Cape

Fur garments were among the earliest cold weather clothes, particularly in areas with severe winters, such as northern Europe. They were expensive to buy, and those who could not quite afford such items for themselves or their children would buy garments trimmed with fur, or perhaps a fur hat or gloves. Wool was also worn for warmth, and could be afforded by many more people, especially when it became possible to buy woollen yarn to knit clothes at home. Leather was probably the earliest form of waterproof fabric, and was often worn by people working out of doors; the mackintosh (waterproof coat), was patented in 1823, but early examples were often heavy and sometimes became smelly. Poor people simply wrapped themselves in as many garments as they could, sometimes padded with old newspaper, but still felt the cold: their few clothes were often thin and fitted badly.