In the hobbit when Bilbo is rushed out the door without his equipment at the beginning of chapter 2, Balin lends him his spare oudoor-wear saying "I have got a spare hood and cloak in my luggage." Clearly Tolkien saw them as separate items.

I love the practicality as you can conceal weapons. Use it as blanket. It also looks lovely, I wish they would come back in style!

If you think about it the only difference between a cloak with a hood and a hoodie is the sleeves and band of material at the bottom that keeps it looking like a shirt. I think cloaks would look great in casual outdoor settings in modern day, especially with all the materials that we have access to that the folks back in the day did not.

Big fan of the ruana, its so hot where i live so the extra airflow just makes sense.

Your supposed to run around singing "nananana batman" lol. Trying to get hold of old knowledge is really weird sometimes. I'm trying to get my hands on divine proportion by Luca Pacioli. You would think that would be available in every language as a source document but no. Crazy. Anyway bring back cloaks and more styles of hats i think.

I've started wearing woollen cloak in winter and I was surprised how comfortable it was, in many ways much more then modern clothing with modern materials. I started wearing it regularly. Soon after my whole family got one as well, as they were impressed by it's qualities. Doing our job bringing medieval fashion back!

Lovely video and great timing! I'm right in the middle of making some peasant-ish gear for a larp, specifically hood but also looking at a cloak. Keeping them seperate seems to be the way to go for me. Hood for sweater weather, cloak for coat weather 😁

Do those bots have a barefoot design or a modern narrow toebox?

I’m all for cloaks coming back in fashion!! 🥰

My son did a small research project for school last year about early garments. Regardless of the civilization people basically wore sheets/blankets and cordage.

Yes! I want to see cloaks on a rider. Or on a horse.

Cloaks are intrinsically elegant and dramatic. ❤️😊

These protect from the cold. How did people protect themselves from the sun? Surely there were gingers in medieval times.

I'm a little surprised Jason didn't mention that, unlike other types of cloth, wool keeps you warm even when it's wet, so it was ideal for a medieval traveler to wear even when riding or walking in the rain.

Great video! Yeah I totally agree cloaks should definitely make a comeback! How do they hold up in the rain and where did you get the last cloak, the elven one for lotr? Looks awesome and of quality!

I would love if these came back in fashion

I work in a very chilly building and have absolutely been seen in a cloak or ruana while working. I love them. I rarely need a hood though, not quite cold enough for that.

The Chronicles of Guildermesh

One of my main problems with modern hoods is that they don't close tight around the face. I live in a windy place and if I want a hood snug to my face, I have to modify one

As always very interesting. I agree the cloak should make a come back. Very very practical.

I’ve never been so entertained by a man talking about clothing 😂 Brilliant video thank you Jason, always fascinating watching you bring medieval times back to life. I’ve gotta get me a cloak now 😃

What did they do to keep their hands warm? Can you please do a video on that if possible? Thanks!

Love the shout out to Living Anachronism. That was cool. I’ve seen him do the same. Awesome community of people.

I love this video! I agree that cloaks should have a comeback! Sad you didn't cover the late medieval style Cloak with buttons on then shoulder. I do late 15c reenactment in Queensland Australia and when it gets cold in the July evenings that's our go to when we want to get warm and stay as especially fashionable as we are with our lovely tailored doublets and hose

Man I was historically correct as a kid wearing a blanket as a cloak pretending to be a medieval man.

do you sell any of this stuff or know of someone that does that you would want us to support?

Me in Florida where’s it’s 90 degrees fahrenheit & 32 degrees celcius, “I’ve gotta get me a cloak!”

Rowana cloaks don't actually have hoods; the style comes from the Andes mountains where they needed warm cloth for cold air conditions with lots of ventilation for the intensity of sunlight.

Fibulae (those safety pin brooches) are for a reason one of the most common archaeological findings from that era.

I legitimately don't understand why they fell out of fashion. Very practical things, cloaks.

I had found it interesting that the Spanish word for cloak is "El Manto" and the Spanish word for blanket is "La Manta".

I recommend tucking the extra hood fabric into the collar for integrated hoods.

Mark Felton had a video about the cloak of Hermann Goering, with photos of him wearing it.

how do we feel about traditional mexican ponchos team?

Unfortunately, cloaks aren't very practical in Brazil, where temperatures barely ever fall to 0ºC

A lot of modern clothing misses the point of a lot of functionality. For instance many coats and jackets from the 19th and 20th century had lapels that could be buttoned up and they would actually cover the neck when you folded the lapels up. Now a lot of coats made with a similar style either have lapels that don't fold up or don't have a button so they don't stay up. Similarly suit jackets had what is now called surgeon cuffs, they had buttons on the sleeves that allowed you to unbutton them and roll them up along with your shirt sleeves in case you had to get your hands dirty but couldn't or didn't want to take the jacket off. Now a lot of suit jackets have the buttons sewn on but they aren't functional buttons.

I love cloaks but there are cloaks that have arm holes so they can be turned into a robe at the same time being extra thick? Idk of monks did but I can see that being really cool.

Mister Doctor? It's strange. Perhaps. But who am I to judge?

My mother wore a cloak for her job as a nurse to protect on the way to work

Please remake Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

I wish cloaks came back into fashion or better yet never went out of fashion. I think I’d get some funny looks down Sainsbury’s wearing a full length cloak.

Nice work on the sound on this one. Given all the material being swooshed around quality was still great.

You might not want more heat insulation in some contexts while still wanting your head covered (eg sun) or less insulation (autumn compared to winter). A lot people would not be running into the wind much, either. Cloaks were largely dropped as they were rendered obsolete by an increasing tendency to dwell in controlled environments and today, can easily be interpreted as an indicator of low socio-economic status.

I have a high medieval style half cloak made of thick wool. I love it. Its way warmer than a coat. Its like wearing a thick wool blanket.

Very interesting, thank you. The visual demonstration combined with explanation of the practicalities brought wearing cloaks far more to life than any movie has. Alas, not practical wear where I live, even in winter. Other parts of Australia do get that cold in winter, and have a longer cold season, but not here. Cooling down is our problem. Although ... bushwalking and camping in winter it has possibilities.

The hood and cloak together not only look warm but with the hood on top. Would it also help keep you dry?

Anyone else: I want to show you some cloaks. Me: Zzzzzz... Modern History TV: I want to show you some cloaks. Me: By all means... :)

This makes me think of a little tale to show how...well, how we English speakers are.... "Blanket", comes from an Old French copying of Old English "hwitel" ((as in "white") and yes, it meant both "cloak" and "blanket") where they've translated the meaning of the word into French rather than taking it as-is (like we always do with French). So English speakers love French so much that we've more or less killed off our own word so that we can use the French copying of an English word 🤨let that sink in. Though tbf, from what I've read, "hwitel" didn't die, or at least only died recently - as is often the case, with many modern societal shifts allowing for that French-loving-elite win; with the following death of so much English that'd so far lived on in the man-in-street. It went into Middle English as "whytel, whitle, wytele, wittulle", and into modern English as "whittle"; with the meaning, "1) A coarse greyish double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl. 2) A whittle shawl; a kind of fine woollen shawl, originally and especially a white one". So it seems like it even kept it's link to "white".