Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
Shows like Game of Thrones create entire worlds with everything from invented languages to complex family trees. That also includes costumes, which on Game of Thrones is the stuff of legend. Almost nothing about the key characters’ outfits, hair, and makeup is random; there’s been meaning and symbolism sprinkled among those braids, fur coats, crowns, and intricate metalwork (but not hats) since the show’s premiere through the current season 7.
The HBO show’s hair designer, Kevin Alexander, and costume designer, Michele Clapton, are putting serious thought into their work — and in turn, GoT viewers have put nearly as much thought (er, frenzied obsession) into analyzing every single hairdo and uniform that crosses their screens.
Which, of course, is just one reason watching Thrones is so fun.