Tonight, Game of Thrones finally returns. The show’s seventh and penultimate season will at last set the stage for the series’ climax, as the few remaining contenders battle among themselves (and against a far greater threat) to rule from the Iron Throne. Looking back, it is impossible to overstate the impact GOT has had for the past six years—not only on pop culture, but on fashion in particular.
Note the medieval grandeur and witchy romance that has flitted across the runways since 2011. Designers have always loved the opulence of high fantasy, and there is plenty of that in Westeros, if you ignore the heads on pikes. Then there is the cult of Daenerys Targaryen, whose empowered khaleesi struck a serious chord. Yet on its most basic level, Game of Thrones is simply entertaining, and working a bit of Westeros into your own wardrobe should be more fun than anything else.
Why not reach for a dramatic black cashmere shawl draped with fur, then double it up with a leather breastplate of a dress? It’s just the thing for brooding about climate change (just take it from Jon). A high-necked Dries Van Noten blazer is better suited for Lannister plotting—even better when topped with a chain-link choker—while a Daenerys-style white draped-sleeve gown from Roland Mouret says, “Yes, I am the hero.” If a queenly floor-length frock feels a bit much, one might instead take a page from Arya’s Braavosi playbook and slip into cropped linen trousers and a comparatively breezy ruff neck, or celebrate the series in even subtler ways—a Gucci wolf head ring, the Dornish swagger of a leather Zana Bayne harness, or simply a head of perfectly styled, ice- and fire-resistant curls.