Whether she’s designing a runway-worthy fur coat for the Mother of Dragons to wear on HBO’s Game of Thrones or a gown for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation on Netflix’s biopic series The Crown, costume designer Michele Clapton knows that clothes often make the story. Sometimes they can even become characters in their own right.
As she prepares for a 2018 that includes filming the final season of Game of Thrones and the release of two films that she worked on (the sequel to the hit musical Mamma Mia! and The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, starring Natalie Portman and Kit Harington), Clapton explains how she uses clothing to enhance a story.
Go Minimal For Maximum Effect
The first season of The Crown features an array of ornate, mid-century gowns and crisp military suits, which are on full display during such pivotal scenes as Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding to Prince Philip. But to make certain quieter, yet equally important, moments resonate, Clapton used less extravagant pieces. In the second episode, just before Elizabeth (Claire Foy) finds out about her father’s death, she appears in her room at a safari lodge in Kenya wearing only Philip’s long, white button-up shirt, which serves to accentuate her vulnerability. “To me, [choosing that look] was just as big a decision as the design of her wedding dress, and took just as long to come to,” Clapton says. “[Elizabeth] is at her most open and relaxed and intimate before she finds out this thing that is going to be so monumental in changing her life. I love that contrast.”
Gain Perspective By Taking A Break
Expand Your Boundaries
Hold Firm To Your Vision
Clapton will study a script in order to use characters’ attire to telegraph narratives. This instinct has made her an important voice on set. When the executive producer of The Crown wanted to alter the filming of a scene between Princess Margaret and King George after the costumes had already been painstakingly designed, Clapton pushed back. She argued—successfully—that seeing Elizabeth’s rebellious younger sister in an off-the-shoulder dress as she played piano for her father would make their relationship seem overly intimate unless the camera pulled back to show that the recital was taking place during a dinner party. “[The costume design] is that finely balanced,” Clapton says. “You’re trying to say something, and you have to think so carefully about how something should be. I also want to throw the audience off sometimes. That’s where I have my fun.”