House of the Dragon’s Costume Design: What the Greens and Blacks Are Really Wearing

Here’s something you might not have realized while watching House of the Dragon: the costumes are telling you a story that goes way beyond just looking good. Every fabric choice, every color, every piece of jewelry is a deliberate decision made by the costume designers to communicate something about the character wearing it, their faction, and their place in the world. The show doesn’t just costume its characters; it uses costume design as a sophisticated storytelling tool, and once you start paying attention to what people are wearing, you’ll realize you’re getting an entire secondary narrative running beneath the dialogue and plot.

The most obvious division in House of the Dragon is the one between the Blacks and the Greens—Rhaenyra’s faction and Alicent’s faction. But what’s brilliant about the costume design is that it’s not just about the colors. It’s about what those colors represent, how those colors are used, and what the silhouettes and fabrics tell us about each faction’s philosophy, values, and beliefs.

The Greens: Order, Stability, and Tradition

When you look at the Greens and their costumes, one of the first things that strikes you is the formality and the structure. Alicent’s dresses are often heavily structured, with rigid lines and precise tailoring. There’s something almost military about the construction—every seam purposeful, every fold deliberate. This is costume as armor, as armor that’s also a dress.

The green color itself is significant. Green is traditionally associated with growth and renewal, but it’s also the color of inexperience. The Greens have less claim to the throne, but they’re building their claim through structure and careful planning. Otto Hightower’s influence is visible in every aspect of Alicent’s wardrobe—it’s the costume of a woman being positioned, shaped, and controlled by the patriarchy.

Aemond’s costumes emphasize his role as a warrior. He wears more leather, more armor pieces, more elements that speak to his identity as a dragonrider and a fighter. There’s something about his look that says he’s the dangerous one of the Greens, the one willing to get blood on his hands. His clothes are less ornamental than Alicent’s; they’re more functional. They communicate that Aemond is all business.

Aegon’s costumes are interesting because they often look like what a king should wear—but they’re worn by a man who was never supposed to be king. There’s a disconnect between Aegon’s clothes and Aegon himself. He looks like royalty, but he doesn’t act like it, and that disconnect is visible in how he wears his costumes. He looks uncomfortable, like he’s in a costume that doesn’t quite fit who he is.

Helaena’s costumes are strange and wonderful. They’re ornate, yes, but they’re also often asymmetrical or include unusual elements that suggest her disconnection from normal reality. Her clothes sometimes look like they’re from a different era or a different world. It’s a subtle way of showing that Helaena is not quite of this world, that she exists in a different plane of consciousness than everyone around her.

The Blacks: Passion, Fire, and Radical Change

Rhaenyra’s costumes, by contrast, are dramatic and imposing. The Blacks favor deep, rich colors—blacks, of course, but also deep purples and reds. These are the colors of dragonfire, of danger, of the old Targaryen tradition. Rhaenyra’s costumes are often more severe than Alicent’s, with dramatic silhouettes, high collars, and elements that make her look taller, more imposing, more like a dragon herself.

What’s remarkable about Rhaenyra’s costume evolution is how it changes as the show progresses. Early on, when she’s still navigating the political sphere as a woman, her costumes are more elaborate, more ornamental. But as she takes on her role as a ruler and a military commander, her costumes become more severe, more functional, more warrior-like. By the later seasons, she’s wearing clothes that signal she’s no longer interested in playing political games—she’s interested in winning a war.

Daemon’s costumes are wild and passionate. He wears a lot of leather, a lot of armor, and his look is much more warrior than courtier. His clothes suggest movement, action, danger. Where Alicent’s costumes are about structure and control, Daemon’s costumes are about the potential for chaos. He’s dressed like a man who could do anything at any moment.

The Targaryen colors run through all the Blacks’ costumes—blacks and reds and golds, the colors of fire and blood. Even when the Blacks are wearing things that aren’t explicitly one of those colors, the palette still evokes that Targaryen heritage. They’re dressed as the true inheritors of the Targaryen dynasty, as the ones who carry on the old traditions.

The Details That Matter

If you really want to see the costume design working at its most sophisticated level, pay attention to the jewelry and accessories. These small details tell you about how much political power each character holds and what kind of power they’re wielding.

Alicent’s jewelry is often highly symbolic. The chains she wears, the crowns, the ornaments—they’re all very deliberately chosen to emphasize her role in the hierarchy. She’s bejeweled in ways that suggest she’s a prize, a possession, someone decorated and displayed. It’s almost uncomfortable to look at once you realize what the costumes are saying about her position.

Rhaenyra’s jewelry is different. It’s often more minimalist, more focused on pieces that emphasize her role as a leader rather than as an ornament. When she wears crowns or tiaras, they’re often more severe, more like weapons than decorations. The jewelry signals that she’s earned her position, not been placed in it.

The small brooches and clasps that characters wear often incorporate house sigils and family symbols. These tiny details are a way for the costume designers to remind us of the allegiances and histories of the characters without having to spell it out in dialogue. Every brooch is a statement about loyalty and identity.

Texture and Fabric as Character

Another aspect of the costume design that doesn’t always get discussed is the use of texture and fabric. The Greens often wear smoother fabrics, silks and satins that are lustrous and refined. The Blacks often wear rougher textures, velvets and leathers that have more weight and substance. This is a subtle way of communicating the difference between the factions—the Greens are polished and refined on the surface; the Blacks are grounded and serious underneath.

Rhaenyra’s maternity costumes are particularly brilliant. The way she’s costumed while pregnant—still wearing her queenly clothes, still commanding presence even as her body changes—is a visual statement about her refusing to be diminished by pregnancy or motherhood. The costumes accommodate the pregnancy while refusing to make it her entire identity.

As the war progresses and characters suffer losses, their costumes often become darker, heavier, less ornamental. The joy and color drain out of their wardrobes. This is a visual representation of how the war grinds down everyone involved, how the violence and loss strip away the superficial beauty and leave behind something darker and more serious.

Comparison and Contrast

One of the most effective uses of costume design in the show is comparison. When characters from different factions meet, their costumes create an immediate visual conversation. Rhaenyra in her black and red looks opposite Alicent in her green, and the contrast tells the story of their rivalry without a word being spoken. The colors clash; the silhouettes oppose; the entire visual language is about these two women being fundamentally opposed.

Similarly, Daemon and Aemond are costumed in ways that emphasize their rivalry. Both are dangerous warriors, but Daemon’s costumes are more wildly passionate, while Aemond’s are more coldly calculated. You can read the difference in how they operate just by looking at what they’re wearing.

The Evolution of Alicent

If you want to see how brilliant the costume design is, watch Alicent’s costume evolution. Early in the series, she’s wearing the costumes of a young bride, ornamental and beautiful. As the show progresses, her costumes become heavier, more structured, more armor-like. By the later seasons, she’s wearing clothes that look like they’re slowly crushing her, beautiful but oppressive. The costume literally shows her transformation from a hopeful girl into a woman crushed by the weight of her own ambitions and her family’s needs.

Color Symbolism Throughout

The color palette of the show is incredibly intentional. Green and black are the obvious choices, but within those color schemes, there are variations that mean something. A character wearing a lighter green is positioned differently than a character wearing a deep, dark green. A character in pure black communicates something different from a character in black with hints of other colors. The costume designers use color the way a painter uses paint—to create mood, to establish hierarchy, to tell stories.

Gold appears throughout the costumes, particularly with the Targaryens. Gold suggests the sun, the light, the fire of dragonfire. It’s a royal color, a color that reminds us of the ancient prestige of the Targaryen dynasty. When the Blacks use gold in their costumes, it’s a reminder of their claims to legitimate rule; when the Greens use it, it’s an attempt to associate themselves with that legitimacy.

The Subtlety of Storytelling

What’s remarkable about House of the Dragon’s costume design is how it works almost subconsciously. You don’t need to analyze the costumes to enjoy the show—they look great, and they look like they belong in a fantasy world. But once you start paying attention to what the costumes are communicating, you realize there’s an entire layer of storytelling happening through clothing. The costumes are working in concert with the acting, the writing, and the directing to tell the story of the Targaryen civil war.

By the later seasons, when characters have worn down by war and loss, their costumes reflect that devastation. They’re darker, simpler, less ornamental. The beautiful silhouettes of the early seasons give way to more practical clothes for people who are no longer concerned with appearing beautiful—they’re concerned with surviving.

The costume design of House of the Dragon deserves recognition as one of the most sophisticated aspects of the show. It’s a masterclass in how to use visual storytelling to communicate character, faction, emotion, and narrative progression. Every character you see on screen is wearing a story, and once you start reading that story, the show becomes even richer and more complex. The Greens and the Blacks aren’t just opposed in allegiance and ideology—they’re opposed in how they present themselves to the world, in what they’re willing to sacrifice for appearance and order, in what they value in their visual presentation. That opposition is communicated through every stitch of their costumes.