Costumes: Essos

WORK IN PROGRESS

See overview article, "Costumes".

Free Cities
The Free Cities are located on the western coast of Essos, across the Narrow Sea from Westeros. Costumes of the Free Cities have not been extensively developed in the TV series yet. The Free Cities are loosely comparable to the medieval Italian city-states, densely urbanized and focused on trade. Each of the nine Free Cities (presumably) have their own unique clothing styles.

What little was seen of Pentos in the first episode of Season 1 is shown to be adapted for a relatively warm, Mediterranean climate. Braavos was first briefly seen on screen in Season 4. Much more of the Free Cities will be seen in Season 5, now that both Arya and Tyrion have fled east across the Narrow Sea.

Volantis has a very large slave population: Volantene slaves are tattooed on their faces with symbols indicating what occupation they have.


 * In the novels, Volantene slaves who drive carts have wheels tattooed on their cheeks, slaves in the city guard have tiger stripe tattoos, prostitute-slaves have tattoos of teardrops falling from their eyes, slaves who sweep dung from the streets have tattoos of flies, etc.


 * Tyrosh is one of the major producers of color dyes in the Free Cities, and its people are known for wearing very colorful clothing. They even commonly dye their hair different colors:  Daario Naharis is  Tyroshi and he actually dyes his hair blue in the novels - the TV series chose not to include this, believing it was too distracting.


 * Myr is famed for its textiles and finished goods. Myrish lace is expensive finery, prized across the Free Cities and Westeros.


 * Norvos was founded by a strict religious sect and remains a conservative theocracy; its people also dress conservatively because it is one of the northern Free Cities. Norvoshi men of all social classes frequently wear long, upswept moustaches, while the ruling priests wear long beards.  Norvoshi women, as well as all slaves, shave their heads entirely bald (though noblewomen will wear wigs when in the company of foreigners).

Braavos is one of the northernmost Free Cities, located at around the same latitude as the Eyrie in the Vale of Arryn, so it has a colder temperature than the others, and its costuming in the TV series seems to reflect this.

Braavosi women braid their hair up into buns on both side of their heads. The coils of the braids are on the sides, and collect into buns above the temples.


 * In the novels, Braavos is a fairly egalitarian society in which slavery is outlawed, and instead of a hereditary nobility their society is dominated by powerful bankers and merchants (who elect the Sealord). Perhaps as a result, wealthier Braavosi actually dress in dress in relatively drab colors:  "charcoal grey and purple, blues that were almost black and blacks as dark as a moonless night".  The materials used for their clothing are of high quality, but they prefer subdued fashions.  In contrast, the young street-fighting swordsmen (known as Bravos) of the lower classes dress in flamboyant colors.  The TV series generally matched this description by having the Iron Bank representatives dress in more subdued colors.

Quotes
Frank Doelger (Executive Producer) "Once we decided we were using the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th century as the model for the buildings of Braavos, Michele then picked up on that, and designed the costumes for Braavos along the same lines."

Clapton: "I quite like the idea that banking is a dirty business.  Once they come into the bank, they put the (sable?) on, because it's where they're working.  And the men are in these very pleated skirts, and metalic roughs.

D.B. Weiss (Executive Producer): "...From the moment we read about the Iron Bank, and Tycho Nestoris the representative of the Iron Bank, we loved it because it was such an atypical element - banking doesn't really factor into most High Fantasy.  But it's very modern, I mean the lines are very clean and Dutch Protestant, and the way they dress is inspired by the Dutch Golden Age, and they're a bit more advanced than most of the people in Westeros - which is perhaps why they're in charge of everything."

Dothraki
The Dothraki, mounted nomads from the central plains of Essos, primarily wear clothing artfully woven from the plentiful tallgrass of the Dothraki Sea. All Dothraki warriors must wear riding chaps made from horse leather.

The Dothraki traditionally fight with curved swords known as arakhs, and also employ bolas, daggers, and whips, or huge, recurved bows with impressive range and striking power that can be fired from horseback. They also shun armor, considering speed and freedom of movement to be more important in battle. Some Dothraki warriors wear light leather armor jackets or woven-grass shirts, but many ride into battle bare-chested, such as Khal Drogo. Even those who fight bare-chested, however, typically wear leather armor that protects the vulnerable area of the abdomen, while leaving their pectoral muscles upward exposed.

What precious jewelry powerful khals such as Drogo might have, such as his belt of gold medallions with horse images engraved on them, are often made in the Free Cities then given to the Dothraki as tribute.

Dothraki khalasars (clans) sometimes differentiate themselves by decorating themselves and their horses with different colors of paint. For example, Khal Drogo's khalasar used blue paint, but Khal Jhaqo's khalasar uses red paint. These pigments (made from crushed stones) are expensive so they often only use them for special occasions, such as wedding feasts and religious ceremonies.


 * No mention is made in the novels of the Dothraki using colored pigments to adorn their bodies and horses, this is an idea that the TV series costume team came up with. Dothraki khalasars usually dissolve on the death of their khal, so they do not have any long-standing histories or deep-seated affiliations, or even names (just "Khal Drogo's khalasar").  Thus for all we know a hundred years ago Drogo's grandfather's grandfather's khalasar might have used green paint.  Clapton's explanation is that blue color pigment is the rarest and most expensive that the Dothraki have access to, which makes blue the Dothraki power color (similar to how purple was the color of the Roman Emperors, because purple was the rarest and most expensive color dye at the time).  Drogo and his khalasar use blue because he is one of the most powerful and successful khals and can thus afford it.

Dothraki warriors wear their hair in a long braid and only cut it when defeated, so the world may see their shame. Very capable warriors therefore often have a very long braid.


 * In the books, the Dothraki adorn their long hair braids with various small bells, adding new ones for each victory. Jason Momoa (Drogo) said the bells weren't included in the TV series because they weren't very scary in real life: the constant jingling noises were somewhat comical, and it was felt they detracted from the performance.

Clapton said that the clothing style of the Dothraki took elements from African, Bedouin, and Native American designs, but a mixture of many different elements so there is no one-for-one equivalence. Nomadic mounted peoples share certain common design elements (i.e. anyone who rides a horse all day absolutely needs to wear leather riding chaps).

Quotes
Clapton: "Khal Drogo, he's very practical, with the leather trousers, very basic, very simple, lots of lacing on."

Clapton: "The look for the Dothraki changed a bit between the original pilot and the filming of the series, and it was a tricky one to get. There was danger of going too far in one direction, too far into strictly African or Native American. Originally, their look was a bit more theatrical, but we brought it down by taking it straight back to their environment. What do they have access to? Well, there’s grass from the grasslands; the women weave. And there are skins from small animals.

All the colors were quite natural and one with the land, but we wanted to give it something else. So we developed this blue paint, this pigment, that maybe they developed by crushing stones, and that they used relatively sparingly for celebrations – like the wedding in Episode 101. Visually it became much more exciting, this blue within this very barren landscape.

We also looked at a lot of images of Afghani horsemen, which inspired the Dothraki riding boots. We imagined their footwear would be designed to accommodate riding first and foremost, since they’re a horse culture. So they have these heels that keep their feet in the stirrups. And, if you’re riding, you need trousers – leather trousers – even Daenerys had them under her skirts, as do some of the other Dothraki women. But we didn’t want to be frivolous about it – the weaving was practical and gave it a nice texture."

Qarth
Qarth is a rich city far to the east of Westeros, so its fashions are very exotic and opulent. The city is east of Slaver's Bay, south of the Dothraki Sea (and separated from it by the Red Waste). Qarth is located on straits which separate the Summer Sea from the Jade Sea: control of these vital trade routes, taxing all merchant ships passing from the west to the east, has made Qarth fabulously wealthy.

Clapton explained that she wanted to show that the Qartheen are very opulent, but also that it is all a facade and for show. Thus Qartheen men wear vests which are lavish and ornate on the front to impress others when they face them, with extravagant gold tracing, and even large gold pieces shaped like insects and encrusted with jewels. However, they don't bother to decorate the back of their clothing at all, which is plain and unadorned: they are merchant-princes who care only about appearances.

Both Qartheen men and women wear wide metal belts around their waits of elaborate, interlaced filigree, with chains of beads and jewelry hanging from them. Qarth has a warm climate, so women wear sleeve-less dresses with plunging necklines and backs.

While there is no one-for-one equivalence, Clapton said that Qarth's costume designs took inspiration from Persia and the Middle East.


 * In the novels, Qarth has no real analogue with any real-life civilization. The Qartheen people have very pale skin, to the point that the Dothraki call them the "Milk Men" - George R.R. Martin has outright stated that the Qartheen are a fantasy construct, not corresponding to any real-life group.  That being said, due to Qarth's vital strategic location on narrow straits separating east from west, it is somewhat like ancient Byzantium.  However, it is located so far to the east (even further east than Slaver's Bay, the loose analogue of the Middle East) that it is somewhat more similar to city-states in India.  Similar to how India was viewed by medieval Europe, Qarth is the most eastern part of the world that people from Westeros are aware of through trade contact, and it is where exotic spices and silks come from.  These are only minor and loose similarities, however:  Qarth has no direct analogue to real-life cultures.

Quotes
Clapton: "I always in my head, saw Qarth as a sort of mirage, so with that in mind, it's a sort of case of taking to Gemma about the architecture, obviously the climate. We started actually with the fabrics, really. We dyed all the silk, and then printed, it's almost like gilded gates on it, and then I had a painter who came in and actually painted the sort of fronds and the flowers and the gold behind the gate. With their underskirts, we actually had them baked in clay and then shook them out, and so it gives this lovely crumpled sort of weight to the fabric, that you really can't get any other way. And then with those costumes I wanted them to be able to be worn in different ways, so when they come out of the gates they lift it up over their heads and it protects them from the heat, and other times they can be down and the jacket takes prominence.

And then again I wanted it to be like a facade, like a theatrical piece, so that when they turn around a lot of the backs are just linen, or hessian [burlap], so it's all a front, it's all a show."

In the novels, Qartheen women (all of them) are described as wearing a style of dress that leaves one breast bare. Daenerys Targaryen adopts the Qartheen-style of dress for women so they won't disparage her as an unrefined savage wearing Dothraki leathers. Clapton actually went so far as to design the very revealing Qartheen dress described in the books, but the producers then told her they weren't going to include that in the adaptation. First, while Emilia Clarke (Daenerys) had done nude scenes in the show since Season 1, it was felt that having extended dialogue scenes in which she had one breast exposed would be too distracting, as well as damaging the integrity of the scenes. Second, every Qartheen woman in crowd shots would have to dress in this fashion to match, and for practical reasons this would run into difficulty with local obscenity laws, etc.

Question: "Is there a certain emphasis on sexy that you need to keep in mind? In some cases the sex is even toned down — for example, the Quartheen gowns in the book that Daenerys wear expose one breast?"

Clapton: "I had actually designed the dresses to reveal one breast and was surprised when they didn't want to go in that direction. But actually, we filmed that in Morocco and it would have been very difficult to find the number of women required to do it. Even to just film it would have been hard."

At the Game of Thrones panel for San Diego Comic-Con 2012, Emilia Clarke jokingly gave the explanation to author George R.R. Martin that she didn't wear the breast-exposing Qarth dresses as described in the books because it was a "warmth issue". The real reason, as Clarke explained in a separate interview, was that it was felt that having Daenerys spending entire scenes wearing a dress that left one breast exposed would detract from the integrity of the drama and of Daenerys as a character:
 * "I remember when I was filming in Croatia seeing a copy of book 2, and the front cover picture was of Dany in the ‘traditional Qartheen fashion’ and you could say that I was rather taken aback. There are lots of things to bear in mind when adapting a book for the screen, and yes we all agreed that if this was kept as a visual reference, it would take away from the drama and integrity of Dany’s storyline as she grows into such a strong Khaleesi."

See the article about the "Qartheen gown" on A Wiki of Ice and Fire. It includes the official cover art image that Clarke was referring to, as well as fanart (there is an inordinate amount of fanart based on this costume, for reasons which should by now be all too obvious).

Asshai
Asshai is located at the far eastern edge of the known world, a feared city of secrets inhabited by sorcerers and shadowbinders. Qarth is the furthest east that traders from Westeros travel: beyond the Straits of Qarth is the Jade Sea, but the lands around it are only half-legendary to men from Westeros and only heard of second-hand, such as the fabulous wealth of Yi Ti east of Qarth. Asshai is even further east than Yi Ti (the only place said to be east of Asshai is Carcosa, a strange city ruled by its Yellow King).

Characters from Asshai such as Melisandre and Quaithe, wear fashions with a distinctive motif of elongated hexagons.

Quaithe's mask was designed to display a stylistic link to Melisandre, because both of them are from the region of Asshai. Melisandre wears an ornate neck piece featuring a repeated design motif of elongated hexagons. Quaithe's mask was constructed using the same hexagonal shapes as links, though filled in with metal. Further, the dresses of both Melisandre and Quaithe have the same hexagonal design motif (elongated so they are taller than they are wide). Melisandre has different dresses, and she usually wears an all-red one, but the one with hexagons which match her neck piece appears prominently in "The Night Lands" when she has sex with Stannis.

Slaver's Bay
Slaver's Bay is the hub of the international slave trade. It is located on the eastern side of the Valyrian Peninsula from the Free Cities, south of the Dothraki Sea, and west of Qarth. Slaver's Bay used to be part of the ancient Ghiscari Empire, but it was conquered by the Valyrian Freehold five thousand years ago. After the Doom of Valyria four centuries ago, the city-states of Slaver's Bay reasserted their independence, much as the Free Cities did to the west of Old Valyria. The three great slaver-cities are, from south to north: Astapor (whose rulers call themselves the Good Masters), Yunkai (ruled by the Wise Masters), and Meereen (ruled by the Great Masters), which is bigger than Astapor and Yunkai put together.

The slave-masters of Slaver's Bay wear a clothing style with a repeated motif of rings which the fabric of their clothing is interwoven with, visually evoking slave chains. They are often dressed ostentatiously to display their wealth, wearing fine silks and jewels. They seem to favor colors such as green, teal to light blue, bright yellow, and beige.

The slaves themselves are typically dressed very poorly, though slaves who work as artisans or house servants can possess better clothing. The slave population is very diverse, having been brought in from captives taken in many distant lands (or descended from those taken captive). One notable feature is that the clothing provided for slaves has been designed to outright incorporate their slave collars into them.

The Unsullied warrior-eunuchs produced in Astapor are brutally trained to be utterly selfless, gladly falling on their swords for the slave-masters if commanded to do so. To reflect this lack of individuality, that they are seen as interchangeable and expendable, a key point is that they wear face-obscuring visors.

There are also regular non-slave soldiers, who seem to make up the bulk of the private guard of the slave-masters. Unlike the Unsullied, they do not wear face-obscuring visors. Their chest-plates also have a prominent circular disc shape in the middle of them, apparently another representation of the slave manacle motif that the slave-masters wear in their own clothing.

Missandei, a slave taken to Slaver's Bay from Naath, initially dresses in a slave costume but after being freed and entering the service of Daenerys Targaryen, she switches to Daenerys's unique style. When Missandei is first introduced, her hair is bound up, to visually evoke how constrained she is as a slave. During her second appearance, however, in which Daenerys takes her into her service, Missandei's hair is unbound, large and frizzy, to symbolize how she isn't constrained by slavery anymore.


 * In the novels, the masters of Slaver's Bay have wiry hair which they tease out into various exotic shapes, if not outright foppish and impractical designs (i.e. broad wings that stand away from the head). This is a sign of their high social status.  After Daenerys takes over Meereen, those who wish to display loyalty to her shave off their old hairstyles as a symbol of embracing the new social order she wants to set.


 * One of the more famous costumes in the novels is the "tokar" worn by the slave-masters of the region. It is a long, loose, toga-like sheet wrapped around the body.  A tokar is wound around the hips, under an arm, then over a shoulder, and must be held in place at all times with the left hand.  The dangling fringes of the end hanging down from the shoulder are decorated with expensive materials and jewels.  It is difficult to wear a tokar:  if wound too loose, it might unravel and fall off, but if wound too tightly, it might tangle and trip the wearer.  Even a properly wound tokar must be always held in place with the left hand, and requires walking with small balanced steps to avoid tripping.  The entire point of a tokar is to be impractical, for the slave-masters to show off that they do not need to perform any manual tasks themselves.  Daenerys frequently wears a tokar once she becomes queen of Meereen, in order to be taken seriously as a ruler by the former slave-masters.

Quotes
[Few quotes have yet been provided from official sources explaining the design choices that went into the costumes of Slaver's Bay]

Clapton: "I really enjoyed doing Meereen.  It's just much more opulent and wealthy, it has a color range that's greater and brighter."

"The uniform of the Unsullied, an army of elite warrior eunuchs, which was inspired by beetles, can fit many different body types, but not at the expense of a metaphor. "The final piece that really made it come together was the idea of obscuring the face," explained Clapton. "This really removed all personality, it sort of felt that it was the perfect ethos to be Unsullied--all personality removed."

Clapton, on Unsullied helmets: "Bending the points on the helmet creates a more elegant look."