View source for Cloak

{{short description|Long, loose overgarment fastening at the neck}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Fashion Plate Manteau 1823.jpg|thumb|A young man in an evening cloak, [[1823]].]]
[[Image:Cloak.jpg|thumb|Cloak, 1580–1600 [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], No. 793-1901]]
{{wikt | cloak}}

A '''cloak''' is a type of loose [[garment]] worn over clothing, mostly but not always as [[outerwear]] for outdoor wear, which serves the same purpose as an [[overcoat]] and protects the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a [[uniform]].<ref>{{cite news |newspaper= [[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/31/style/italian-fashion-s-success-a-fresh-point-of-view.html
   |title=Italian fashion's success: a fresh point of view
   |quote=a simple wrap .. extra layer of protection from the elements
   |author=Bernadine Morris |date=March 31, 1981}}</ref> People in many different societies may wear cloaks. Over time, cloak designs have changed to match [[fashion]] and available [[textile]]s.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper= [[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/24/nyregion/changing-shapes-of-clothes-little-for-men-lots-for-women.html
   |title=Changing Shapes of Clothes: Little for Men, Lots for Women
   |author=Bess Liebenson  |date=February 24, 1991}}</ref>

Cloaks generally fasten at the neck or over the shoulder, and vary in length from the hip to the ankle, with mid-calf being the normal length. They may have an attached [[hood (headgear) |hood]] and may cover and fasten down the front, in which case they have holes or slits for the hands to pass through. However, cloaks are almost always sleeveless.

Christian [[cleric]]s may wear a '''cappa''' or a '''[[cope]]''' – forms of cloak – as liturgical [[vestments]] or as part of a [[religious habit]].<ref>
{{oed | cappa}}
</ref>

==Etymology==
The word ''cloak'' comes from Old North French ''cloque'' ([[Old French]] ''cloche'', ''cloke'') meaning "bell", from [[Medieval Latin]] ''clocca'' "travelers' [[cape]]," literally "a bell," so called from the garment's bell-like shape. Thus the word is related to the word ''clock''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cloak|title=cloak – Origin and meaning of cloak by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref>

==History==
Ancient Greeks and Romans were known to wear cloaks. Greek men and women wore the ''[[himation]]'', from the Archaic through the Hellenistic periods ({{circa}} 750–30 BC).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266091/himation|title= Himation – clothing}}</ref> Romans would later wear the Greek-styled cloak, the [[pallium (Roman cloak)|''pallium'']]. The ''pallium'' was quadrangular, shaped like a square,<ref>[[Tertullian]], ''De Pallio'', I</ref> and sat on the shoulders, not unlike the ''himation''.

Romans of the Republic would wear the [[toga]] as a formal display of their citizenship. It was denied to foreigners<ref>[[Suetonius]], ''Divus Claudius'', XV</ref> and was worn by magistrates on all occasions as a badge of office. The toga allegedly originated with [[Numa Pompilius]] ({{reign | 715 | 672}} BC), the second semi-legendary king of Rome.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | editor = [[William Smith (lexicographer) |William Smith]], LLD |editor2= William Wayte |editor3= G. E. Marindin | encyclopedia = [[A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities]] | title = Toga | url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0063%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DT%3Aentry+group%3D2%3Aentry%3Dtoga-cn | year = 1890 | publisher = John Murray | location = London}}</ref>

Eminent personages in [[Kievan Rus']] adopted the Byzantine ''[[chlamys]]'' in the form of a fur-lined ''{{ill|korzno|uk|Кирея}}''<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Stamerov
 |first1               = K.
 |year                 = 1986
 |title                = History of Ukrainian Costume: From the Scythian Period to the Late 17th Century
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=zLbfAAAAMAAJ
 |series               = Ukrainian heritage library
 |publication-place    = Melbourne, Victoria
 |publisher            = Bayda Books
 |page                 = 21
 |isbn                 = 9780908480166
 |access-date          = 30 August 2023
 |quote                = The prince's ''korzno'' cloak [...] was an exact copy of the Byzantine chlamys of a rectangular or semicircular cut. It was thrown over the left shoulder and fixed with a brooch ([[Fibula (brooch)|fibula]]) on the right shoulder.
}} 
</ref>
({{langx |orv| кързно}}).<ref>
[https://starlingdb.org/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=%2Fusr%2Flocal%2Fshare%2Fstarling%2Fmorpho&basename=morpho\vasmer\vasmer&first=1&text_word=%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%BE&method_word=beginning&ww_word=on&ic_word=on&sort=word&encoding=utf-rus корзно in Vasmer's ''Etymological Dictionary'']
</ref>

Powerful noblemen and elite warriors of the [[Aztec Empire]] would wear a [[tilmàtli]]; a [[Mesoamerican]] cloak/cape used as a symbol of their upper status. Cloth and clothing was of utmost importance for the Aztecs. The more elaborate and colorful tilmàtlis were strictly reserved for élite high priests, [[emperors]]; and the [[Eagle warriors]] as well as the [[Jaguar knights]].<ref>
{{cite web |title= Ancient Aztec clothing |url= http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-clothing.html |website= www.aztec-history.com |access-date=18 April 2021}}</ref>

==Opera cloak==
{{main|Opera cloak}}
In full [[formal wear|evening dress]] in the Western countries, [[lady|ladies]] and [[gentleman|gentlemen]] frequently use the cloak as a [[fashion statement]], or to protect the fine [[Textile|fabric]]s of evening wear from the elements, especially where a [[coat (clothing)|coat]] would crush or hide the garment. Opera cloaks are made of quality materials such as wool or cashmere, velvet and satin.

Ladies may wear a long (over the shoulders or to ankles) cloak usually called a [[cape]], or a full-length cloak. Gentlemen wear an ankle-length or full-length cloak. Formal cloaks often have expensive, colored linings and trimmings such as [[silk]], [[satin]], [[velvet]] and [[fur]].

The term was the title of a 1942 operatic comedy.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]  |page=26
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/11/04/archives/double-bill-given-by-the-hew-opera-damroschs-the-opera-cloak.html
   |title=Double Bill Given by the New Opera: Damrosch's 'The Opera Cloak' Offered as Part of Program at Broadway Theatre
   |quote=Damrosch's operatic comedy, "The Opera Cloak"
   |author=Olin Downes  |date=November 4, 1942}}</ref>

==In literature and the arts==
[[File:Moctezuma Xocoyotzin.png|thumb|[[Aztec emperor]] [[Moctezuma II]] wearing a tilmàtli.]]
[[File:Couple cloak Louvre G99.jpg|thumb|Couple hiding under the same cloak, fragment of an [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] [[Red-figure pottery|red-figure]] cup, ca. 525 BC–500 BC, found in Athens. [[Louvre]] Museum, Paris.]]
According to the [[King James Version]] of the Bible, Matthew recorded Jesus of Nazareth saying in Matthew 5:40: "And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also." The King James Version of the Bible has the words recorded a little differently in Luke 6:29: "...and him that taketh away thy cloke, forbid not to take thy coat also."

Cloaks are a staple garment in the [[fantasy]] genre due to the popularity of [[medieval]] settings. They are also usually associated with [[witch]]es, [[Wizard (fantasy)|wizard]]s, and [[vampire]]s; the best-known stage version of ''[[Dracula (novel)|Dracula]],'' which first made actor [[Bela Lugosi]] prominent, featured him wearing it so that his exit through a trap door concealed on the stage could seem sudden. When Lugosi reprised his role as Dracula for the 1931 [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] motion picture version of the play, he retained the cloak as part of his outfit, which made such a strong impression that cloaks came to be equated with [[Count Dracula]] in nearly all non-historical media depictions of him.

Fantasy cloaks are often [[Magic (paranormal)|magical]]. For example, they may grant the person wearing it [[invisibility]] as in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series by [[J. K. Rowling]]. A similar sort of garment is worn by the members of the Fellowship of the Ring in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], although instead of granting complete invisibility, the Elf-made cloaks simply appear to shift between any natural color (e.g. green, gray, brown) to help the wearer to blend in with their surroundings. In the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] [[American comic books|comic book]] stories and in the [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]], the sorcerer [[Doctor Strange]] is associated with a magical [[Cloak of Levitation]], which not only enables its wearer to [[levitation (paranormal)|levitate]], but has other mystical abilities as well. [[Doctor Strange]] also uses it as a weapon. Alternatively, cloaks in fantasy may nullify magical [[projectile]]s, as the "cloak of magic resistance" in [[NetHack]].

==Metaphor==
Figuratively, a cloak may be anything that disguises or conceals something. In many science fiction franchises, such as ''[[Star Trek]]'', there are [[cloaking devices]], which provide a way to avoid detection by making objects appear invisible. A real device, albeit of limited capability, was demonstrated in 2006.<ref name=CloakStep.NYT2006>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/20/science/20cloak.html
   |title=Scientists Take Step Toward Invisibility
   |author=John Schwartz |date=October 20, 2006}}</ref>

Because they keep a person hidden and conceal a weapon, the phrase ''[[cloak and dagger]]'' has come to refer to [[espionage]]<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/19/books/cloak-and-dagger.html
   |title=Cloak and Dagger
   |author=Philip Taubman  |date=May 19, 1996}}</ref> and [[secretive]] crimes: it suggests murder from hidden sources. "Cloak and dagger" stories are thus mystery, detective, and crime stories of this. The vigilante duo of Marvel comics [[Cloak and Dagger (characters)|Cloak and Dagger]]<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/arts/television/marvel-cloak-and-dagger-review-freeform.html
   |title=Cloak & Dagger
   |quote=... the comics company's .. live-action series
   |date=June 6, 2018}}</ref> is a reference to this.

== See also ==
*[[Kinsale cloak]]
*[[Mantle (clothing)]]
*[[Poncho]]
*[[Robe]]
*[[Serape]]
*[[Shawl]]
*[[Shroud]]
*[[Stole (shawl)]]
*[[Spanish cloak]]
*[[Veil]]
*[[Witzchoura]]
*[[Wrap (clothing)]]

== References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{commonscat|Cloaks}}
* [[Oxford English Dictionary]]
* Ashelford, Jane: ''The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500–1914'', Abrams, 1996. {{ISBN|0-8109-6317-5}}
* Baumgarten, Linda: ''What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America'', [[Yale University Press]], 2016. {{ISBN|0-300-09580-5}}
* Payne, Blanche: ''History of Costume from the Stone Age to the Twentysecond Century'', Harper & Row, 2965. No ISBN for this edition; ASIN B0006BMNFS
* Picken, Mary Brooks: ''The Fashion Dictionary'', Funk and Bagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition {{ISBN|0-308-10052-2}})

{{Clothing}}
{{Historical clothing}}
[[Category:Medieval European costume]]
[[Category:18th-century fashion]]
[[Category:19th-century fashion]]
[[Category:20th-century fashion]]
[[Category:Formal wear]]
[[Category:History of clothing]]
[[Category:Costume design]]
[[Category:Robes and cloaks| ]]