DIY Oberyn Martell-inspired Costume

I had a number of months notice for the recent Game of Thrones wine-tasting event, so I was able to sew my dress from scratch. I had a little less notice for my husband’s outfit, since he never goes with me to costumed events, but he was swayed by the wine and cheese. Given the time crunch, I had to get creative about upcycling some items into a costume inspired by Oberyn Martell.

I chose the Prince because essentially he wears a very fancy bathrobe. That is easier to fit than some of the more tailored things worn by the other characters, and definitely a lot easier to make than armor.

I needed 3 main pieces: a yellow robe, orange shirt, and snakeskin belt. I decided to buy mundane clothing as a base and modify them. Given that my husband probably intended to only wear the outfit once, I did not want to put a huge amount of time and money into it.

I did not have time to go hunting in brick-and-mortar thrift stores, so I went to the world’s largest garage sale – eBay. Although most of the gold bathrobes were very thin polyester “silk” robes, or heavy terrycloth toweling robes, I got lucky and found something in between. I purchased a gold patterned satin robe that was lined with fleece (perfect for the cold wine cellars).  Here it is before I started cutting into it.

It was a little shinier than I wanted, but the Prince does wear some shiny things.

I also purchased a men’s orange dress shirt with a standing collar, and a snakeskin-print leather belt.

(Update 10/12/15: Amazon sells the same shirt I used. Affiliate link:  Ed Garments men’s banded collar shirt in “rust” color).

The changes I made:

1. I removed the collar and belt of the robe, and cut the neckline down to expose more chest!
2. I put wide gold contrast bands around the opening of the robe and the cuffs using leftover taffeta from my gown.
3. I cut off some of the orange shirt’s collar, and also widened the neckline into a V.
4. I put skinny gold contrast bands around the opening of the shirt. Since the sleeves and bottom of the shirt were not going to show, I left all the modern plastic buttons on.
5. I purchased iron-on embroidered patches reminiscent of the sun patches on Oberyn’s robe, and placed 10 of them down the front and on the sleeves of the robe.
6. I sewed gold buttons onto each of the patches.

I originally planned on removing the cuffs and making the sleeves more fitted, in order to more closely resemble Oberyn’s robe, but my husband said he wanted to keep the cuffs and baggy sleeves. He also asked for the buttons to be on each patch, while the TV version has the metal stud embellishments on some of the embroidery only. If this was a more serious costume, I think leggings and boots would have been more appropriate, but again, it didn’t make sense to buy boots for a one-time use. Besides, my husband likes to dress casually, and having him wear his own shoes and pants with a fancy robe seemed like a good compromise.

My costs went up because I had to pay shipping for everything, but if you have the time to go thrift-shop hunting you may be able to get a better deal. Nearly everything is from eBay.

• Heavy gold robe: $19.99 + $9.50 shipping
• 10 embroidered patches: $15.70 + $2.75 shipping
• Orange button-down shirt: $6.00 + $3.00 shipping
• Real leather (but faux snakeskin) belt: $5.95 + $0 shipping
• Buttons: from the stash

Total: $62.89