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?

  • Call me Lenny/Leni
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    fedilink
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    -28 months ago

    America was still culturally considered an extension of Europe at the time. After independence, capes waned.

    • @Blue_Morpho
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      58 months ago

      "became a lot less common when the two Romes dissolved into a sum of their member states. "

      What’s your timeline because capes were popular into the 1800’s in America which was 600 years after the fall of Constantinople.

      1899 Statue of Ulysses Grant with a cape draped over his arm.

      https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/ulysses-s-grant-statue

      Another poster in this thread explained the real reasons. Weather determined it’s utility which explains why no Roman capes in ancient Roman controlled Turkey/Israel/Egypt. Capes predate ancient Greece by thousands of years. https://www.iceman.it/en/clothing/ Modern textile manufacturing made it obsolete in northern wet countries.