apj1974 that looks an eminently practical garment
The larp ones though ............that hood is so full over the shoulders that it'd blow up with any breeze, and the cloak has no volume around the shoulders at alll, all of the cloth is in the dramatic flare of the hem, chilly.
They 'look' good though
If the two were somehow combined and perhaps the hood skirts tag attached to the seams on the cloak............
If one is walking any distance, or working, or moving through woodland or near fires, then a cloak any longer than just below the knees is a pain in the neck. It catches, it drags, it drapes in front of you when you try to bend over to work.
It's the wardrobe mistress's, "That'll look good
" , effect.
We're spoiled by the images on film and cartoon though and are kind of divorced from reality with our view of traditional clothing. It doesn't help that the painted images that remain of the past were often more concerned with showcasing the social ideal of their time. This is usually negated when you look at the background figures though, the ordinary folk, the servants, the farm workers, the huntsmen doing the driving for the chase. Those images show real clothing styles of the time and are generally an awful lot more practical
cheers,
Mary