I understand that modern outer layers are more functional. A leather jacket, for example, can be dressed up or down so as to be worn in a variety of situations. It is also better at keeping you warm.

However, I think capes/cloaks are more aesthetically pleasing garments. It also feels good to have the fabric flowing around you as you walk. But what do you think?

  • GreyShuck@feddit.uk
    424·
    10 months ago

    The actual reason that we don’t is pretty much because of the invention of sewing machines. Once sewing machines were widespread, making coats became sooo much cheaper than they had been. Coats need a lot of tightly made seams which took time and so made coats very expensive. With sewing machines, making these seams was vastly quicker and more reliable.

    Coats win over cloaks in so many ways because you can do things with your arms without exposing them or your torso to the rain and cold: impossible with a cloak.

    Capes were the short versions - and intended to cover the shoulder and back without seams that might let the rain in, but with the new machine made seams, they were not needed either.

    The really big change was when it became affordable to outfit armies with coats instead of cloaks or capes. At that point all the caché and prestige that was associated with military rank disappeared from cloaks and capes and they were suddenly neither useful not fashionable.

    Nowadays, of course, they are no longer what your unfashionable dad would have worn: they are quite old enough to have regained a certain style.

    • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
      30·
      10 months ago

      The other big reason is that the world is cleaner. Capes and cloaks also protect the whole body from mud/dust and can be easily removed. Riding a horse or walking on dirt roads is a lot dirtier than riding in cars or walking on a sidewalk

      • GreyShuck@feddit.uk
        59·
        10 months ago

        The original type of coat that would have been worn when riding was the Great Coat - which did cover the whole body, down to the ankles (and included the front of the body much better than a cloak). Those would have been worn by military officers, particularly.

        Those were fine for riding, but then if you were off your horse and end up in the newly developed trench warfare - starting from around the US civil war onwards - you ended up wading through mud which got caked to the coat. So then they started cutting the coats shorter and they became Trench Coats.

        • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
          13·
          10 months ago

          you ended up wading through mud

          Horse shit. In cities, you waded through horse shit.

          As someone who has done extensive reenactment in period dress, sometimes in towns dedicated to realism that banned cars and relied on horses for travel, you wouldn’t believe how terrible even a dozen carriages and a few dozen private horses can be to your skirts/trousers and shoes. Especially when it rains.

          People sometimes make light of women in the past who changed their outer clothes two or three times a day, but if you were in town, your attire would be absolutely foul after a few hours in the same outer skirt. A long cloak helped immensely to keep your skirts or trousers from soaking up horse sewage.

          Once cars took over, that stopped being a problem, cloaks weren’t as desirable as they obscured fashion, and coats became shorter and more for protection from the weather than from horse shit.

          There was a bit of military influence, but that was more about fashion than functional influence.

          e: clarification

          • GreyShuck@feddit.uk
            9·
            10 months ago

            The “British Warm” was the intermediary as I understand it: a shorter greatcoat favoured by Britsh officers in WW1. The Trenchcoat itself was modeled to fit over, accompany or replace this.

        • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
          3·
          10 months ago

          For a military officers that are practically nobility would have more and different clothing options than the average citizen.

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
    896·
    10 months ago

    100% of the cloaks and capes I’ve seen IRL have been as part of either someone’s weird cosplay or some neckbeard/weeb shit. I think that, a bit like the fedora, they’re just sorta ruined now due to the people who wear them.

    • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
      453·
      10 months ago

      They’ve just morphed. A poncho is basically a cloak that doesn’t open. A long dress coat is basically a cloak with formal buttons.

      • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
        17·
        10 months ago

        A long dress coat is basically a cloak with formal buttons.

        Also sleeves, which are the main difference anyway

          • Comrade GitGud@lemmy.ml
            113·
            10 months ago

            They can kind of get in the way though. Cloaks could give your arms more freedom of movement if you really need it. I could see a resurgence in military and/or trade uses.

    • OpenStars@startrek.websiteEnglish
      94·
      10 months ago

      I wear a Fedora sometimes - AC can get cold and my hair isn’t as thick as it used to be… it just seems easier than converting to Judaism to be able to wear a Yamaka:-P.

          • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
            9·
            10 months ago

            In addition to the usual ubiquitous collection of random baseball caps, I also have a top hat.

            I figure if I’m going to be lumped in with somebody, I’d rather it be the steampunkers than the neckbeards.

          • agent_flounder@lemmy.worldEnglish
            6·
            10 months ago

            Here’s a few that I think are probably more fashionable than a fedora:

            Baseball cap, pork pie hat, knit hat (e.g. skull cap, watch cap, beanie), docker cap, scally cap, newsboy hat, ivy cap, ascot, bucket hat.

            • ripcord@lemmy.world
              3·
              10 months ago

              That’s a great list.

              And almost every one of those is likely to work better for OP, work with more outfits, etc, and have less of a stigma than a fedora.

            • OpenStars@startrek.websiteEnglish
              35·
              10 months ago

              Just a quick note that in the USA, unless there is a sports logo on it, cap = MAGA hat, sorry, dems the rules.

              cap

              But Breaking Bad hat, now that is a damn fine argument that you made there!? :-P

              it

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            4·
            10 months ago

            Just out of curiosity because I see signs for it all the time, we went to Boot City yesterday.

            The first thing you see when you go through the door as the overpowering smell of leather hits you is a massive row of cowboy hats that just keeps going and going.

            It was not a pleasant experience overall. This was amusing, however:

            I was hearing Jeff Foxworthy in my head. “If your living room furniture is made of cow horns…”

      • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
        204·
        10 months ago

        AC can get cold and my hair isn’t as thick as it used to be… it just seems easier than converting to Judaism to be able to wear a Yamaka:-P.

        I pity Americans who don’t just wear a touque (or as you might call it, a beanie). Honestly it’s the perfect hat for cold weather. Here in Canada, basically everyone wears one for the half of the year where it’s cold enough to warrant a hat. Some people are fancy and wear an Ushanka hat or a Nordic hat in the winter, but 99% just wear a touque.

        • OpenStars@startrek.websiteEnglish
          81·
          10 months ago

          Indeed I wear a beanie the whole winter, whenever I can get away with it.:-D But in 100 degree weather, it wouldn’t work quite as well…:-P.

          • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
            111·
            10 months ago

            Yeah I’d imagine if it’s so hot that water is boiling you probably can’t wear a hat comfortably

            • OpenStars@startrek.websiteEnglish
              43·
              10 months ago

              Hehehe, Oh Canada… :-) Don’t you know that you are using the correct “wrong” temperature system - the only sensible one is based on how many pinkies were on the toe of the king’s son’s aunt’s cousin’s horse 200 years ago. I am sure you will agree with me that nothing else makes close to that degree of common sense - on THAT much at least we are SURE to agree! 🙃

      • Flax@feddit.ukEnglish
        10·
        10 months ago

        But since you’re a lemmy user you probably fall into that bracket anyway

      • _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        52·
        10 months ago

        Can’t really pull off a fedora (or similar) without a suit that matches, otherwise, yeah, you just look like a neckbeard or maybe a Michael Jackson cosplayer. If you aren’t dressing in formal attire, consider a baseball cap, beanie, hood, cabbie hat, or even a stetson if it’s up your alley.

      • fjordbasa@lemmy.worldEnglish
        42·
        10 months ago

        No googling or anything, huh? Just throwing “yamaka” out there and hoping it was right?

    • Perfide@reddthat.com
      21·
      10 months ago

      The issue is it has to fit the overall outfit. A fedora can still look really good if you have a well tailored suit to match it, while most of the things that look good with a cloak are, frankly, uncomfortable to wear everyday compared to modern clothing. This is why it’s essentially only done for cosplay and larping nowadays, looking like that is fun every now and then but not so fun that you’d want to go about daily life dressed that way.

  • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
    51·
    10 months ago

    It’s because of cars and trains

    Horses and to a lesser extent bikes let you just throw the cape out behind you as you ride, but if you’re riding in a chair, you have to bunch it up as you’re getting in so you don’t accidentally auto-asphyxiate yourself with the titanic cheeks you inherited from yo mama

  • RainfallSonata@lemmy.world
    423·
    10 months ago

    Women can get away with it. My coworker has a beautiful full-length, wool winter cape she wears just for every-day. I bet men could, too, with a suit on a formal occasion.

    • CuddlyCassowary@lemmy.world
      18·
      10 months ago

      Yep, I have shorter ones for more casual outfits and full length for dressy events. They never seem “costumey” when they go with the overall look. I’m a woman in a metro area though.

    • mommykink@lemmy.world
      146·
      10 months ago

      I bet men could, too, with a suit on a formal occasion.

      I disagree. I think some men could pull this off, but it would mostly come across as cartoony in most circumstances. Even 3-piece suits are seen as too formal/old-fashioned by people.

      Where I could see cloaks looking fashionable and natural is in milsurp/gorpcore inspired outfits. Something like This cloak is pretty damn interesting and would look just fine On this outfit Or this one

      • RainfallSonata@lemmy.world
        3·
        10 months ago

        I’m in an urban center where you still see a fair amount of suits downtown during business hours. Honestly, capes or cloaks with the outfits you linked I would just assume were blankets and I’d expect to be asked for change…I mean, I see that already, every day. It’s an “interesting” look alright.

      • Obi
        2·
        10 months ago

        Am I that out of touch with fashion lmao.

    • greenhorn@lemm.eeEnglish
      5·
      10 months ago

      I have a wool plaid cape I got from a woman’s estate sale but it isn’t necessarily gendered, though as a man I haven’t been brave enough to wear it outside of the house yet except to a Burns supper where I got a lot of compliments. My coworkers are used to seeing me wear it on video throughout winter

      Edit: after some googling it may be a cloak and not a cape since it is full length. I wear it as a sweater replacement

    • dutchkimble@lemy.lol
      3·
      10 months ago

      This is the real answer. For many more questions too. One day in the distant future people will ask why don’t we ---- anymore and the answer will be because we don’t drive cars anymore.

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        10 months ago

        You need to stay warm, but you can’t have your legs blocked by something like a trench coat (unbuttoned cowboy duster excluded), since you need them free to mount and sit on a horse. A cape keeps you warm, but keeps your front lower body free to ride, and lays flat against the horses back when mounted. Since we ride in cars instead of on horses now, the design isn’t very useful anymore. A long cape will get in the way when getting into a car, and when sitting down in a car seat. Jackets and coats are more practical now.

  • Tinks@lemmy.world
    251·
    10 months ago

    As an avid cloak lover, I can attest that the reasons others state about practicality are pretty much spot on. That said, my 3/4 round wool cloak with a cotton liner is the warmest and coziest winter garment I have ever owned. I have three of them, and a lighter blue velvet one for dressy occasions in spring/fall.

    Getting into a car with a big cloak though is tougher than with a normal coat. Once you get the hang of it, it’s not a problem, but it does take some practice! I do love my cloaks and I would love to see them make a comeback though!

  • s_s@lemmy.one
    23·
    10 months ago

    Wear whatever you want.

    People mostly used to wear cloaks to keep the elements off of them.

    Lots of mud and dirt from horseback riding back then–also rain.

    We’re indoors a lot more now. Most of us don’t work outside and our transportation, mainly automobiles, are protected from the elements.

    As the function became irrelevant, so did the clothing choice.

    • blazeknave@lemmy.world
      91·
      10 months ago

      Yeah, the function for sure; along with overcoats and any outermost layer. Chivalry maintained men walked on the curb side bc horse shit and piss flowed freely in the gutters and the coat prevented splash. Same for commuter trains and subways. Nasty shit all over before electric.

      A lot of superstition like bad luck putting your hat on the bed came from this. It was dirty, bring it home and you got sick from it. Logical superstition.

      I’ll catch myself feeling superstitious, check myself with science, then realize it’s gross and get my nasty ass outside hat off my bed.