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torquillMy mom made an observation the other day about why we find shawls frustrating. It's not that other people just overlook their tendency to bunch up around the neck and bind around the arms -- it's that other people have sloped shoulders. She and I don't. Shawls assume a slope between the neck and the arm to let them drape properly.
Oh.
That led me to thinking that I shouldn't be looking at things that wrap around the shoulders, I should be looking at things that are fitted square across the top of the shoulders. Which led me to woven ponchos. Not a wrapped poncho (sigh) but the traditional straight-seamed parallel panels with a hole in the middle for the head. And its relative, the ruana, which is not seamed down the front.
So I'm starting to measure out the warp for a starter poncho that will fall to mid-thigh in front and the knee in back, and should be wide enough on both sides to give me draft protection. And while I was getting ready for bed I mused that I may become "that person with the old-fashioned outerwear" if I have ponchos, and ruanas, and the sleeveless long vest/robe I want, and... hang on, what was that thing London hacks used to wear back when they were driving horses rather than cars? Right, I want an Inverness cape. Very practical, that.
Except they lost the full cape in the early 1800s, and now have only a single layer in back. Which kind of defeats the purpose of having two layers to keep the damp out across your upper back, arguably the most exposed surface other than your head. So what do I actually want?
A long draping vest, which I was going to make anyway, with a full all-around short cape on top and a nice high collar. Which sounds like I could make them in separate pieces, and add fasteners to the cape to hook it to loops on the shoulder seams of the vest-cloak... Both pieces could be lighter than they would need to be if either one was trying to keep the damp off by itself.
Both could be made from matching wool, as they won't contact my skin (I'll line the high collar of the cape, and the vest-cloak will have a low neck). Assuming I'm wearing long sleeves, of course, but I routinely wear mocknecks up there, it's no stretch to assume I'll wear long sleeves at any point I might want protection from the cold or damp. Wool is pretty good at shedding the wet, if it's got any residual lanolin in it.
I suppose I could add a hood to the cape. Maybe have a tight-fitting hood which buttons under the neck? I do hate drafts around my ears, and the wind catching the hood, and having it skew around so I can't see to the side, and... supposedly drawstrings are supposed to help, but in practice all they do is bring the hood down over my eyes. It really needs to be combined with a tall collar.
Or a tall collar buttoned around a thin, soft cowl snood (i.e. an open balaclava)? hmm. That would eliminate the wool problem. But might get soaked too fast (see my comment about the head having the most exposure to damp). I still haven't decided what I want to use to protect my head from the rain. A lot of the time I don't, but that won't wash in winter. If I have a hat, I might be able to get away with the snood to ward off the cold, and a bare neck in warmer weather.
Cabbies and lighthouse-keepers didn't fuck around with hoods, they had rain hats, and maybe I should too. So no hood, just a tall collar and a soft light fitted snood. From full cold rain (hat, snood, cape, and vest-cloak) down to nippy dry weather (snood, cape, and vest-cloak) down to spring showers (cape and vest-cloak) down to a chilly dew (vest-cloak). Sounds practical.
Oh.
That led me to thinking that I shouldn't be looking at things that wrap around the shoulders, I should be looking at things that are fitted square across the top of the shoulders. Which led me to woven ponchos. Not a wrapped poncho (sigh) but the traditional straight-seamed parallel panels with a hole in the middle for the head. And its relative, the ruana, which is not seamed down the front.
So I'm starting to measure out the warp for a starter poncho that will fall to mid-thigh in front and the knee in back, and should be wide enough on both sides to give me draft protection. And while I was getting ready for bed I mused that I may become "that person with the old-fashioned outerwear" if I have ponchos, and ruanas, and the sleeveless long vest/robe I want, and... hang on, what was that thing London hacks used to wear back when they were driving horses rather than cars? Right, I want an Inverness cape. Very practical, that.
Except they lost the full cape in the early 1800s, and now have only a single layer in back. Which kind of defeats the purpose of having two layers to keep the damp out across your upper back, arguably the most exposed surface other than your head. So what do I actually want?
A long draping vest, which I was going to make anyway, with a full all-around short cape on top and a nice high collar. Which sounds like I could make them in separate pieces, and add fasteners to the cape to hook it to loops on the shoulder seams of the vest-cloak... Both pieces could be lighter than they would need to be if either one was trying to keep the damp off by itself.
Both could be made from matching wool, as they won't contact my skin (I'll line the high collar of the cape, and the vest-cloak will have a low neck). Assuming I'm wearing long sleeves, of course, but I routinely wear mocknecks up there, it's no stretch to assume I'll wear long sleeves at any point I might want protection from the cold or damp. Wool is pretty good at shedding the wet, if it's got any residual lanolin in it.
I suppose I could add a hood to the cape. Maybe have a tight-fitting hood which buttons under the neck? I do hate drafts around my ears, and the wind catching the hood, and having it skew around so I can't see to the side, and... supposedly drawstrings are supposed to help, but in practice all they do is bring the hood down over my eyes. It really needs to be combined with a tall collar.
Or a tall collar buttoned around a thin, soft cowl snood (i.e. an open balaclava)? hmm. That would eliminate the wool problem. But might get soaked too fast (see my comment about the head having the most exposure to damp). I still haven't decided what I want to use to protect my head from the rain. A lot of the time I don't, but that won't wash in winter. If I have a hat, I might be able to get away with the snood to ward off the cold, and a bare neck in warmer weather.
Cabbies and lighthouse-keepers didn't fuck around with hoods, they had rain hats, and maybe I should too. So no hood, just a tall collar and a soft light fitted snood. From full cold rain (hat, snood, cape, and vest-cloak) down to nippy dry weather (snood, cape, and vest-cloak) down to spring showers (cape and vest-cloak) down to a chilly dew (vest-cloak). Sounds practical.