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Cloak

Chasseur

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,494
Location
Hawaii
Merci Charlie!

I found that one on a French lyrics site... oops!

Here are more pictures of German/Austrian wetterflek/Lodenkotze

JH_Wetterfleck_GLOCKNER.jpg


Wetterfleck.JPG
 

shadowrider

One of the Regulars
Messages
258
Location
Italy
I live in Northern Italy - close to where earthquakes just hit - and I see tabarro capes all the time in the winter. They come in two colors traditionally, black and green. They also come in two lenghts, knee one and a shorter one that was traditionally used when riding horses, later bicycles. It is quite fascinating to see a tabarro clad man riding a bicycle on the street in the late evening winter fog.
The interesting thing is that when you see people wearing tabarro they usually have a fedora as well. You can see people wearing them to mundane events like classical concert or opera, but I recently saw two different persons (not together) wearing tabarro at Malpensa airport in Milan, an older gentleman and a younger.
 

kaiser

A-List Customer
Messages
402
Location
Germany, NRW, HSK
Hi everyone,

I have showed some of these Capes to my Wife is very good a sewing cloathing and she said that if I could come up with a pattern for one of the capes she would be able to do it up for alot less that what retail would be. So the question is, any idea where to get a pattern for one of these ?
 

shadowrider

One of the Regulars
Messages
258
Location
Italy
Kaiser, the Italian one I was talking about looks like this:
uomocontabarro.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
As you can see it is quite different from the ones pictured before as it doesn't have a front button row. There is just one button at the throat, but is usually closed just by throwing one end over the opposite shoulder.
The pattern is quite simple: you need a piece of fabric 6mt x 1.5mt. The shape is just a perfect circle, obtained by sawing together two half-circles (the seam will be at the wearer's back). You fold the fabric in half and cut these half circles with a 1.5mt radius. You are also going to cut out a smaller circle in the middle for the neck, and to his you will later attach a collar, which can have different shapes and be made of different materials.
The fabric though is another story: the traditional one is a type of wool treated in a way that you don't need to seam after you cut it. I've seen cheaper versions with seamed edges though.
 
Last edited:

McMurdo

One of the Regulars
Messages
202
Location
Toronto
I own an Inverness Cape that was made bespoke for me a few years ago, I do wear it often, especially in the winter, but mainly wear it with my kilt as it really is the proper coat to wear with the kilt.

DSC_0005.jpg


100_3275.jpg
 

Italian-wiseguy

One of the Regulars
Messages
271
Location
Italy (Parma and Rome)
Kaiser, the Italian one I was talking about looks like this:
uomocontabarro.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
.

I confirm: these were used till the '40s and after. They are the descendants, via the Renaissance cape, of the roman "paludamentum" and other popular/military cloaks (sagum etc.)

People outside of Italy tend to under-estimate the antiquity and vitality of certain traditions: in my town we used until recently (sometimes even today) to describe warm season dressing as "going out in sword" (in spada), meaning: without a cloak covering your sword...

(unluckily, nobody goes around with swords anymore, but I keep in my house a very old fencing handbook, which is about dueling, not sport, as sport had not been invented yet...)

The "tabarri" used to be very popularesque and working class, but nowadays they're quite expensive.
 

Big Fella

Familiar Face
Messages
72
Location
New Cumberland, Pa.
Panther Primitives makes a wool clock modeled after an Irish cloak. It's made from heavy, wool, blanket material. I ware mine in the winter for Cowboy Action Shooting matches. It's easy to get on and off over the guns.
 

Peacoat

*
Bartender
Messages
6,454
Location
South of Nashville
But I'd really like somebody to explain the difference between a cape and a cloak. My feeling is that a cloak covers more, but that's just a guess. I wonder if every cloak comes with a dagger?


A cloak is worn as an outer garment and serves the same purpose as an overcoat. It gives more coverage than a cape, which only covers the back half of the wearer and fastens at the neck. So, yes, the cloak does cover more and is longer than the cape. In Medieval Europe most cloaks did come with a dagger, but that practice has mostly fallen by the wayside. A cape was never issued with a dagger.
 

jordan93

New in Town
Messages
6
A cloak is a type of loose-fitting garment that is worn over other clothing to provide warmth and/or concealment. Cloaks have been used throughout history in various cultures for a variety of purposes, including as a symbol of status or rank, as a way to protect oneself from the elements, or as a way to hide one's identity.
See: https://bitdifference.com/cloak-vs-cape/
 

CBI

One Too Many
Messages
1,419
Location
USA
wearing a cloak or cape in 2023.........................no..............simply no :)
 

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