This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s summer editorial intern Emma Zumbo. Find her on Instagram at @emmarzumbo. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Capes are sleeveless pieces of fabric that hang around the neck or shoulders and trail behind their wearer. Capes with hoods or that reach below the knee should technically be called cloaks, but for the purposes of this article we can include cloaks in our consideration of the cape trend. Capes are perhaps most closely associated with superheroes and their trademark costumes, but the cape has actually served as an important garment throughout fashion history.
History Of The Cape In Fashion
Capes have been worn for hundreds of years because of their functionality and variability – they initially might have started as a farmer’s or a traveler’s accessory, but came to be associated with royalty, nobility, and the church during the time of Medieval Europe. A sumptuous silk or velvet cape trimmed with ermine fur now often springs to mind when thinking of kings and queens. During the 1920s and 1930s, capes underwent a fashion revival and became a must-have item for fashionable ladies of the era. The fashion world’s infatuation with capes continued into the 1960s, with designers like Balenciaga and Dior making frequent use of them. Like with all trends though, what goes up, must come down, and capes eventually fell out of fashion. This centuries-old garment has been relegated to the back of the closet for some decades now, but are we about to witness a resurgence?
Are Capes In Style?
Judging from runway looks at recent fashion weeks, the answer to that question should be: yes, expect capes to come back in style. Capes ruled the runways at February’s Fall/Winter New York Fashion Week, with designers offering all sorts of takes on the classic piece. And June’s Paris Haute Couture Week continued to push the trend, with houses such as Chanel even choosing to open their show with a dramatic cape piece. Because fashion weeks are meant to project 6 months ahead, it’s safe to say that we might start seeing capes pop up this Fall. Capes seem to me to be more of a cold weather item, as the thought of covering one’s body with an extra piece of fabric during the sticky summer months does not seem appealing, but the truly fashion forward might swing for the fences early, so don’t be surprised if you see some caped crusaders strolling around already. Capes have also gotten attention on social media. Back in February, fashion TikTokers @thefrancesedit and @shlokasensarma both predicted that capes would be a big trend this year, and fashion publications like WhoWhatWear also made videos pointing it out as one of the runway highlights for the season.
So, if you want to be prepared for the season’s upcoming fashion, then it might be time to start shopping around for a cape.
How To Wear A Cape
A cape can be a challenging piece to style, if only because it might be unfamiliar to you and you might not immediately feel comfortable in it. But if done right, capes can elevate any outfit and make you look extremely elegant, giving you a polished and timeless look. A quality cape could become a staple piece in your wardrobe that you wear for years and years to come. A few ideas for how to style this garment would be wearing it over a pair of tailored pants and a sleeveless top, making it a part of a monochrome look, or pairing it with a high boot and a mini skirt to offer a modern twist on this historic look. I think the most important thing is the attitude with which you wear your cape. Recognize that it’s a bold fashion statement and own it – fully commit to the fact that you’re wearing a cape and strut down the street feeling like a superhero.
What are your thoughts on the cape fashion trend? Are capes in style? Let us know in the comments below!
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