Make your own Jon Snow cape with these instructions from IKEA
The hit HBO series “Game of Thrones” is known for its elaborate costumes. Many of us have long coveted the dresses worn by Cersei, Daenerys and Margery, and the armor of the Unsullied are on point. Still, if you were thinking of going as your favorite “GOT” character this Halloween, you may be able to easily DIY your costume rather than buying one of the many available for purchase online. That’s because the capes worn by the Night’s Watch are made from rugs sold at Ikea.
Yup. “Game of Thrones” head costume designer Michele Clapton has revealed that those lush capes are actually repurposed sheepskin rugs.
Now the furniture retailer, known for their not-always-easy-to-follow assembly instructions, has offered up an official guide to making the “GOT”-inspired cape using their rugs.
Ikea posted visual instructions on their Facebook page that shows that creating the cape is as easy as cutting a hole in the middle of their Skold rug, which you can snag for $79, and trimming the edges.
Do you even really need to trim the edges? Take a look at the rug’s shape:
For our purposes, just cutting an opening for your head might do the trick!
Undoubtedly, the process of crafting the real costumes in the show is a bit more nuanced. In the video below, around the 27:30 mark, Clapton explains the finer points of creating the finished product you see on-screen.
“We cut and we shaved them and added strong leather straps, and then breakdown, which is like a religion on ‘Game of Thrones,’” she says. “I want the audience to almost smell the costumes. Here they were waxed and frosted so they belonged to the landscape.”
Clapton’s stunning creations have earned her three Emmys, and she considers costumes an integral part of telling the characters’ stories.
“I spend hours designing costumes, so much of my time is spent plotting the route. What would she wear in this situation and how can we get there elegantly from this situation? Plotting the costumes is so important and so essential to the story for me, especially in a show like ‘Game of Thrones,’ where you’re constantly shifting to other people’s stories, so it’s knowing when to move them forward,” Clapton explained in an interview with Time Magazine.
[h/t: Mashable]