Most of the Game of Thrones costumes come from IKEA

Yes, as in the Swedish furniture shop with the bargain exit hotdogs

Words by Jadie Troy-Pryde

It might be August, but thanks to the dismal British weather we've been watching Game of Thrones season 7 cosied up on the sofa with a cuppa and getting strangely jealous of how bloody warm the northerners look in their hairy coats. As we well know by now, winter is coming and the characters up by the wall and dwelling in Winterfell are wearing more layers than Cersei's heard 'shame'.

While we might be convinced that the Starks, Lannisters and Targaryens are real, we forget that behind the scenes the costume department is working tirelessly to create outfits that look lived-in and authentic. But if there's one thing that will help you remember that Jon Snow isn't really wearing fifty kilos of fur around his shoulders, it's this: most of the northerners' costumes come from IKEA.

At a talk sponsored by the Getty Museum in L.A, Emmy award-winning costume designer Michele Clapton revealed that they pad the characters out with carpets from everyone's favourite Swedish furniture shop.

'We want the audience to almost smell the costumes,' she says, going on to explain the process includes cutting, shaving and adding leather straps to said pieces of carpet as 'breakdown is like a religion on Game of Thrones.'

The talk, which has been recorded and put on YouTube, looks into the historical references cleverly weaved into the Game of Thrones costumes, detailing everything that goes into making the fascinating garments we see on the show.

So there you have it. We always knew IKEA had so much more to give than Billy bookcases and bargain meatballs.