a good reason for it; nothing screams “Master of Whispers” quite like this outfit—the sleeves are so big because they’re full of secrets. Sure, he also has a darker version of this same outfit, but I prefer this one. Maybe because seasons 6 and 7 could accurately be called “a song of black and grey” as far as costuming is concerned, and I miss colors.
Melisandre’s Red Cloak and Dress Combo
The color red is Melisandre’s brand, and she embraces it wholeheartedly. Since first showing up in season 2, she has sported a variety of red dresses, but when she goes out traveling, she always wears this cloak. As the ghost of Renly Baratheon could tell you, when the Red Witch goes traveling, it’s usually bad news for somebody. Beware the cloak.
The Lord of Bones’ Bone Suit
The Lord of Bones is everything you would expect a man with such a title to be and more. We never see more of this feared wildling commander than his face than his glare and bearded chin, but this recurring character’s narrative arc basically boils down to a range of threats to Jon Snow’s manhood brought to a premature end when he makes the mistake of questioning the purity of Tormund’s bromantic intentions towards Jon in the process, resulting in the Lord of Bones becoming the first casualty of Hardhome. But man, was he an icon while he lasted. After all, nothing says “don’t fuck with me” quite like wearing the collaged bones of your enemies.
Cersei’s Blackwater “Armor”
Cersei has always been fond of metallic accents, but over the seasons her wardrobe has gotten more and more blatantly militaristic in aesthetic, an evolution that, perhaps unsurprisingly, really gets rolling in Game of Thrones’ first real battle episode, “Baelor,” (2.9) with this metal corset look.
Daenerys Finds Her Aesthetic
In season 1, Daenerys Targaryen battles for respect in Khal Drogo’s khalasar. In season 2, she wrestles with her post-Drogo identity, and in season 3, we finally see her start to really look towards Westeros and the big picture, making concrete steps towards establishing herself as a leader and a conqueror. We also start to see her really come into her own in terms of her fashion. While admittedly I would not call her “Valar Dohaeris” (episode 3.1) look her most memorable in terms of fashion, it is a landmark in the evolution of her personal style, the first time she wears this particular shade of cerulean that proves to be a favorite over the next several seasons, as well as the first time she pairs a solid-colored dress featuring a rather simple silhouette with a statement dragon-related necklace, which will prove to be her go-to look.
It might not be the best outfit that she’s ever worn that fits into this category, but it is the first, and for that, it’s worth mentioning. She is also seen elsewhere in early season 3 pairing this dress with a matching cape, the first instance of yet another staple aspect of the dragon queen’s wardrobe.
Related Topics: Game of Thrones
