It might officially be spring now, but make no mistake: Winter is coming. And so is season three of Game of Thrones! Finally. Hasn't it felt like th

It might officially be spring now, but make no mistake: Winter is coming. And so is season three of Game of Thrones! Finally. Hasn't it felt like three years since season two ended? Anyway, the season premiere airs Sunday March 31 on HBO and we'll obviously be glued to our TVs. We caught up with Michele Clapton, who's been the costume designer for Game of Thrones since the beginning, and she gave us lots of juicy info about what to expect from the costumes in the upcoming season. (And be sure to catch up on what she told us last year about the costumes in the first two seasons here.) From a "fashion fight" between two queens to a French high fashion "slave dress," click through for the dirt on what everyone will be wearing in Westeros and beyond this season. (There are season one and two spoilers here, but--no matter how hard we tried to get some--no real plot spoilers for the upcoming season.) Photos: HBO

What's Going on with Daenerys's Outfits? If you've seen the Game of Thrones season three trailer, you know that Daenerys is looking rather warrior-like. Expect to see a "stronger" look this season. "For the first time she’s her own person, so she begins to develop her own style, with some reference to what we’ve seen before," Clapton told us. "She has control of herself and control of her look. It’s very different, quite a strong look. [There are] references to dragons in the texture [of some of the looks]." And if you think you've noticed that Daenerys favors blue, it's not your imagination. "I like to put blues on her because they’re a reference back to Khal Drogo [her dead husband] and the Dothraki, because blue was their special color. We decided [in season one] that it was a rare natural pigment available to them in their region, so it’s sort of her weird tribute to him," Clapton said. "So yes, blue is a very important color for her, and I think she’ll carry that through for a while."

Margaery vs. Cersei: If you'll recall at the end of season two, Joffrey publicly announced that why, yes, he'd love to have Margaery as his bride. After her (gay) husband was killed by Stannis's smoke monster, Margaery quickly switched alliances. What this means from a fashion perspective is that she'll be in the castle with Cersei, who is of course Joffrey's mother and not a shabby dresser herself. But now Cersei has to deal with the age-old problem of not being the young, hot one anymore. Clapton said, "Margaery’s in great competition with Cersei, which plays out in season three. It’s almost like a fashion fight between them, which is quite funny." (Awesome.) Clapton said that surprisingly, Margaery's costumes were some of the most difficult to create. "The cut of Margaery’s dresses are quite difficult to do. They’re supposed to look so effortless but there’s so much that goes into them," Clapton said.

The Bjork McQueen Funnel Neck Returns: Clapton had previously told us that one striking funnel neck dress (here) that Margaery wore in season two was inspired by a McQueen silhouette favored by Bjork. That same funnel neck makes another appearance in season three. "We did use that Bjork neckline. It’s tamed down but it’s evident in a dress on a different character," Clapton said. (Ahem, we found it. See above on Cersei.)

The Vionnet Slave Dress: So the game we need to play this season? Try to spot the Vionnet dress in Game of Thrones. Yep, look for it on Daenerys. According to Clapton, they had hundreds of dresses made in Morocco for slave characters in a desert-like region where one part of the season takes place. "I was in Dubrovnik at an amazing shop. I really wanted one more dress for Daenerys and I didn’t have time to do it," Clapton said. "So I walked into this shop and saw our slave dresses! There was this Vionnet dress and I was like 'Oh my god it’s a slave dress!'" The team ended up buying it and altering the neckline, but it was eerily similar to what the G of T team had conceived. "I had run out of time and was really worrying what to do, when suddenly here was this dress that, with a few alterations, came to represent Daenerys's homage to the suffering slaves," Clapton said. "It was meant to be because I hadn’t had time to pull something for the scene." Clapton wasn't sure exactly what season the Vionnet was, but she thought possibly fall 2011. We've pulled a few looks from 2011/2012 that maybe (sorta?) could be slave dresses. This is all so exciting.

So What About Poor Sansa? Now that Sansa was dumped by Joffrey (good riddance), she's back to being a prisoner. Does that affect her dresses? "She's still young and vulnerable--she’s always influenced by the people around her," Clapton said. "Without saying too much, she befriends someone new. She starts to dress a bit like her--so she’s still being pulled and influenced and she’s not really her own person yet."

Tywin Does Badass #menswear: Tywin Lannister--the power hungry father of Tyrion, Cersei, and Jaime--managed to get his whole family ensconsed near the Iron Throne. And he's dressing the part of the powerful patriarch this season. "Tywin is a little more opulent--I really like his look this season," Clapton said. "There are a lot of really tough leather looks which were really detailed--they look rich. Some of the cut leather pieces are my favorite." It's all very Rick Owens.

Brienne Gets a Makeover: So far Brienne has owned her androgynous look, but that changes this season, at least for a little while. "[Brienne] has this pretty epic journey. She obvioulsy keeps her armored look, but there’s one scene where she actually dresses quite differently," Clapton said. "The interesting thing is she has to dress in a way that she dislikes intensely and therefore feels stupid in, but actually it was very important that she actually doesn’t look stupid--she looks fab." So we'll assume it's a dress then? "Yeah, she's in a gown and very feminine," Clapton continued. "It’s just that she doesn’t like to look that way. Although it’s referred to as her looking 'ridiculous,' she doesn’t!" We can't wait for this makeover.