11. The Costumes Tell Their Own Subtle Stories
In case you haven't picked up the theme of this article yet, it's that an almost-redonkulous amount of time and effort goes into absolutely everything. I suppose you might turn around and tell me that with this being an HBO show, you'd expect that. However, I still think these people deserve a round of applause. Case in point, the costumes. Now, I've already gone into detail on the swords and the armour, but that's just half the story on the clothing front. The residents of Westeros/Essos can't wear armour all day and occasionally have to step out in something more lightweight and fantabulous. This applies doubly to the ladies, who with the exception of Brienne and Arya are mostly clad in silk finery as expected of society women awash with privilege. Most of the effort that goes into the costumes is easily noticeable the Tyrells have noticeable plant-based iconography on their clothing (or in Margaery's case, lack of), you can see stag-based symbols crossed with Lannister red on most of Joffrey's outfits, and other individuals such as Littlefinger have their crests visible for all to see (it's that mockingbird on his top button, in case you couldn't guess). Yet occasionally, the costumers have an excuse to run wild in their designs, and nowhere is that more apparent in Sansa Stark's season three wedding gown. The embroider who made the lavish gown (along with many others, such as Daenerys' and Cersei's war) is called Michelle Carragher, and she runs an interesting blog about the clothes. In her entry on Sansas gown, she makes it clear she's telling a story, if a very subtle one. I'll give you an exact quote from her site.
"For Sansa's wedding dress the designer Michele Clapton wanted to have an embroidered band that wrapped around which symbolistically told Sansa's life from the Tully and Stark beginnings to the entanglement with the Lannisters. "The dress colour was still very much Sansa Stark and the embroidery had pale golden tones but woven through the story are ripe red pomegranates, the red colour symbolising the growing Lannister influence over her."
Now, even if you're not into fashion, isn't that kind of cool? Remember this is just one dress. She's designed hundreds of the things, all with similar stories.