The Costumes of Cersei Lannister Season 1-5 (Game of Thrones #1)
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- čas přidán 6. 07. 2016
- Spoilers An in depth analysis of the costumes worn by the character Cersei Lannister from the HBO series Game of Thrones, season 1-5.
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To see my catalogue of costume images from my videos, visit my Pinterest page: / costumecinemato - Zábava
I find it funny how the costume designers on GOT work so hard on the outfits and the embroideries and jewelry for all of the characters, but because the show is usually so dimly lit, most of it can't be enjoyed when actually watching the show. Great video as always!
I don't think I've heard you mention this anywhere, but apparently Cersei's long-hair wig was incredibly expensive and time consuming cause the strands were individually dyed and placed for just the right effect, cause her hair is such a key part of her character. You do such an amazing job in this series! Just thought this might be helpful, cause it was so fascinating to me! Thanks for putting so much hard work into these, there's so much information in them I didn't know!
Thanks Anne! I touched on wigs somewhere - I'm not a hair person so I rarely go there - but I think that the hair artists mentioned that the wigs cost about 7 - 10 grand a piece. I'll double check on this. :)
Lena looked so good in these costumes. This hairstyle and hair color suited her so well
My all time favourite dress of Cersei's was the one she wore to Tyrion and Sansa's wedding.
+Ben Gurney Yes, it's very beautiful.
Ben Gurney mine too. So majestic
Some added thoughts of my own:
- the ringlets on Cersei's outfits appear to be the same kind armourers use to make chain mail. though with hers they aren't interlinked. It may be intended to not only be decorative, but symbolic of the other armour-like pieces she wears, such as the plated corsets.
- additionally, the little skulls may be memento mori (reminders of death), being a mourning outfit, as well as (as you say) her personal reflection of her attitude.
- the half lion skull could represent a few different symbolic ideas. Memento mori again, this time the apparent diminishing of the Lannister name and power, foreshadowing the deaths of her other children, or that she is becoming Death incarnate, foreshadowing the actions she takes against her enemies.
- about the lighting making it hard in-episode to pick out the colours, I suspect it's also partly the editing afterwards that does this, when the colour of each scene is adjusted to keep an overall consistent visual tone throughout the episode (and the series at large). Rich colours in the actual fabrics get muted so as to not standout.
Great video! :-)
Thanks for your comment! Yes, absolutely. This was my first video when I first started looking at the GOTs costumes. Michele Clapton has said that as Cersei gets more paranoid, she armours herself more and more. In season 7, she has a lot of armour. Cersei once also said that instead of Robert, she should be the one to wear the armour (before he slaps her, of course)
I have a video coming out tomorrow where I look at the armour from the different regions. I hope you check it out!
Great insights, thank you so much. I did the costumes of Crimson Peak and it being gothic horror, the protagonist wears a belt made from her dead mother's hair, which is actually a Victorian tradition. I like the ideas that the skulls might be momento mori and that the embroidery artist hid them within the embroidery so that only a few of us might see it. Clapton is all about the symbolism, but unfortunately she doesn't address everything in interviews because she is so busy. So that leaves us to try and unlock the puzzles, which is also kind of fun to do.
Watching the series, I hadn't given a lot of thought to the costumes, though I recognized a lot of skill went into them and that they are stunning. It's great to see that a lot of symbolism in design and imagery went into them, too, for each character.
Thank you for highlighting what would probably have gone right past me as I watched the episode (though subconsciously I'm sure I picked up on some of it, like the darkening colours and increase in armour).
I'm not into fashion very much, but your videos relax me and I learn something new every time :) thank you for all the effort you put into these, it shows ❤️
+SpiritualThoughts Aw, thank you so much!
I'm a straight male and I've spent hours watching her speaking of dresses LOL.
Her speaking cadence is so nice and somehow reassuring.
Thanks metalsaint. 😁
I hadn't realized this until a costume blog pointed it out, but there was symbolism in Cersei's water colored gowns. Throughout the entirety of the first season and parts of the second, she was always in somebody's shadow--Robert, Jaime, Ned, Tyrion, and Joffrey. It wasn't until later seasons when both her true lioness pride and colors were revealed. Pun intended.
But Seven Hells, I had such a bone to pick with Season 1 Cersei's awful wig collection. x_x
*The fashion nerd in me just about jumped on the subscribe button!* ♥
I hope your channel acquires the recognition it deserves for your work.
7BlackSheep Thank you so much for sharing. I didn't know about that symbolism but that makes sense!
You're welcome. ♥ A lot of symbolism can be said about Sansa's, and Daenery's costumes as well. The latter tends to wear dainty fabrics whenever she is in a fragile position. From the moment of her engagement and wedding, before she found her wings in the Khalasar, and to being a guest in Qarth under uneasy circumstances. When she realized that things were not as they appeared towards the end of season 2, she began to wear a hybrid style between Dothraki and Qartheen, with pants and elegant armor. She always keeps the pants, but I wish the same applied to the armor.
Sansa's is a little more subtle, but it is all in the color coding and dress type. In her earlier seasons, she was portrayed as this naive little girl. She wore dresses similar to Cersei in order to emulate her, and symbolize her fragility. But after some realism in court, she began to shift to violets, and a Northern look. By the time season 3 happened, she really looked like Catelyn. The same applies to her hair. It can also be a means of distancing herself from the Southern styles of King's Landing, as well as emulating her mother's style instead. In addition, things were very dark for her.
There are so many layers to the symbolism, kind of like an onion; the more you peel away the more layers that are revealed. It's a fun journey.
You can add Sansa's dress fits the Northern fashion more, just like her hairstyle - she used to dress and do her hair like a Southern lady back then, but it was pretty normal. I've just noticed the embroidery is highly symbolic, not only because of the wolf's head, but also the branchs and leaves, I feel it's a reference to the Old Gods (the heart-tree of Winterfell). Plus, her furred cloak makes her look really broad-shouldered. Love this outfil!
7BlackSheep omg yes, someone agrees with me! Those wigs were horrible, it kind of ruin the beautiful gowns.
Thinking that Cerseis breast corset armour is in some way protecting her value as a woman at that time, her ability to bear and nurse children to further a family line. So that might be, symbolically or actually, what she's trying to protect at the battle.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Liza!
You are a complete lifesaver! I was going to draw a dress based on Cersei's costumes and I wanted to have something to listen to so that I could take notes while I watched and this was perfect! I love that you provide your own interpretations of why she wears certain pieces. You covered everything I was searching for and more. I absolutely loved the video :)
Thank you so much lizy! This was my very first YT video. I have talked about Cersei's costumes on many of my videos. Thank you for commenting.
These GoT reviews helped me a ton when writing a Medieval Costuming paper for uni, thank you! I was sure to cite you ;)
+Mercedes Acosta That's awesome Mercedes! Let me know if you need any additional resources!
I would really like your analysis of the costumes of the people of Dorn. In Game of Thrones, more than anything seen so far, we have a fine example of functional wardrobe, i.e. each character's wardrobe continues and changes with the narrative and is an integral part of the story.
You probably know (I haven't scrolled through all of the comments so don't know if this has been addressed before) but Lena Heady was expecting a happy event in season 1 so I wonder if the hooped skirts and long full sleeves in that season were to camouflage her pregnancy. There are a few times you can tell if you really look (like the scene where Cersei says that if you play the game of thrones you live or you die). Thanks for collating all this information into one place.
Thanks Patricia. Yes, when I did this video (it's been a year already, can't believe it) I didn't know that that she was expecting so of course that makes perfect sense that they would work it into her costume, or rather, work her costume around her pregnancy. That being said, Clapton had already come up with something like the final product in in her concepts, so I guess it was fortunate that she didn't have body skimming clothing.
You keep mentioning how hard it is to see the exquisite embroidery detail and I certainly agree. I wonder how many viewers have the same issues. It seems a shame to waste all that work and money when you're not going to see it. It's difficult to see anything when so much of the shooting is in dim lighting.
+Louise T I guess they know that the costumes will tour and like museum pieces will be seen up close after the fact.
Even if you can't see the details, though, you can still tell when something's done properly, you still get a certain... sense of quality.
I agree with Sigart. One person phrased it in a way that particularly stuck with me, when they said that even though people won’t necessarily notice the little details, they will get a sense of it if they’re not there. The whole thing will just look like more of a costume than clothes
Thanks for commenting Christine!
Also I remember, from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the many times the actors spoke of how deeply an authentically made costume affected their sense of character, regardless of whether or not the viewers would ever see the detail.
Ok i love watching your videos, i really do, i adore them but Margaret of Anjou was no the white queen, Elizabeth Woodville was. Margaret was married to Henry VI, a LANCASTER KING, and the lancastrian colour was red so she would be the Red Queen (although i would probably split that between Margaret of Anjou and Margaret Beaufort).
Thanks Inez! It only took someone 9 months to call me out on it! I think I should brush up on my British history and watch BBCs the White Queen.
Costume Cinematografico I would truly recommend that. You could also watch the follow up which is the White Princess which follows Elizabeth of York, the daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville and the wife of Henry VII and mother of Henry VIII. It is really good although there are a few historical inaccuracies
The White Queen and The White Princess are great stories but they are in no way historically accurate. The costumes especially are in no way accurate to the period. The gowns get trashed on youtube.
Louise T yes but you still get and idea of the relationships and the character connections, which can of course be compared to the relationships between characters in game of thrones
Interesting! I always thought of the "red queen" solely as Margaret Beaufort, with Elizabeth Woodville (an woman we sadly don't have nearly enough information on) as the "white queen".
Great videos on costumes, really enjoying them. There is just one little detail in this about the ermine in one Cersei's costumes. Winter Ermine is indeed white/cream, but it is not flecked with black in that this fur isn't spotted, as say leopard of jaguar fur. The black bits are the ends of the ermine tales which are usually included in this fur, and which makes it so distinctive.
Regarding Cersei's armour: it actually makes some sense to put armour there.
We know from Kimono and from things like Kontusz that they had several layers of cloth wrapped around the mid-section. That acts a bit like a gambesson and does give you a reasonable protection against knives (especially against slashing). Having metal there is obviously even better. You find that also on the Linthorax (Ancient Greek textile armour), where the abdomen area has metal reeinforcements.
You should not forget that except for the heart, the vital targets are all below the ribcage. If you stab someone in the kidney or liver he might drop instantly in agony and pass out within 5-10s from bloodloss!
Similarly, the two main arteries that can kill quickly are the subclavian artery and most importantly portal vein, both of which carry more blood than the arteries most suicidal persons sever and thus grant a much quicker death.
If you stab someone in the ribcage, you have either to bypass the ribs or to break them. The latter can cause you to break your knife or slip your hand onto the blade, moreover the weapon can get stuck in bone. Moreover, untrained people will hardly hit the heart in their first attempt.
Lastly, it makes almost no sense to slash with a knife or dagger across the breast, but a slash across the abdomen can cause the internals to fall out, which would incapacitate the target quickly.
As a side-note: it has been proven statistically that untrained men and women will attack differently with knives. Women will stab in upwards motions into the abdomen, whereas men have a strong tendency to hold the knive in the reverse way and stab downwards at the face, neck and clavicle. Roman soldiers were trained to essentially stab like women would as it was the best way to kill someone with no armour using a gladius.
PS: I know that for firearms the best target is _center mass,_ but that doesn't translate well to bladed weapons at all. While even a near miss with a bullet can stop the heart and a bullet to the lung can collapse a wing, knives won't do that and they rarely sever the spine, but they cause significantly more bloodloss, which is why the lower torso becomes the better target.
Wow your video is outstanding! So interesting, and I liked to see some details I've never noticed before, like the skulls. On the other hand, I've noticed the Japanese-look of some of the costumes. Kudos to you!
PhebusdesTours Thank you so much for commenting and sharing your own incites as well!
I am thoroughly enjoying watching your costume videos. I am hoping someday these costumes go on a tour so we can see them 1st hand.
Me too! I believe that they have at some point but I think it depends on where you live.
I love this series! I started with some of your other videos before seeing this one and I want to compliment you on your growth as a CZcamsr. I can tell you work hard!
+e batdorf Ah, thank you so much! I did the Cersei one a year ago yesterday. :)
this is now one of my new favorite channels.
+IamD0wJ0nes Thank you so much!
How ever much I love these videos your pronunciation of names really get to me
+Sian Sargesson I'm working on it.
This video has reached 10,000 views!
+Deltora Thank you so much!
It has 37.167 views today on 18 February 2019 👏👏👏
so interesting! what about lady Margaery Tyrell next?
I was thinking about doing another GoTs character. I'll add it to my list. Just working on a Halloween episode.
Margaret of anjou was the Red Queen not the White Queen.
+BellaNickMusic Yes, thank you I've been corrected a few times. :)
I LOVE Cersei's hair.
Out of all her gowns, I really like the one she wore at Winterfell (11:45). I'm presuming the rest of it is similar to the gowns Margaery wears, with the vest and detachable sleeves?
+King of Pomegranates I'm not really sure. The under skirt is red because You can see it when she's getting out of the carriage, but I'm not sure what the top portion looks like.
Your channel is brilliant. Love it, I just subscribed!
Thanks Angela!
Since you keep mentioning Kimonos, maybe you want to check out Yuko, the lead singer of Wagakki band. IMHO she's not just the most beautiful Japanese woman, but her outdated attires (Kimono and Hairdo) make her beautiful in a way that is almost otherworldly.
Thank you, such a good video! ☀️
great video I lear alot from you thanks your such an inspiration
Thanks Aliana!
Hello :) Thank you for the video, it's amazing, I learned so much! You tell the story of each dress so beautifully, from motivation to all those details on them which I never would've noticed. I really would like to see you do more videos about more GoT character costumes because they really are great. Keep up the good work! And could you please tell me what is the name of the background music you're using in this video, I've heard it somewhere but can't remember.
Thank you so much Jelena! If you check out my channel, you will see that I have also done costumes for Daenarys (Part II to come), Sansa and Margaery: czcams.com/channels/tkJUNxVlcy-uFSsn32hKKg.html
There are two pieces of music:
serenade-for-strings-op22-iv-larghetto & Má vlast - Vltava
Cheers, Heidi.
I love your analysis ! can you do season 7 ? and hair styles too? thanks
+Roshana Thanks Roshana for your comment. I have done all of season 7 by episode. You will find it in a playlist at the top of my home page.
Thanks for guiding my obsession with got costumes
My pleasure m
You gave us a slideshow of death: image, after image, Cersei next to dead characters...
It reminded me of Robert Baratheon greeting the Starks and ill befell them pretty much in the order he met them...
Both are pretty much bad Omen... and they were married together!
BTW: I loved the two scenes where Cersei was honest to other: talking to Ned about playing the game of thrones ends only in victory or death and when she talked with Robert about how their Marriage went wrong...
Fantastic video!
Thanks Soi.
+Soi Lida Thanks Soi!
Just a note, Margaret of Anjou was not the White Queen, but the Red Queeen. She was French and Married to Henry VI, who had bouts of insanity. Her son was Edward who became King Edward IV. He married Elizabth Woodville, who is the principle character in the book The White Queen which is the basis for the series of the same name. She was a very controversial person. So many of the people of this time had the same names, so it's easy to conflate them.
Thanks Sherry, this was my very first video. :)
Love your videos - I've been working on a costume from this series and have had so much fun with it! :) Will you be doing a Season 7 video? Daenery's winter coat alone was amazingggggg.
Hi Anne, Would you send me a picture of your cosplay when you're done?! I will feature it in an upcoming video.
Costume CO sure thing! I'd love to send it!
+Anne Schafer Great, my email is in the description!
Costume CO just an update: finished all of the dragonscale smocking, now halfway through the beading. Getting closer! :)
+Anne Schafer Can't wait to see it!!
Fabulous video.
Thank you so much!
This is amazing! Are you going to do a video on her season 6 looks as well?
uesue Yes! I have one planned for both Cersei and Sansa's season 6 looks. I hope to have them done before the new season.
Costume Cinematografico Do you make these videos all by yourself? I am so impressed! So much background info and so much well put together material!
Yes, I do them myself! I'm a bit of a nerd. ;) My husband helps me with some of the technical aspects. I did, however so a collaboration with AT-Machine on the Star Wars costume breakdown.
Costume Cinematografico Wow! This is an awesome way to put your nerdiness to use! I really hope your videos are going to get the recognition they deserve! I already sent a link to a friend of mine! :)
The gold on Cersei's shawl at 16:26 reminds me of honeycomb and bees, which I think carries a certain 'queen bee' connotation. Just my 2 cents!
Yes, absolutely! Funny, I was calling Mel the queen bee because she is surrounded by the honeycomb pattern and melis means honey. 😁
This is a really great series; I love costume design.
Also your interpretation of the skulls was interesting, but I disagree with it personally. I feel that because it's a mourning dress, the skulls are supposed to represent THAT and not so much that she's trying to look tough. I think that's more what the chain links there are for, being strongly reminiscent of chain mail armour. I do, upon closer inspection, find it very intriguing just how heavily Cersei incorporates armour into her clothing; it really does send a clever message to the audience that she's insecure and feels the need to protect herself.
I might have changed my mind on the skulls. It's been over 2 years since I did that initial video and as I learned more about the design, I have changed my perspective.
I love this more than the show and i LOVE GoT
+Ana Vargas Thanks Ana!
She was also on a movie called shadow hunters
Thanks
Thank you Julianne!
can you do the costumes from Outlander? think it would be really cool :)
+TheChristiti Hi there, I have one planned for the summer. I'm still watching season 2. :)
Costume Cinematografico such a good season specially with all the French inspired costumes :) season 3 can't come soon enough
Off topic, what's the music you use? I can hear Smetanas Ma Vlast, and is that some Rossini here and there?
Sorry I can't recall but it might is definitely classical.
Oh, it might only be that. I noticed something that sounded like a typical Rossini-ending before I identified Ma Vlast.
You should do a video on the show the white queen !
+Taylor Reynolds Hi Taylor, I have that on my list of shows to do.
Costume CO ohhhh awesome ! I love your videos , I just stumbled upon them while looking up stuff for a costume. I can't wait to watch more ! ❤️❤️❤️
+Taylor Reynolds Thanks Taylor! Yeah, I have a bit of a backlog. Watching the Tudors and then Ill get to White Queen. I'm hoping to have an Outlander video out in November. 😊
You say that Margret of Anjou is the White queen but actually it is Elizabeth Woodville who I believe is the basing for margery. But great video
Thanks Brad. I screwed up...this is an old video. :)
The one at 29:56 is spectacular. It's a shame that we don't have an opportunity to see this beautiful embroidery and beads in the show. By the way, if anyone has another pictures of this dress, could you give me a link? I'd like to sew that.
If you email me heidi(at)costumeco(dot)ca , I will send you what pictures I have. :)
the sideless gown is called a surcoat
Thanks Jennifer. I believe I mention that too.
I believe it's spelled surcote.
Please do The Tudors!
I've had this on my list for ages! I think once GOTs is done, I can concentrate on some other shows. Thanks for commenting!
I know the story, let's hear about the costumes! We all know G.R.R.M.'S fondness of history, & the Cousins wars. I wanted to hear about the clothing.
+Pamela Alsop This is the style that I do for all of my vids including my non GOTs videos. The beauty of video is that you can fast forward to the part you are interested in.
I'm so confused the game of thrones world is around the era 400s or 500s not the 14th or 15th century around the area the Middle Ages was emerging to the Renaissance area so it's not making any sense at all
+Maylyn Galdamez 400 to 500 is way too early. The late middle ages is more accurate I'd say, 14th and 15th century. Why you are most likely confused is that George loosely based his book series on the Hundred Years Wars and Wars of the Roses just before the Renaissance.
what happens to all the costumes used? do they sell them or what?
For Game of Thrones, no. They get put back into stock and then many of them go on tour. If it is a lesser show, once the series ends they will have a stock sale, but with a show like GOTs., it's doubtful that that will happen. Most likely they will be cleaned, archived and stored.
wow! they are real works of art!
could you do Mary's costumes on Reign?
Hi Gail, Sure! I will add it to my queue.
From what I've watched from behind the scenes stuff of Reign, Mary's gowns are actually usually bought from Designers instead of the Costume department making all of them
Queen Margaret Beaufort (House of Lancaster) was the red queen and Elizabeth of York (House Of York) was the white queen. When Henry the 7th (House of Lancaster), Margaret’s son, married Elizabeth of York and ruled England, the red rose of Lancaster and the York white Rose came together to make what we know as the Tudor rose in honor for the House of Tudor who were in power until the death of Queen Elizabeth 1.
All that embroidery on the shoulders: do you think it was applied before piecing and construction of the gown or after?
Hi Misty, which gown? In most cases, Michele Carragher embroiders onto some silk organza, trims it back and then attached it to the gown.
@@Costume_CO such as the amazing lion's heads on Cercei's gowns. I just count imagine either situation: embroidering something so detailed and built-up, after construction, nor trying to fit it properly during construction.
I idolize her. Her creations are just mind boggling. Not only that they're so detailed but that they're so complex on such delicate, unforgiving fabrics. Thank you so much for your quick response. This had really been on mind mind for quite some time now.
Michele Carragher has a step by step process on her website. Here you go: michelecarragherembroidery.com/How-I-Create-an-Embroidery(2880144).htm
What did you think of her black coronation dress in season 6?
Well....I do talk about it another video but I'm not sure which one! TBH I wasn't crazty about all of the black leather. :)
Ermine was mentioned as lining someone's collar the first book (the guy who replaced Barristan Selmy...forget his name). I think maybe they thought it look too much like a European costume and not uniquely Westeros enough.
Thanks Moongem. 😁 I discovered some time after this video was uploaded that House Florent has ermine in its sigil. But after 8 seasons I haven't seen it used at all. 😁
I'm sorry, but Margaret Tyrell? 22:52
Sorry, lip of the tongue.
The music is very distracting :/
Thanks for the feedback. This vid is almost 3 years old. Hope you find my more recent videos better. :)
I'm just wondering why they would use so much Japanese influence for Cersei? It makes much more sense to someone like Melisandre and the other High Priestesses
I’m not sure. There is a theory I saw that the Lannisters
didn’t always dress this way and that it was the influence of the reigning
Targaryens that had this Japanese style.
If you look at Varys and then the flashback of Rhaegar, you’ll see that
Japanese influence. Of course, Dany has
more of that look as well in season 7.
The other thing is that the design team wanted the Lannister
to have a samurai look and that it would leach out into the women’s costumes.
It does make sense that the Red Priestesses dress this way since
they hail from Asshai which is closer to Yi Ti which is more like China’s
Golden Age.
Hey, I'm a size 6! Cool.
Sorry to say this, but I think you got it wrong when it comes to the historycal inspiration for Cersei, I believe she's veeeeeeeery loosely based on Elizabeth Woodville, the white queen.
Sure, and why is that?
Let's see... I think the three Baratheon brothers represent the three princes of York, being Robert the equivalent to Edward. As we know, Edward married Elizabeth who was beautiful, loved her children and was hated by English people. She was blonde like Cersei as well. I personally think Margareth of anjou is the equivalent of Rhaelle, who was married to the mad king.
Elizabeth Woodville would've been like Cersei if her son, Edward V, ruled longer and she probably would've ended up being a manipulative bitch like Cersei lol
Isn't Elizabeth Woodville The White Queen?
You are correct. Margaret of Anjou was NOT the White Queen. That was a mistake in my script.
It's Okay, Just done watching this, great job btw.
Thanks Rome!
the costume quality dropped when the original designer quit.
Hi Esme, Michele did return for S7 and S8. :) But I do agree that the quality did take a bit of a hit.
yeah, I think Cersei’s costumes just *dropped*
Thumbs up for using themes from moldau
Hi Buck, this is my very first video and it seems so long ago!
@@Costume_CO even your oldest Video is rich with content, on par with the channels who get millions of views for dissecting show
No one ever puts enough into outfits
Did you notice Sansa is sporting Tully scales in s8 promo picture?
Loving how she's redacting all marriages and being a wolf fish lol
Ah, thanks Buck!
I'm not completely certain it's Tully scales. Others have mentioned it looks like bitumen or dragonglass or obsidian. The fabrication looks like lacquered feathers. Hoping Clapton will have more to say about it.
Margaret and Thomas.....good job
Before I knew how to edit.
'song of fire and ice' excuse me
Sorry about that.
Ah! Those days when Cersei Lannister wore good dresses.
But wait... Cercei loved Robert once
You'll have to remind me what I said. :)
I find it difficult to like her costumes just because I hate her so much. I love the kimono style dresses though.
+IonIsFalling7217 I can see that. I had some real issues with her costumes in season 6 and 7. To me, everything just looked ugly, but especially her hair.