They could be intricately worn and voluminous, such as the Greek himation, or long and svelte, such as the Latin palla. In these areas, cloaks were draped and flowing, worn by both men and women of the Classical world the various cloaks of the Middle Ages and later medieval period mostly emerged from these basic formats. For example, the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen has an astonishingly well-preserved sheepskin cloak constructed from two dozen separate pieces of fur, which was taken from a Jutlandic bog grave, and which dates back to the 3 rd or 4 th century BCE.įurther south, the ancient Mediterranean societies were less in need of cloaks as protection from harsh winters, although utilitarian wool short-cloaks can been seen in Minoan artwork found on Crete. Northern-European prehistorical hunter-gatherers are known to have made fur cloaks, tanned and waterproofed to protect them from the harsh weather. What we now know as a cloak originates in a number of areas and contexts. We’ll examine where medieval cloaks came from, and we’ll see the various forms that cloaks took during the span of the medieval period through examples from the historical evidence along the way, so we can glean some top tips to inform your own cloaks. This itself mirrors its evolution from a simple piece of clothing for utilitarian purposes – warmth and protection from the elements – into a garment layered with statements of fashion and social class. But in the broadest possible strokes, we can see the evolution of the cloak from a simple square or circle of material in late Antiquity, to a tailored, complex garment made from multiple panels with detailed finishing in the Renaissance. When we go beyond merely ‘wearing a cloak’ to a deeper historical understanding, we begin to see that, in the medieval period, the clothes wore the wearer just as much as vice versa.Īs with every garment, medieval cloaks were constructed from a huge variety of materials, in a wide variety of styles. When portraying medieval life, or when creating fantasy impressions, it is vital to understand the meaning of various forms of cloak: the importance and value of different textiles and furs, the rarity implied by different colours, the designs of embroidery or insignia, even the cut and construction of the cloak itself. But cloaks evolved from practical outdoor garments into signifiers of social role and status, even before the medieval period. When we think of medieval cloaks, we often think of nefarious rogues and ne’er-do-wells skulking around overhanging back streets. Edna Mode, superhero costumier in Pixar’s The Incredibles, declares ‘No capes!’ Fortunately, medieval re-enactors and roleplayers rarely have to worry about getting sucked into jet turbines.
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