10-13-2013, 02:30 AM
At the local Renaissance Faire I was a part of, I bought a fairly simple cloak which I was immediately pleased with, because it was raining and it kept me (reasonably) dry. But since I am an ancient civilization buff more than a Renaissance fan, this got me thinking about how often cloaks were used.
The cloak I got is about knee-length on me(I am about 5'10") and is made of two layers of cloth(I think? Dunno the material) stitched together. There is a hood and it clasps together around the chest. Can this style of cloak be traced back fairly far? As I understand it, most cloaks built for function and not style were made of wool or some other strong material, but I am unsure as to the length of Roman or Greek cloaks, whether or not they had hoods, and where they were clasped together; I am familiar with a few styles of Greek cloaks, and the closest seems to be the chlamys, but even that is very different. Could someone shed some light on cloaks in the ancient times for me? Thanks.
The cloak I got is about knee-length on me(I am about 5'10") and is made of two layers of cloth(I think? Dunno the material) stitched together. There is a hood and it clasps together around the chest. Can this style of cloak be traced back fairly far? As I understand it, most cloaks built for function and not style were made of wool or some other strong material, but I am unsure as to the length of Roman or Greek cloaks, whether or not they had hoods, and where they were clasped together; I am familiar with a few styles of Greek cloaks, and the closest seems to be the chlamys, but even that is very different. Could someone shed some light on cloaks in the ancient times for me? Thanks.
