Sewing machines killed capes. Sewing jackets/coats requires a lot of very difficult stitch work. This made jackets extremely expensive, while making capes was simpler and more affordable. With the advent of the sewing machine, that stitch work became easier and cheaper to do, so capes went out of fashion and more jackets became affordable to everyone.
Cars killed the cloak. Cloaks remained popular for a long time after the invention of the sewing machine in the early 1800s, but fell out of fashion with the popularization of the automobile in the early-mid 1900s.
Sure. Cloaks are not fun to use in a car. Basically they’re just too much cloth in too little space. They get stuck in the door when you close it, tangled in the seatbelt when you exit, and they sit either under you in a big lump or wrapped around onto your lap in a big pile. And without a lot of effort to arrange them properly they go under the seatbelt and loosen the fit a lot which is fairly unsafe.
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Sewing machines killed capes. Sewing jackets/coats requires a lot of very difficult stitch work. This made jackets extremely expensive, while making capes was simpler and more affordable. With the advent of the sewing machine, that stitch work became easier and cheaper to do, so capes went out of fashion and more jackets became affordable to everyone.
Cars killed the cloak. Cloaks remained popular for a long time after the invention of the sewing machine in the early 1800s, but fell out of fashion with the popularization of the automobile in the early-mid 1900s.
Can you explain the cloak-killing cars a bit further?
Sure. Cloaks are not fun to use in a car. Basically they’re just too much cloth in too little space. They get stuck in the door when you close it, tangled in the seatbelt when you exit, and they sit either under you in a big lump or wrapped around onto your lap in a big pile. And without a lot of effort to arrange them properly they go under the seatbelt and loosen the fit a lot which is fairly unsafe.
Seat belts didn’t begin to become standard until 1958. And they were commonly unused until the 1990s.
Great, they still get caught in the door and get in the way, even without seat belts.
Why did cars kill the cloak and not carriages?
My guess: Carriages were less common, and many designs of horse-drawn vehicle were open or semi-open.
SCA member and regular cloak wearer can confirm- this is truth.
But people drove in horse carriages before cars.
Far fewer by percent and absolute numbers than drive cars today.
Interesting!! Thanks for sharing 👍