Cape

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Emergent fashion plates at the end of the eighteenth century document the wearing of wraps and capes. Their role was aesthetic, complementing dresses, but it was also one of providing another layer of warmth or protection. Silk taffeta would not have been a wintry wrap, but would have trapped enough body warmth to make real difference in the wearer's contentment in changeable fall weather.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.

Metropolitan Museum of Art