Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over indoor clothing, serving the same purpose as an overcoat: it protects the wearer from the cold, rain or wind, or it may form part of a fashionable outfit, such as an opera cloak, or a uniform. Cloaks are as old as history — there has always been some form of long outer garment used to protect people from the weather — and over time cloaks have evolved to match current styles and textile needs. This page explains how cloaks fasten and are cut, from ankle length to hip length, with mid-calf the normal length, and covers hoods, hand slits and the short cloak also called a cape.
A cloak is a type of loose
garment which is worn over
indoor
clothing and serves the
same purpose as an
overcoat
it protects the wearer from the cold, rain or wind for example,
or it may form part of a fashionable outfit (e.g. opera
cloak) or uniform. A cloak is part of the stereotypical
outfit associated with witches, wizards and vampires.
Cloaks are as old as history; there has always been some form of long outer garment used to protect people from the weather. Over time the cloaks have evolved and changed their look to match current styles and textile needs.
Cloaks generally fasten at the neck or over the shoulder, vary in length, from ankle all the way up to the hip, mid calf being the normal length. A short cloak may also be called a cape. They may have an attached hood, and may have holes or slits for the hands to pass through.
In fantasy, cloaks are often magical and can grant the wearer (among other things) invisibility.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (overcoat_definition.htm). Definition Modified by Apparel Search 5/2/05 |
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The cloak is one of the oldest garment forms because it is one of the simplest: a large piece of heavy cloth, fastened at the throat, that can be wrapped, thrown back, or spread as a blanket. Before fitted overcoats existed, the cloak was the universal answer to weather for travellers, soldiers and shepherds, and its details track that use — dense wool that sheds rain, a hood for storms, and enough length to cover the legs of a rider. Ceremonial cloaks took the same practical form and enriched it: the opera cloak, the academic and legal cloak, and the coronation mantle all keep the throat-fastened, free-hanging cut.
The cloak's cultural afterlife is just as durable. It is part of the stereotypical outfit associated with witches, wizards and vampires in story and film, and fantasy cloaks are often magical — granting the wearer, among other things, invisibility. That fiction rests on the real garment's nature: a cloak conceals the whole body and what is worn beneath it, which is exactly what made it useful long before it became a costume shorthand.
A cloak is a loose outer garment worn over indoor clothing, fastening at the neck or over the shoulder and hanging over the body in place of an overcoat. It protects against cold, rain and wind, and can also serve as part of a fashionable outfit or a uniform.
Cloaks vary in length from the ankle all the way up to the hip, with mid-calf the normal length. They may have an attached hood, and may have holes or slits for the hands to pass through.
A short cloak may also be called a cape. In general usage cape suggests the shorter, shoulder-covering form, while cloak covers the family of long, loose overgarments worn against the weather; the two words overlap and are often used for similar garments.