A Custom Crown For A King (Or Queen)

The importance of crowns and the power they hold does not go unnoticed in a show like Game Of Thrones, where characters literally get molten gold poured on their head as a result of their pining for the very thing. Michelle Clapton, GoT veteran costume designer, has brilliantly customized every character's crown to match their loyalty, personality, and style. Some of these details are so subtle that you wouldn't notice unless you took a good long pause to soak it all in. Let's give credit to some of my favorite uses of symbolism within these crowns over the course of the series.

1) Joffrey Baratheon, Seasons 1-3:

Joffrey Baratheon's First Crown

Joffrey Baratheon becomes King after Robert Baratheon dies in season 1, leaving the throne to who Robert thinks is his most legitimate heir. Joffrey receives a custom crown after his coronation, which is strikingly similar to Robert's. The similarities are a jab at how little originality Joffrey has. I can picture Joff yelling at his crown creator- "I want a crown as regal as Father's, only taller and better!"

Robert Baratheon

This crown also winds up getting handed down to Tommen in future seasons when he eventually becomes king after Joffrey's death. This may be due to the fact that Tommen simply isn't demanding  or power hungry enough to create a custom crown of his own.

   

Tommen Baratheon

Joffrey sports this crown until season 3, when we're introduced to one of my favorite crowns of the series...

Joffrey Baratheon's s3 Crown 

The antlers of Joffrey's season 3 crown are of course an homage to his Baratheon lineage, whose house sigil is a stag (similar antlers can be found on Renly Baratheon's crown). 

 

Renly Baratheon

House Baratheon Sigil

What makes Joffrey's season 3 crown stand out from the other's is the customization added to accommodate his bride-to-be, Margaery Tyrell. 

Margaery Tyrell and Joffrey Baratheon at their wedding in season 3

Joff's new crown retains the iconic Baratheon antlers, but with an addition of roses weaving through them. The roses represent the sigil of House Tyrell, as a way to show the merging of the two houses into one- but I also see the weaving of the roses and antlers in a different light. Notice how the roses snake their way in between each antler, symbolizing Margaery's grip and manipulation over Joffrey and the the throne in general. 

2) Cersei Lannister, Season 6:

Cersei becomes Queen after her son Tommen, the last known (non bastard) Baratheon dies, leaving Robert's widow on the throne. Cers is no stranger to expressing house representation within her clothing, and the same goes for her custom crown. 

Notice how this crown is silver with faint gold detail speckling through it, which is a dramatic change from the pure gold crown we see on Cersei in season 1. Cersei usually loves wearing gold, as it not only matches her hair, but is a a part of Lannister house colors. 

Cersei Season 1

The introduction of silver is a strong display of severity, independence and isolation from her family, which makes sense since- ya know she just blew up a bunch of people and lost her last child. 

Detailed look at Cersei's Season 6 crown

The symbol on Cersei's crown is compelling as well. The outward sprawling detail in the center is comparable to a Lion's head and ferocious mane, a tie to the Lannister House sigil- but can also be a direct comparison to the appearance of the iron throne, with its swords poking out from every which way. 

The Iron Throne

House Lannister Sigil

Costume Designer Michelle Clapton has mentioned that this crown is especially significant because it lacks any ties to Robert, like Joffrey and Tommen's crowns did. In a 2016 interview with Vulture Clapton stated, "[In this crown] there is no reference to Robert- there is no need anymore. She doesn’t have to try and prove a link." 

3) Sansa Stark, Season 8:

Sansa Stark Season 8

Sansa becomes the Queen in the North after she gains the North's independence from the rest of the realm in the series finale. With Jon exiled to the Night Watch, it only made sense for Sansa to take over and keep the Stark name in Winterfell. With a new rule comes a new custom crown, and the most fashionable of the Stark clan did not disappoint. 

Sansa's crown honors her Stark pride, and the family members she has lost. The front and center direwolves of course represent the sigil of House Stark, but can also be linked to the the two remaining wolves from the original six, Nymeria and Ghost. 

Arya Stark's direwolf, Nymeria

Jon Snow's direwolf, Ghost

The silver scales that link the direwolves together are a tribute to Sansa's late mother Catelyn Tully, whose house sigil is a silver trout. 

Sansa with her mother Catelyn in Season 1

Sigil of House Tully

And there you have my three favorite crowns in the show. Honorable mentions go to the driftwood crown worn by Euron Greyjoy, and the golden crown worn by Viserys Targaryen.

Euron Greyjoy in Season 6

Khal Drogo giving Viserys Targaryen his golden crown in Season 1

Bachelor In Paradise S3E1 Recap: Hurricane Chase

It's been less than twenty four hours since the not-so-shocking Bachelorette Finale, and we already have to deal with Chris Harrison telling us about "The shocking season to come." On a completely serious note, I am VERY concerned about Chris Harrison. When you think about it, there is almost never a time when ABC isn't shooting either The Bachelor, The Bachelorette or Bachelor In Paradise. All of these shows require long hours and constant traveling. How long can this guy keep this up? If you're not familiar with Bachelor in Paradise, it's essentially a show where producers take a bunch of hott Bachelor/Bachelorette rejects and stick them on an island. Genius. I was especially excited for this season of BIP because this year's seasons of The Bachelor and the Bachelorette were the most boring and predictable of the whole franchise. 

We begin the show with a beautifully edited 80's inspired intro which I fully support. One of my favorite things about this show is that it's aware of how completely ridiculous it is. The fact that the producers found a man willing to drip maple syrup over his body in a Canadian speedo on national television really puts a pep in my step. But I digress. Let's take a look at some of this season's characters. 

The Twins:

Is there anything worse than a pair of twins who constantly feel the need to announce that they're different, yet dress exactly the same? I think not. There's something really disturbing about the twins being on the show. It could be because they're only twenty three and have already succumb to the hell of reality dating shows. Even more disturbing is that the twins are considered one person on the show- I'm not kidding. If a dude gives one of them a rose, they both stay. It's pretty fucked up, yet somehow it's so, so right. 

Nick Viall: 

Almost nothing in the world makes me happier than seeing Nick's lower third read "35, Runner-up." If you're not familiar with Nick, he came in second on two separate seasons of the Bachelorette. Shout out to the editor who found both clips of Nick being dumped and decided to play them back to back. There's something about Nick that seems a little less douchey this time around, but I'd still be completely fine with him somehow coming in second on a show where that's not even possible. 

Jubilee:

I'm gonna go on a whim and say that Jubilee is probably my favorite contestant to come out of the disaster that is the Bachelor franchise.  I love a girl who is aware of her flaws. "People always tell me that I look very unapproachable." Her resting bitch face gives me life, quite honestly. I'm a little worried for Jubs though. Based on future previews it doesn't look like she'll last on the island very long, although that's probably a good thing. The guys on this island are god awful.

Evan aka The Penis Guy:

I can't believe I have to watch this guy on my television screen again. If you're not familiar with Evan, he is an erectile dysfunction specialist with three children who spent almost all of last season bitching about how Chad ripped his ten dollar H&M shirt. Evan reminds me of that substitute teacher who tries to be cool but just winds up being a pushover. 
Jubilee: "What's his name again? I don't wanna just call him the Penis Guy."
Well I'm sorry Jubilee but I, and America, are still going to only refer to him as the Penis Guy. 

Chad:

The wrath of Chad has returned much to our dismay. Don't get me wrong, I love a good crazy person i.e: Olivia, but Chad is just Patrick Bateman-level-psycho. Fortunately, we get to hear the most depressing sentence ever in Chad's voiceover: "Since the Bachelorette, I've just been hanging out with my dog." 

Lace:

Lace is back, but you can forget about the Lace we used to know. Lace has GROWN people! She sticks Post-its to the fridge that say "Love yourself." and she does yoga!! My favorite quote about Lace came from Grant, A.K.A Handsome Squidward: 

drunk-and-hungry.com

"I'm good at reading people, and Lace is a mess." We can't argue with you there, Grant.

Daniel:

I've literally never been less attracted to a human being in my life than Daniel,  and it's not because he's Canadian (okay maybe a little bit.) Daniel does absolutely nothing to redeem his reputation in this week's episode. In fact, he somehow made it worse with too many cringe worthy quotes.
"I was hoping for a few good looking girls but so far I'm not impressed. Nothing I’d really touch.”
If it makes you feel better Daniel, I don't think any of the girls would touch you either. Perhaps the most revealing quote about Daniel's true character is when he says how much he loves rating girls. Honestly guys who constantly rate girls on a scale from 1-10 make me wanna jump into a blender, and Daniel is no exception.

Amanda:

Amanda, who we all know as the girl who said "like" too much on Ben's season, has made a return- and we're just as bored as ever. Amanda got quite a lot of screen time on The Bachelor, yet all I know about her is that she has two daughters, one of which she unfortunately named Kinsley, and that she's one of those annoying girls who posts about hair vitamins on Instagram even though she wears extensions.

I'm almost 100% positive that one of the contestants, Izzy, shouldn't even be there. I've seen every episode of the Bachelor and I've literally never seen this girl once.
Sarah: “I don't know who Izzy is, I've never seen her. She looks like a lot of girls I've seen before.” Same, Sarah. Same. We also get reintroduced to Carly from Sean's season, who claims that she came back to paradise because if she didn't, she'd regret it. Not because she would have to get an actual real job or anything.

Fast forward to tons of shots of people lounging around the pool later, and we get to see the unravelling that is Lace and Chad's three hour relationship. I'm not gonna lie, I was all about it at first. They're both just the right amount of crazy and attractive that they kind of worked. Oh yeah, until Chad drunkenly calls Lace a C-u-next -Tuesday and turns into the Hulk. The shot of Chad out of focus with Lace in the background looking sad is truly a beautiful masterpiece.

Eventually, Chad's antics are too much for even the producers of the show to handle, and he is told to leave the island the next morning.
Chris Harrison: Chad you need to go. You've been rude to the staff of this hotel.
Chad: No I haven't?
Chris Harrison: You told everyone at this hotel last night to "Suck a Dick."

Unfortunately we haven't seen the last of Chad, as he's featured in almost all of the previews for next week *eye roll*. I'm not gonna lie, seeing Chad tell Chris Harrison to go drink a mimosa in a bath robe was pretty amazing, but I just feel like the appeal of this show is that there's so many people on the island to entertain us, that I don't want to focus on just one. Last time I checked, the show wasn't called "Chad In Paradise", but maybe it should be.

Let's be real, we're all just waiting for Ashley I. and her crying testimonials to arrive, right?

50 Shades of Blonde

I've noticed that our favorite fictional blondes are not so simple as they seem. There are varying shades of blonde that are calculated to portray our favorite characters in different lights and darks. Let's take a look at just a few of these instances:

• Betty Draper

Betty Draper starts off Mad Men being Don Draper's wife, but by the end of the series she had me asking, "Don who?" Betty is the type of blonde that demands the attention of the room when she walks in. Betty's blonde is meticulous, high maintenance, and classic like her. You'll never find Ms. Draper with the littlest bit of root showing because Betty is the type of girl who makes a note of going to the salon bi-weekly. Hollywood loves to pin blondes and brunettes against each other, so it's no wonder Don went for Meg after his split from Betty. Of course there was that period of time where Betty dyed her hair dark to mark her re-birth and what not, but it was short lived because well...Betty is born to be blonde. 

• Amy Elliott Dunne

Gillian Flynn's decision to make Amy blonde was no mistake. Amy's blonde is girl next door blonde- the type of blonde that makes people ask "Is that your natural hair color?" Still, this is a David Fincher movie, and David loves his dark, muted colors. Amy's blonde is definitely less bright than most other Hollywood hues, and in some scenes her blonde almost takes the life out of her. Fitting. One of the biggest aspects of Amy's transformation after she fakes her death is that she has to cut off her beautiful, long, blonde hair and dye it darker. Desi makes sure Amy goes back to her roots shortly after, when he buys her a box of hair dye to "make her look herself again." Again, notice how the girl Nick has an affair with is a brunette to show contrast of character. 

• Skyler White

Skyler White's locks make their debut dreary and in need of a boost in season 1. It's the type of dishwater blonde that happens when you're pregnant and can't re-highlight your hair. Also, at this point she didn't have anyone to impress. One of my favorite things about Skyler is her transformation over the seasons, and her hair definitely transforms with her. Notice how much livelier and brighter Skyler's blonde becomes in season 3 when she starts sleeping with Ted Beneke. It's only when she finally has someone to take notice of her looks again that she starts amping up her head of hair. 

Season 1

Season 3

• Cersei Lannister

The shade of Lannister blonde is not only unique, it's important to the story line. Who could forget the vital scene where Ned reads off the descriptions of all of the past Baratheon crown holders? Cersei's children were the only "golden haired" members in that book, and it's all because of those lovely Lannister genes. Cersei's blonde is a shade of gold that comes off as high and mighty, just like her. It's also extremely fitting that her shade of hair matches the colors of house Lannister. The Lannister house motto is "Hear Me Roar", and Cersei's beautiful golden hair does just that. 

• The Lisbon Sisters

What would The Virgin Suicides be without the iconic manes of the Lisbon sisters? Therese, Mary, Bonnie, Lux and Cecilia all encompassed blonde in the best way possible. The baby blonde Lisbon locks were angelic and innocent, just like the sisters themselves (or so they seemed). Their blonde hair went perfectly with the dreamy color spectrums throughout the movie. 

Pastel Vibes.

Something I always pay close attention to whenever watching a movie is color scheme. Every wall color and costume pattern is should be there for a reason. While I love a dark movie, it's really the pretty pastel ones that make my eyes happy. Here are some of my favorites:

• Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette

I love how it feels both antique and modern at the same time.

• Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands

The word pastel probably doesn't come to mind when you think of Burton's films, but his use of Easter shades in Edward Scissorhands is perfect. I love the contrast between Edward's color palette and the rest of the film. 

• Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel

The amount of pink in this movie is overwhelming in the best way possible. But seriously, why aren't there more pink hotels around?!