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Game of Thrones costume designer reveals genius IKEA trick

Do you have a Night's Watch cloak on your floor at home?!

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Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
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The costume designer for Game of Thrones has revealed that creating cloaks for the Night's Watch simply came from cutting up IKEA rugs! Michele Clapton, who spoke about the costumes at Los Angeles' Getty Museum, admitted she used the store's fur rugs to create the thick cloaks worn in the fantasy TV show. Michele said: "These capes are actually IKEA rugs. Bit of a trick. We take anything we can. We cut and we shaved them and added strong leather straps, and then breakdown, which is like a religion on Game of Thrones. I want the audience to almost smell the costumes. Here they were waxed and frosted so they belonged to the landscape."

READ: GOT's Sophie Turner often asked to lose weight for roles

ikea rug

Night's Watch cloaks are made from IKEA rugs

She also spoke about the level of detail that goes into creating the costumes, adding: "We loved the idea of a huge cauldron in the Castle Black courtyard with donated clothes being tossed in. And as the dye runs thin before more pigment is added, it will naturally create a variation in shade. It makes it more real and we understand the process."

READ: Game of Thrones data leaked online after HBO hack

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Michele opened up about the costumes

Earlier this year, Michele accidentally revealed a spoiler when discussing Jon Snow's look in the show, telling Uproxx: "We had a lot of discussions about does the cape give him presence or is it better to not have that presence? What are we trying to say? There are times when we removed it because we wanted him to be more vulnerable. Especially I think, when he saw Dany, and he went to see her for the first time in her chamber." Season seven is now well underway, and Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow have now met and are tentatively beginning to work together. In the promo for episode five, Daenerys returns to Dragonstone and Jon finally comes face-to-face with one of her dragons.