Oberyn Martell’s Armor
Season 4’s Oberyn Martell arc is peak content, downer ending and all, even if the Dornish plotline it spawns is definitely one of the series’ weakest links on the whole. Upon first seeing Oberyn’s decidedly limited armor, Tyrion Lannister nervously wonders if his champion could perhaps wear something a bit more protective, or at least, you know, a helmet. Oberyn insists that he needs the freedom to move, but one can’t help but wonder if there might have been a happy, helmeted medium out there that could have saved Oberyn’s skull—and all of us all from season 5’s Dornish plotline.
Ellaria Sand’s Showdown-Watching Outfit
“The Viper and the Mountain” (4.8) is a great episode for Dornish fashion and a terrible one for Dornish people. In addition to being emblematic of the spiked statement shoulder look that is Ellaria’s trademark, it’s hands-down the best use of the color orange in Game of Thrones to date. Sure, Oberyn’s faceoff against the Mountain proves to be the worst day of Ellaria’s life (well, at least until Cersei gets her revenge for Myrcella’s death in season 7), but damn does she look amazing.
Arya Finally Gets a New Look
Way back in the heyday of season 1, little Arya Stark got ready for a water dancing lesson with Braavosi swordmaster Syrio Forel with no idea that she would be stuck wearing those clothes for years to come. After making it all the way across Westeros and then the Narrow Sea, Arya winds up in Braavos, where she starts to train with the Faceless Men, and is given a new outfit upon taking up residence at the House of Black and White. While she can’t bring herself to toss her beloved Needle into the depths, she doesn’t need to utilize the Kondo method in parting with the ragged traveling clothes she was stuck in for over three seasons.
Tywin Lannister’s Burial Robes
Except for the whole dead bit, Tywin’s never looked better. That embroidery is on point. No matter how undignified the nature of his death, this one last posthumous glimpse of Tywin serves as a firm reminder that he was the one who made House Lannister the fearsome powerhouse it is, and that his death marks the end of an era for the Lannister family, ushering his surviving relatives into new and dangerous territory.
Jon Snow’s Lord Commander Wear
There are many things that Jon Snow does not know, including the fact that he has now had boat sex with his aunt (have fun breaking that news, Bran), but one thing he has been aware of from the very start is that black is his color. His “turncloak” moment with Mance Rayder’s army could never have been more than a temporary state of affairs if for no other reason than black just suits his angsty sad bastard persona far too well for him to ever actually swear off the color for good. But it’s not just the color that makes his Lord Commander ensemble so perfect—the shaggy black fur on his shoulders adds just the right amount of melodrama to suit his perfectly wind-tousled curls. It’s like guyliner in cloak form.
The High Sparrow’s Robe
Yes, it’s a dirty potato sack. Note that this article is about the most important costumes, not the most fashionable. This isn’t InStyle. And the importance of this rather unfortunate “outfit”—if you can even truly call it that—is that it demonstrates exactly why the High Sparrow proves so difficult for both the Tyrells and the Lannisters to deal with: he cannot be bribed or bought because he genuinely finds material possessions distasteful. He doesn’t deal in their form of currency, and his beggar-by-choice aesthetics are the most obvious indication of this extremely dangerous trait.
Sansa’s Second Wedding Dress
With its knitted layers and furs, Sansa’s wedding dress is everything you would expect a Northern wedding dress to look like. One imagines it’s the sort of thing a young Sansa might have dreamed of wearing someday. Which, of course, only makes her upcoming marriage to the full-blown nightmare that is Ramsay Bolton all that much more a horrific prospect by contrast. Bran also uses this outfit to prove his Three-Eyed Raven powers to Sansa, by telling her what a lovely bride she looked in her white wedding dress, which seems a rather strange choice on at least two fronts. First of all, reminding his sister of what she probably considers one of the worst nights of her life seems unnecessarily cruel, and second of all, stating that his sister, who is known for being beautiful, wore white dress at her wedding and looked good seems like a pretty easy guess as opposed to rock-solid evidence of a supernatural gift, but I digress.
Jaime and Bronn’s Stolen Dornish Clothes
Presumably, this is the uniform of the Martell guard, which is what allows Jaime and Bronn to sneak undetected into the Water Gardens at Sunspear after stealing these uniforms from men they killed. But it does beg the question of why the Martell guard would stray so far from Sunspear. Really, the whole clothes-swap plan feels like something out of a farce, which actually is a pretty accurate way to characterize season 5’s underbaked Dornish plot on the whole.
Arya’s “Lanna” Disguise
Arya getting to wear something interesting to look at for once might be the nicest thing that happens in season 5.
Sansa’s Direwolf Dress
When Sansa Stark leaves Winterfell for King’s Landing she wants nothing more than to become something other than a Stark of Winterfell. By the time her father loses his head, she has come to regret her decision, but it’s not until years later after she manages to escape from Ramsay Bolton that she’s finally free to embrace and flaunt her Stark identity. It does beg the question, though: did the Night’s Watch have all those sewing supplies hidden away in a closet somewhere.
Related Topics: Game of Thrones
