Game of Thrones. Surely the most popular and possibly most expensive show on TV right now.
In a show with huge battles, CGI dragons and seemingly endless death, blood and gore, you’d think that money would be no object, that there’d be no expense spared in realising the vision of the epic show.
For the most part, that’s probably true, but thriftiness and cunning will always be held in high regard TV town, as well an ability to just get the job done, whatever tools are at your disposal.
When it comes to costumes, specifically some of the capes worn by characters on the show, the tools at the designer’s disposal were rather surprising: IKEA rugs.
Yes, according to Michele Clapton, a costume designer on the first five seasons of Game of Thrones, some of the capes are made from IKEA rugs. Clapton was giving a talk at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, entitled Designing the Middle Ages: The Costumes of GoT.
In the talk, she said: “These capes are actually IKEA rugs. It’s a bit of a truth. We take anything we can.
“We cut, shave them, add strong leather straps and then breakdown, which is like a religion on Game of Thrones. I want the audience to almost smell the costumes.”
How about that? Look again at the picture of Jon Snow: you can totally imagine that being a rug that’s been dyed, distressed and draped around Kit Harrington’s shoulders.
Skip to 27:25 on the video below to hear Clapton talk about the rugs-cum-capes.
