Game Of Thrones Embroidery...

Michele Carragher is a London-based Hand Embroiderer and Illustrator who has been working in costume on film and television productions for over 15 years. She studied Fashion Design at The London College of Fashion, where the course incorporated design, pattern cutting, garment construction, embroidery, millinery and illustration. At the same time she attended a three year evening course in Saddlery at Cordwainers College learning skills in leatherwork. The first production that saw her undertake the role of a Principal Costume Embroiderer was for HBO's 2005 Emmy Costume award-winning production of Elizabeth 1. Her most recent work has been on HBO's 2012 Costume award-winning television series Game of Thrones, working on all three seasons.

As a Costume Embroiderer Michele specialises in hand embroidery and surface embellishment, using traditional hand embroidery techniques, smocking, beading and surface decoration. She works directly onto the completed garment or starts with motifs and textures on silk crepeline/organza, which are applied to the costume and then worked into once on the actual garment. She also works on existing machine embroidery designs that are not too dense, adding some hand stitching and beading to give a more authentic, hand-finished look.

 Michele finds hand embroidery has more flexibility and diversity than that of embroidery created by machine, as there is a greater variety of thread choice and colours to use. It is also possible to work more easily on garments that are already constructed. However, machine embroidery in combination with hand work can be very useful when completing many repeats by creating light outlines or a less dense machine stitch, work can then be completed by hand and again can be carried out on a finished garment.

Michele is a highly creative Costume Embroiderer, producing original designs as well as working closely to a costume designer's brief to create their desired look.

Fantasy Fashion- Q&A...

Fantasy Fashion- Q&A with Game of Thrones Costume Designer Michele Clapton- from Time Magazine...

Michele Clapton worked on her own fashion line and was a stylist for musicians before embarking on a successful career in costume design for television. Now she’s the Emmy-award winning designer responsible for the lavish gowns and hard-edged armor on HBO’s Game of Thrones. In honor of the third season’s March 31 premiere, she spoke to TIME about how she grounds her sartorial fantasies in reality.

Did you consciously try to move away from a stereotypical medieval fantasy look?

In a way I did. Probably the books are more fantastical. When I first met David and Dan [Benioff and Weiss, series creators] the whole idea was that it was a fantasy rooted in reality. There should be a reason for everything, the way people dress—to keep warm or to keep cool or to protect themselves. It was a very definite move on all of our parts to try and make it real, so that people look at it and aren’t quite sure whether it’s real or not. And then they go, actually no, this didn’t happen, this is not real!

How do the varied landscapes affect the way you dress the cast?

If you’re in the North, you don’t have access to a lot of cloths that they do in King’s Landing [capital city in the South], so you look very much within the radius of what’s there, which is furs and wools and rather murky dyes. So that really dictates how the clothes look. But as soon as you go to a port or somewhere warm, then they can trade and you get vibrant colors and jewels. And I try also to bring in the sigils [symbols for each house]. For instance, the Tullys’ is a fish, and I made their armor reflect that. So there’s a lot of leather scales which we hand-dye; the metalwork is scaly as well.

Some of the main characters develop battles with each other—in King’s Landing especially, with Margaery arriving on the scene and [Queen Regent] Cersei used to being the woman who was there before, so there’s a sort of costume standoff in there, which actually is alluded to in the script. And that also influences the court. The younger pretty girls start dressing like Margaery a little bit—it’s what would happen, it’s the new princess in town. I think the costume is richer this year. The rich stuff is richer and the rough stuff is rougher.Can you reveal anything about what to expect for season 3 in terms of costumes?

Are you surprised to see that the show has had an influence on real world fashion trends?

Yes and no. I think it’s so interactive. I’m sometimes influenced by fashion, and I think fashion is sometimes influenced by something which is very, very popular. We put a lot of effort and research into the costumes, so it’s a huge compliment.

How important is function to you in these costumes?

Everyone wears their costume for a reason, and I think what ultimately I’m trying to achieve is that these characters pick these clothes because they suit their way of life, be it in the palace or be it in the field. And some people, the poorer people, do what they can to suit their way of life. So I always try to make it really character-based, and even if it’s something that looks like a bit of a flight of fancy, I hope it works within the respect of the person who’s trying to impress someone or trying to say something.

What do you do to make the clothing look worn?

We have a breakdown department. Especially on the cameras we use, it just shows up so much if something’s too new. I don’t like that—I think everything has to have a little edge. [The breakdown department] often destroys a thing and then repairs it and destroys it again and repairs it. As we go on, we’ve got some great things that have been destroyed in season 1 that are still being used in different guise in seasons 3 and 4, so it’s good. We just re-patch and change and dye and put it up to something else.

HBO is launching a traveling Game of Thrones exhibition this spring. What items do you think fans will be most excited to see?

I think they’re always really excited by the throne. Then maybe the crowns we designed for Joffrey, those are quite cool, and Ned Stark’s costume will be there, which is pretty iconic now.

Game of Thrones...

Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, the first of which is titled A Game of Thrones. The series is filmed at Paint Hall Studios in Belfast, and on location elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Malta, Croatia and Iceland.

The first season of the series debuted in the U.S. on April 17, 2011. Two days later, it was picked up for a second season, which started airing on April 1, 2012. It was renewed for a third season nine days after that.

Highly anticipated since its early stages of development, Game of Thrones has been very well received by viewers and critics. Its first season was nominated for or won numerous awards, including Outstanding Drama Series for the Emmy Awards and Best Television Series – Drama at the Golden Globes; Peter Dinklage also won the Emmys's and Golden Globes's Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Tyrion Lannister.

The costumes for HBO's Game of Thrones are quite simply fantastic, designer Michelle Clapton is in my opinion a genius. All the different, varied worlds that make up Game of Thrones appear effortlessly, as if they have been there for hundreds of years. They look real.

Below is an interview with Costume Designer Michelle Clapton via onscreenfashion.com

On Screen Fashion: How long have you been a costume designer?

Michele Clapton: I actually started out as a fashion designer and after a few years I really didn’t enjoy the business side of it and decided to move direction. When I had my daughter I worked on styling band videos, commercials, short films and soon discovered my love for costume – it’s probably not the orthodox way in really! I have never assisted and would no doubt be useless at it but I do regret this as I think you learn so much this way. I think it affects my confidence sometimes.

OSF: I can imagine due to the different kingdoms in Game of Thrones that the research process must be very time consuming?

MC: I start research for each season of GOT really early on. In fact I am always looking and reading, even in the down time. About 14 weeks before we start filming I meet with my assistant designers for a couple of days and we talk about the direction I would like for each existing character. We also talk about the general look of the various groups, look at all the new locations, discuss new characters, look at the climate and influences etc. I will also start talking with the production designer Gemma Jackson, as well as the writers and the producers etc. From these discussions we will create mood boards for each new place and I will start to draw for principles. We will also travel to Italy, Paris and Madrid to look at fabrics, as well as scout London – mainly Shepherds Bush, Chelsea Harbour, and Berwick Street. I have to mention our favourite fabric supplier John England in Belfast too!

OSF: What is the process of creating the costumes? Is everything hand-made? Do you have a costume break-down department?

MC: 10 weeks in we will move into our workrooms and the cutters, makers, armourers and breakdown department will all start to arrive. I love being in the workroom most of all, I understand cut as I spent 2 out of 5 years studying cutting, making and textiles. We try to make as much as possible in house as it is practical and much more fulfilling. 99% of the time I ban the use of overlocking on 100% principles, encourage hand finishing on all principles and whenever we can on extras costumes. We have weavers, embroiderers and printers so a lot of costumes are created from scratch. Craster’s wives costumes for instance, were woven from raffia, rabbit skin and feathers which were then aged in our breakdown rooms. Likewise, Daenerys Dothraki’s costume were woven in-house. 

Each season we try to hire less costumes although we sometimes have to commission some extras costumes to be made outside of the workroom due to time and numbers but we still try to finish them on site. I am in love with my embroiderer who works on Cersei’s costume, she is so talented. We talk through an idea which she takes and makes it more beautiful that I could hope, her stitching is like a painting. Crew is so important in costume design, you have to build a trust and then the results are there to see. I feel that I have a real bond with many of my regulars, they become friends.

OSF: How do you show the characters journey with the use of their costumes?

MC: When looking at different groups for example, the Lannisters in the south and the Starks of the north, both are important families so we would look at what is available to them and what is important to their character. The Lannisters are very wealthy, competitive, they live in the capitol and power is important. It’s warm and on the coast which means there is trade and they don’t have to worry about keeping warm. They have a large staff with silks and jewels readily available to them. As Cersei influences the court and we notice her hatred for her husband, through season two we start to see her style begin to shift as her role changes. 

The Starks have less available to them and are in different circumstances as they live in cold, damp weather. Available to them is wool, leather, fur and some dyes. They have to think about warmth and wear the high padded embroidered collars as status rather than jewellery. The village people wear a simpler form of this look. They are not ostentatious and are a loving family who are not trying to prove anything. Only Sansa disagrees with this and we see this as she is influenced in her clothing, mainly by Cersei and as the plot develops, she moves away from this.

OSF: Can you describe a typical day as a costume designer on the set ofGame of Thrones?

MC: My days are very varied. Sometimes I’m in my office designing, in the workroom, in production meetings, at fittings and on set, often I do all of this in one day. The part I hate the most is driving to new locations, I tend to always get lost down some farm track! I also feel sad just being away from my family for so long.

OSF: The Helmut Lang Fall 2012 catwalk designs and fashion trends in 2012 are both influenced by the television series with a lot of leather and fur involved, how do you feel about this? Have you ever been influenced in your personal wardrobe while working on Game of Thrones?

MC: I was very flattered that Helmut Lang was influenced by GOT, especially with my background in fashion. I often wear the padded Stark skirts especially in Belfast and lots of crew and actors love the Shae style dress, it’s great for summer.