I think I'll just do some portraits for some time

Shireen Baratheon for @philosophiaphilosophy

Re-designing Colors of Game of Thrones

Some thoughts on costume design which I thought of while creating this post. The colors and outfits I chose are characters at the peak of their power, rather than for everyday wear, and the process leading up to each of them would be intricate.

Cersei and Margaery

Cersei's power color is red, not black, while Margaery's is green.

As Renly favors Tyrell green, I would have dressed them both in dark green throughout Renly's plotline. The green would make them stand out as their own faction (vs Stark grey/white, Baratheon black/gold, and Lannister red), while the gold would provide an echo of both a king's crown and the Lannisters' concurrent attempt to steal the crown.

When she comes to Kings Landing, no longer assured in her and her family's power, I would maintain the colors but make the green lighter. Reducing the bold colors she wore as queen to indicate the Tyrells' fading power, and be reminiscent of the king's last betrothed, Sansa, and her soft blue and pink gowns from seasons past.

Canon GOT costume in Season 3 vs the green I have in mind.

The costume designers for Game of Thrones said that they wanted to make the Tyrells show up in silver, in contrast to the Lannister's gold. They traded green for silver-blue, rather than trading out gold.

Instead I want to give Margaery and Cersei an inverse costume arc. In the early seasons, Cersei wears pale gold, not for House Lannister, but for Robert's house. Gold is a Baratheon color as well and it silences her Lannister red just as her marriage to Robert silences her voice. In later seasons, with Robert dead and her sons on the Iron Throne, Cersei wears Lannister red.

Joffrey wears gold with red highlights, as he's stolen a crown, but Cersei and Margaery are the ones fighting for it. I would give Cersei bold reds which are slowly covered by gold armor as she loses her influence over Joffrey. Cersei often wears false armor in GOT canon, and has expressed multiple times that she should have been born male over Robert and Jaime. As her power fades gold armor covers her Lannister birthright .

Margaery would start off with pale green, and as her power grows so would the boldness of the colors. The day she marries Tommen she would wear gold, and afterward true Tyrell green. This can also be echoed in the city and keep, Baratheon joined with Tyrell, and the Lannister red that once ruled now gone.

Arryn and Tully

Both Arryn and Tully would share blue as a major theme, rather than white or red. The first reason is shared, as major players own both colors; the Lannisters and Targaryens claim red while Starks wear white. Second, both houses serve a similar place in the narrative as allies of House Stark.

Arryns would have a softer sky blue, while Tullys wear a deeper shade to go with their red details.

This gives multiple visual links from characters we know (Edmure, Catelyn) to characters introduced later (Lysa, Robin). We also can match Tully banners with Robb in the earlier seasons to the Vale with Sansa in later ones. Viewers get used to seeing blue banners flying alongside the direwolf.

However while similar, they are offset by differences when next to each other. Beautiful, soft clothes for Lysa and Robin, who sit out the Wot5K, contrast mudded armor and red-toned leather for the Tullys.

Daenerys and Cersei

Daenerys ends the show in red and black, claiming the colors of the Baratheons and Lannisters along with the crown.

When she returns to Meereen from the Dothraki Sea, Dany trades the blue of the Dothraki and the green of Meereen (both for the Green Grace, as Dany gradually ceeds power to the masters, and as a parallel to Margaery), for black. Confident in her path, she burns the masters and claims their fleet, and leaves Meereen with a ruling counsel and an army.

In the North, Dany wears no white to honor the Starks, but black for her family, for her sons, for the last trueborn Targaryen, for the shield to guard the realms of men. Her armor is the same color as Drogon's scales, and when looking up at him her hair is the only indication that he has a rider and is not wild. Daenerys brings her dragons and her armies to bear against the Army of the Dead.

Cersei, who reclaimed Lannister colors with the death of Tommen and Margaery, awears a red that is echoed throughout the Red Keep. The last bastion of Lannister strength. As Daenerys destroys her armies and invades her city, her red turns to the black of mourning and loss. The black of her Baratheon husband, the last true king. In contrast, the red Dany wears grows stronger with each victory.