Talk:Cloak

Detached hoods? Shouldn't that be separate hoods? I can't think of any period examples of hooded cloaks off hand, especially not early medieval.

Yes seperate hoods is better - changed. I'm a 12th C specialist. I used to think hooded cloaks was only a late period thing too. But I'm gathering a growing pile of evidence for hooded cloaks in the 12th C. They were travelling and peasant garments, some were just hoods with an overlarge cape section, others a full rain cloak with hood, and as many didn't have attached hoods as did. Because they were not the kind of garment the nobility wore at court, they leave a lot less evidence in the pictorial and arcaeological record than the fany ceremonial mantles of the nobility. It's taken me quite a few years to find these. (the important part of the evidence came out of the literature) I don't know about truly early period, but I suspect these hoods didn't come out of nowhere. They could come out of a tradition of hooded monks robes (I can certainly show you evidence of those a few centuries earlier than 1100), but most people wouldn't call a monks robe a cloak. I suspect that with careful searching earlier examples would be found, even if rare. Tiff