House of the Dragon COSTUMES (pt. 1) | House of the Dragon Costume Analysis

[@LanaMarie]

*NOTE:* The Medieval era is not a time in history that I'm *that* familiar with, and it's such a long time, around 1,000 years. Whether it's Early, Mid or Late Medieval period does in fact matter, but when I use ''Medieval'' in this video, I'm kind of streamlining and I'm aware that a LOT of important details do get lost and overlooked. If you know more, feel free to correct me, add some details or be more specific - if you have the knowledge, share it! :)

[@ryannewman4412]

The World of ice and fire, from costumes to armor would best fit in the category of the "High" medieval period, bordering on early Late medieval. "Late" medieval towards the Renaissance had some more whacky and elaborate clothing choices. For example these huge turban hats you can see in portraits of very rich and fancy people like Phillip the Goode of Burgundy, known to have the fanciest court of the late era. Don't see anything like that in GOT or HoTD

[@NovRen19]

Lovely premier, and wonderful overview. Refreshing to have a change from the ROP heresy. Bravo!

[@Skirne]

The difference in the level of care between HotD and RoP is STAGGERING. If I went in knowing nothing about the budgets, I'd assume HotD had a budget five times higher than RoP. HotD is clearly made by people who care about the story they're telling.

[@kyogre-blue]

It's a bit shocking how obvious the difference in costume quality between Hot D and RoP feels even to me... especially when you know the budget levels are completely reversed.

[@MayhapsYes]

Some main cast in RoP, like Celebrimbor, has one costume the whole series. It's not real unless he has 15 of the same green mumu.

[@TonyValdezCeballos]

@@MayhapsYes the money has to go somewhere. Something is really bloated in that budget.

[@KevinM491]

@@TonyValdezCeballos Bezos doin a little laundering

[@coffeebreakhero3743]

"the armor looks like armor" lmao your surprised tone after RoP had me laughing

[@creepyoldlady2995]

The only piece of armor that seems unrealistic is the wings on Daemon's helmet. One hit to one of those and his head would be wrenched to one side, possibly even breaking his neck. Of course, knowing Daemon, he might have it made that way just to say, "F you, you aren't going to hit ME."

[@timokohler6631]

@@creepyoldlady2995 Actually both is wrong. Helmet decoration was very common in medieval tournaments ( de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmkleinod ) and they would not wrench the helmet to any side because the helmets were strapped on tightly. The most unrealistic part of Daemons Armor is in fact that his helmet is not covering his face.

[@creepyoldlady2995]

@@timokohler6631 One good whack with a lance and whatever that wing was attached to would get seriously twisted. I'm not familiar with the armor expert you reference, but I must have seen or read half a dozen explaining that helms should be round so that a hit to the head will be more likely to slide off, thus reducing the force of the blow and its potential for injury, rather than stick, in which case the force of the blow might be directed to the head and neck, quite possibly a fatal injury. If my memory serves, one of Alexander the Great's early biographers wrote that he ordered that his soldiers wear rounded helms for exactly this reason. It does seem like common sense.

[@timokohler6631]

​@@creepyoldlady2995 I do not reference an expert, Helmet decor was absolutly common in Torunaments, I don't know what you are talking about. I think they were very aware that this is not optimal for combat, that's why they only wore it on torunaments to show off, not in actual battles. In Alexanders time Tournaments were not even a thing yet.

[@creepyoldlady2995]

Death is death, whether it happens in a tournament or on a battlefield. People died in tournaments, that's why they wore armor. I looked at the Wikipedia article you referenced, read the English version to make sure I wasn't missing anything, did a Google search for every combination of "helmet," " helm," "decoration," "ornament," "tournament," etc., etc. Not a single mention of helm decor consisting of anything but feathers, with one exception, a bird-like object which was clearly intended to be quickly and easily detached, i.e. when the parade is over and the jousting starts, and there was only one such example. In case this was a thing specific to Germany, I went so far as to read an article about a medieval-style tourney in modern-day Bavaria, and in every single photo the only helm decor is FEATHERS, worn with ROUND helms ( www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/jul/14/worlds-biggest-joust-bavaria-germany ). In the American Society for Creative Anachronism events I used to go to, no one wearing an unsafe helm would be allowed to take part. You would not find anyone willing to teach you or practice with you because they would lose their membership if it was reported. If you or anyone you know is even pretending to joust without a rounded helm, STOP. And for heaven's sake, make an effort to be sure you have some idea of what you are talking about when safety is an issue. Some idiot is likely to believe you and get himself killed. Find one person who jousts in tournaments today and ask him what he wears on his head!

[@hj-ct2qi]

as an art historian, i loved seeing the art historical examples you found that may have inspired individual outfits. it made it so clear that the costume designer was actively looking through the visual record of clothing history to find inspiration for the costumes. such a refreshing contrast to RoP!

[@ManSeekingMeaning]

This continues to be a fantastic channel. Calming, informative, engaging. I enjoyed your rant especially. Keep it up!

[@LanaMarie]

thank you!

[@pierre-hansepouta6881]

You can tell a character's mood and allegiance just by the dress she is wearing. Rhaenyra's riding outfit is really cool. Deamon's armors are so edgy but he make it work XD

[@jurgenparkour9337]

Well, this was a good video. Informative a lot, and overall really nice to watch. It's a type of content that I would have never searched by myself, so to find out this channel was quite a fortune. We can thank ROP for that🤣 P.S. hello there, fellow balkanian👋

[@LanaMarie]

Thanks! And hi :) where are you from exactly, if you don't mind sharing?

[@jurgenparkour9337]

@@LanaMarie currently living in Italy, but of albanian origin(country that I dislike very much, though)

[@mellis2821]

For Otto, I feel like they’re definitely drawing on Rhys Ifans’ previous Tudor looks from “Anonymous.” Such tremendous costumes and court intrigue

[@LanaMarie]

oh wow, can't confirm nor deny, but that would certainly make sense!

[@bobnoggets5114]

These costumes really look like someone put time and thought into them. I agree the wedding dress was a bit busy though (and bit on the modern side). Even then, the weakest costumes in this show still look great. The armor was done well in this show (though they have a habit of putting the neck guard over the breast plate instead of under, which is something that an armor expert brought up when critiquing GoT armor). I really like Daemon's armor in general, but a face guard would be nice for when he is jousting.

[@_bisclavret]

For the red maternity dress, yes the poofy fabric and V-shaped neckline are taken straight from 1400s-1440s France - although the sleeves look more like something from the Italian Renaissance. That dress combined with its beaded hair net, and the night shift are my favorite outfits.

[@swordmonkey6635]

I'm happy to see you seeing a show that pays respect and makes the effort create props and wardrobes again after you having to watch the community drama group level of props from RoP. I'll say that using the Byzantine Empire as an influence is smart because it mirrors the historical circumstances of the show. The once great old empire of Valaria has fallen (Western Roman Empire) and the Seven Kingdoms has risen (Eastern Roman Empire). Also, Daemon's dragon armor is STRONGLY inspired by paintings of the popular culture's first anti-hero: Elric of Melniboné (who was an albino prince from a kingdom who conquered the known world on dragon back only to have the kingdom fall into apathy and decadence upon reaching its zenith. He also wielded an evil semi-sentient black "rune-blade" called Stormbringer that drank the souls of its victims and gave the energy to the weak albino).

[@LanaMarie]

wonderful additions, thanks for sharing!

[@InkyMuste]

What strikes me the most is how just how many distinct costumes there are in this show, Rhaenyra alone has like three per episode. Feels kind of silly to even compare this to RoP.

[@LanaMarie]

True, most characters have a great number of costumes and one of my favorite details is that the show reuses certain garments across episodes which makes them look even more like real clothes.

[@NelBrandybuck]

My main nitpick is that I wonder what foundation garments the female characters are wearing; especially with that one blue dress, there's no evidence of a shift under the dress, which increases that modern feel. It would have more a Tudor slashed sleeve feel if she had a shift underneath. I would also like to see indication of historical bust support, either in the form of a supportive kirtle or a stiffened Tudor style bodice. But after the costumes in RoP, I'm pretty happy with these.

[@sharonkaysnowton]

I truly enjoyed the Medieval dresses in House of the Dragon. They are beautiful. Daemon looks really dashing in his armour on top of his dragon or his house. Also, I love how everyone who is a Targaryen have a three headed dragon on their clothing.

[@sarafinalights]

great analysis! I love how they incorporated some historical influences.

[@TheMoonatDawn]

HOTD costumes reek of quality compared to ROP. So much more attention to detail but also genuinely beautiful and interesting to look at.

[@sagethegreat4680]

I don't really care about GoT so I haven't watched HoD and really wasn't planning on watching it but the costumes are so much better then RoP . If you look at arondir in rings he doesn't look like an elf or give off the feeling he is an elf , whereas Corlys Velaryon they did a pretty good job making him look like a Velaryon .

[@docstockandbarrel]

Jousting helmets tended to be fancy but also closed face to protect the eyes from shattering lances, although some people did open face helmets out of cockiness, which kind of goes with Daemon’s attitude. As everyone noted, far and away above RoP. Professional Quality v. high school play.

[@nelguinevere4036]

Wonderful costumes and wonderful breakdown, thank you! It's so great to see real craftsmanship and creativity mingled with historical influences which show how much the creators care about their work. Watching all of this on screen is just pure joy.

[@vibeyandvibeless]

I always thought Alicents blue dress (the one with the cut-out elements at the neckline and the side of the sleeves) was ought to be worn with a shift (or chemise? you know, some kind of undergarnment) underneath, so the fabric of it would peak through the cut-outs of the day-dress. It would have kinda resembled (late?) medieval styles were the undergarnments were worn as visible parts of the outfit, popping out in places where the sleeves connected to the bodice i.e., or maybe even peaking through cutouts in the sleeves. Still not the greatest fan of that shiny fabric and the crossover element at the front of the blue dress, but I think with the shift would have eased the "modern" look of the outfit, and I wonder why they didn't go with it here, since for her first look (the beautiful light blue one) she clearly wore a long-sleeved undergarnment, which worked perfectly with the dress itself. Anyway, great review and I'm glad we all get to relieve our sore eyes by warching HotD haha EDIT: I paused the vid while commenting and only now get to see the reference pic you came up with, and yes, that's exactly the fashion I was thinking of! I feel like having an undergarment made of light, soft fabric poking through the cut-outs would have also complimented Alicents soft, innocent and modest nature in that episode. Her bare skin showing through the cut-outs makes her look oddly exposed and vurnerable (maybe that was the point? Gotta watch that episode again), and since she's meant to be pious and has no seductive agenda of her own, it would have fit better with her character imo.

[@LanaMarie]

Thanks for the comment and some additions! Yeah in retrospect maybe the whole point of the blue dress was indeed to make her more seductive since i believe she was in it a lot around viserys.

[@francisjean-b9918]

Someone said that Alicent's modern gown with the cutouts is supposed to look like the tower in the Hightower sigil. I agree with you, she does look vulnerable in them. It's also one of the dresses that Otto sends her to seduce the old King Viserys... I also read somewhere that the "modern" dress's color is teal, which is a color closest to green. Looking back at the episodes where she wears the dress, Alicent was always anxious in those episodes, doubting her father while still trying to believe in Rhaenyra. Let's just say she looked torn in those episodes. Which kinda explains about the choice in color. But when Alicent learned about Rhynaera's lie. She went full blown green dress and made quite the entrance. That kinda tells you that she has no more doubts and she's gone full blown Hightower green.

[@swordmonkey6635]

The biggest takeaway after watching Rings of Power, The Lord of the Rings movies and both Game of Thrones universe shows is that's not about $$ but effort and research put into the wardrobe and props. Amazon brags about how much money Rings of Power costs, but you can't see it in the wardrobe or the props. All 3 Lord of the Rings movies together cost just a little under $250 million to make... a bargain by any measure. That's about half of what Amazon put into season 1 of The Rings of Power.... Amazon had the perfect template of what WETA Workshop made and they still screwed the pooch.

[@balromasant]

I can't wait!!!

[@yunipurwanti6562]

the HOTD costumes quality definitely reminds me of peter jackson's LOTR. the costume departement put sooo much effort in every piece of costumes. sooo much details that makes talking about the costumes is also interesting and entertaining.

[@samhui9517]

Thanks for another great review! I really enjoyed all your references of historical dresses, fascinating! It’s amazing how we as audiences can feel the difference between costume designs that are done with thought and care and those that aren’t. Creativity and artistry aside, I think it also depends on the designer’s understanding of the what the story is, and who the characters are. I just rewatched the amazing documentary on costume design for Peter Jackson’s LOTR Trilogy, and I’m still blown away, 20 years later! Thanks gain! Looking forward to your next video 😊

[@Otokage007]

wow, great research work, finding all those middle ages paintings that might have inspired the show. Thanks for the video

[@LanaMarie]

And thank you for watching! Much appreciated!

[@skipklauber1162]

Thank you for the very interesting discussion of an art-form, fashion/costumes, few of us appreciate.

[@zzevonplant]

I haven't watched this show yet at all, but this video kind of makes me want to. The costumes are gorgeous. I was never a huge fan of GoT, but did watch the first 5 seasons or so. I'm kind of glad I didn't waste my time finishing it though - the last two seasons were awful. But this looks like it might be better, better in the sense that it hopefully won't end in such a stupid way. But yeah, this also just makes me think even more that the Rings of Power creators COULD have made something great. Even better costumes would have made the show so much better. It's such a disappointment.

[@moviewolverine89]

Online shills: "OMG the armor in ROP is AMAZING!" Me: "Are you frickin' high?"

[@wserthmar8908]

Thank you for pointing out *the flaws.* Of course there are mistakes and things they did wrong, much appreciated

[@geoffreyburton2654]

People have remarked on the care that has been taken in the design with which I agree whole heartly. It is a shame that series that shall not be named did not take the same care.

[@nuca9087]

i love your channel s much😭💕 i basically watched the entire rings of power series through your channel and, as terrible as the show was, you made it ironically entertaining with your reviews :D the house of the dragon definitely has amazing costumes, you can see how much thought and care was actually put into it. Im looking forward to your next video, keep up the amazing work Lana!🤍

[@allalll1915]

Amazing video!

[@LanaMarie]

thank you!

[@Anton_Jermakoŭ]

I am here with the usual armor comment: Armor looks nice, I have several major criticisms on it though: - there is no chainmail in the gaps and it just puts me off a lot. I get that it is probably because armor is made of polyurethane and putting chainmail underneath would have torn it apart - you DO NOT under NO CIRCUMSTANCES want an open helmet when you joust. They show how spear do splinter and even with very slim visor splinters can get in and you can even die. Special kinds of helmets called frog-mouth were very popular in jousting for those specific reason -kings guards and jousters do not have leg protection which is especially odd for jousters because as a rider you want parts of your body closest to your enemies to be protected first, I only saw tassets on Velaryon guys in ep3 which does not make sense for infantry and I did not see any faulds. I guess it is for the same reason they do not have chainmail as it would tear up when you ride a horse actively - you can actually see dragon wings flapping as Daemon rides along the joust - helmet fit for kings guard and Daemon are very ill fitted and very loose, but Sea Snake's skull cap looks really good and well fitted

[@kamillavalter]

Movie costumes designers always try to make wedding dresses in historical or fantasy movies look like modern wedding dresses, and that drives me crazy. I don’t understand why they think it’s so important to make the bride to wear white. They don’t dress “medieval” bridegrooms in bow ties and suits, so why would they assume that there’s a need for modern-like white wedding dresses? Thank you for your analysis, interesting as always! ❤️ Would you consider to take a look at the costumes in the Andor series? I am in love with Mon Mothma’s outfits

[@LanaMarie]

That's true, thanks for pointing it out! I can't promise anything, but i might look at Andor at some point. We'll see.

[@Flippotycoon4583]

I doupth you are familiar with Games Workshops, Warhammer fantasy game but Deamons armor really reminds me of the armor vampires wear in that setting. Especially the group called the Blood Dragons have really similar armor which I think is exstremly cool to see.

[@LanaMarie]

Thanks for sharing, that's really cool!

[@MichaelGaskin]

Agreed, the costumes are fantastic.

[@pyramidus]

I’m a total imbecile when it comes to fashion, but I’ve been enjoying the costumes in HotD immensely. And I don’t even wear or like skirts or dresses as a woman. But here the costumes are clearly fantastic, and so well-made. I can totally adore the craftsmanship. Along with the sets, the acting, the scenery and everything else.

[@AintGotAnyName]

Apropos of nothing could you maybe consider making a video about Emma. (2020) costumes? I absolutely adore pretty much everything about that movie and its costumes in particular. Just a thought.

[@LanaMarie]

i heard the movie is great and the costumes as well - thanks for a great suggestion!

[@MaxxMcGeePrivate]

RoP also felt like a videogame cause they didn't change costumes that much. Galadriel being in armor all the time was just weird. HotD was way more believable with all the different clothing.

[@MsCaptainWolfe]

Yay!!!

[@liquidmantle]

One thing I've noticed about men's fashion inspired or taking place in 14th to 16th century in movies or tv shows: they never do cod pieces lol. It looks ugly to modern sensibilities but it was an absolute fashion statement back in the day.

[@j.r.mythical1238]

It's nice to see you have some good material to explore after ROP. Have you done a costume dive into the LotR trilogy? I'd watch that

[@LanaMarie]

I haven't but it's definitely one of the topics i want to cover.

[@laurapeter3857]

Not planning on watching this series (nor did I watch rip-off LOTR), but I’m always down for one of your videos!

[@LanaMarie]

thanks, appreciate it!

[@TwoHands95]

I'd love to see you review the costumes of Andor, as there is everything from the poorest to the richest of costumes. But the show has blown me away with how good it actually is.

[@LanaMarie]

No promises about Andor, but i'll make a mental note :)

[@Esta-Beed]

The costumes in HOTD are great 😊

[@Fiddler1990]

Yes! half of my enjoyment of HotD were the gorgeous costumes tbh

[@jaceyking5015]

I never got into Game of Thrones (too many boobs and Mortal Kombat-style deaths for me 😬) but I always really liked the costumes. Glad to see House of the Dragon is still doing a great job costume-wise! (unlike a certain Non-Tolkien show....)

[@sophie1766]

Well, I guess, if compared with the Rings of Power, everything better must seem great... ;) IMHO it is very good, but not great. The men's costumes are awesome, that's where the costume designer, Jany Temime, had the most fun and it shows. I've got more issues with the ladies' dresses. I think, most of the dresses are really nice, of good quality and very nicely embroidered. But sadly many don't fit that well and aren't worn with the proper undergarments. And I don't know if I like that they don't seem to correlate so much stylewise. But yeah, nice overall.

[@Syaniiti]

I haven't watched House yet but just from these screenshots by gods does it look like so much more care, attention and, interestingly, money went into making the show than RoP. Almost every bit of costuming looks good and functional.

[@irena4545]

I love the costumes individually - all the fabrics, layers, embroidery, interesting cuts... RoP really feels completely subpar, cheap and uninspired by comparison. What I feel is might be a certain flaw is the variability of styles - I believe there should be only two major styles, i.e. Westerosi fashion (with perhaps regional variations), and some callback to the Valyrian style. There might be a certain trend towards this with the bare-arm dresses but more consistency would satisfy my nitpicking mind 🙂

[@A_NorthKorean_CoOp]

So the complete opposite of Rings the incompetence?

[@sophietessier8998]

my only critic for the show is that was too short. i would have prefer a longer season with more developped relationship and character. less big time skip, just learn more about side character and their life. how they feel about each other how much they like each other. from the noble to the father of raenyrah's sons. to have more impactful death and be more attached to the dead. even the battle of deamon, i wish was longer. i get it budget and time had to be deal with and they were supposed to builed the fandom from the grave so didn't have time to lose, yet i would have loved to see more

[@LanaMarie]

true. i think the time jumps were executed fairly well for the most part, all things considered, but I do still feel like there are gaps in these characters' lives. especially with the kids it's very apparent. but on a whole, it's really refreshing to have a good show after a long while!

[@sophietessier8998]

@@LanaMarie lmao how sad this comment is.... how low have we stood, we've been starve for sure. i mean i agree we don't have great show so good really feel like a breeze of fresh air. in a way my complain is positiv because it just mean i want more of what we already have. by the way love your chanel !!

[@DEATH-THE-GOAT]

I don't watch HOT D and didn't like GOT but I like your breakdown of the costumes. The thing with the crown is that is too small. He should wear it on his head not on top of it. It looks more of how a princess crown should look but not that heavy. It looks stupid!

[@coffeebreakhero3743]

suggestion: change title to "House of the Dragon | CUSTUMES REVIEW (pt. 1)" you'll get more clicks

[@LanaMarie]

thanks for the tip, i'll try!

[@jonathanh4443]

The Crown doesn't fit him, that's what's wrong, it's too small. Armor, the main problem, like with just about all armor for movies is the face covering. In shows they never want to cover the actors faces, but that is the #1 thing you need to cover with armor. If you are Jousting and have an open face, you are asking for a splinter or lance in the face. In GoT they had some very nice helms that identified who was wearing it, like the Hound had a Hound head helm in one scene. This allowed you to recognize who the character was while still having good armor. I wish they would do more distinctive Helms for the leads so they aren't running around with open faces.

[@xenomorph6599]

Yeah the crown just doesn't look like it's made of metal, at least fine metal

[@APOLLOPATRIOT]

I'm a Greek God I love ancient Greek women 😂🤣

[@ryannewman4412]

In general I think the costumes are much better than the armours