Inspiration comes in many forms — especially when you’re working on a television show the size of Game Of Thrones. But while the fantasy epic has been compared to everything from Lord Of The Rings to Mad Men, it turns out that one of the show’s most famous looks was actually inspired by none other than an IKEA rug.
Game Of Thrones’ costume designer Michele Clapton, who worked on the show between seasons one and five before returning for its seventh, has confessed the furs that the Night’s Watch have worn throughout its run were actually purchased from the famous Swedish store.
“These caps are actually IKEA rugs,” Clapton freely admitted during at a talk at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles last year. “We take anything we can. We cut, and then we shaved them, and then we added strong leather straps, and breakdown, which is like a religion on Game Of Thrones.”
For those of you that are fluent in costume designer lingo, “breakdown” is the process of making the capes looked older and used, which is achieved courtesy of dye and/or sandpaper.
Michele Clapton’s revelation means that Game Of Thrones die-hards contemplating whether to dress up as Jon Snow at Halloween now just need to head to their nearest IKEA to complete their look. It will only cost you $14.99, too, as that’s what IKEA’s Tejn rug goes for online. Unfortunately, Michel Clapton didn’t confirm specifically which IKEA rug they used, so there’s every chance that it was actually the RENS, which is a little bit more expensive at $29.99.
While Michele Clapton’s revelation immediately makes the Night’s Watch a little less intimidating, the fact that I can’t stop picturing Tormund navigating around IKEA in search of more rugs now that Winter has finally arrived more than makes up for it.
