Back in the 70’s & 90’s I wore suits to work. Sometimes my overcoat would not fit over some of the suit jackets; especially as shoulder pads got larger. I sewed myself a nice cape.
An IRL reason is that it was supposedly faster and easier to draw a character half covered in a cape then it was to draw every muscle and bulge.
I was under the impression that the Dutch and the English were generally on good terms. They were allied together against Spain, right? I know that at one point the Dutch royal family overlapped with the British royal family (William and Mary…contrary to Steely Dan’s advice, I guess the British collectively decided that they would, in fact, do.)
Didn’t Holland and England have some naval wars going on?
I doubt very much that this was a real reason. First of all, there were careless characters in early comics. Also there was no expectation that they draw “every muscle and bulge.” The art style in early comics was quite simple.
Britain, Spain, France and Holland were on on-again, off-again multipartite wars throughout the 17th-18th century. In the case of England, it had seven wars with Holland, some maritime, some involving land troops. That’s why New York is, in fact, called New York - it started out as New Amsterdam. Oh, and yeah Holland put a Staadtholder of theirs on the throne of England once, so there’s that :D. Which did put a damper on the wars for about 100 years, but then the French made it a client state and off it was to the races again.
I can see how a warm cape would offer a distinct advantage over a standard raincoat or overcoat, in situations where you need to dress up. When you wear an ordinary coat fastened closed, you can’t reach the pockets where you usually keep your wallet and other personal items, but with a cape you wouldn’t have that problem. But I don’t know if the capes that men used to wear on formal occasions provided actual warmth and protection, or were just for style.
Darth Vader didn’t have to carry keys or money, presumably.
These people make traditional Spanish cloaks, both full-length and half-length. Their customers include Pablo Picasso, Michael Jackson and Pierce Brosnan.
Tunas* are groups of college-student musicians who wear 16th-century style clothing, usually with capes. The capes are pretty cozy if worn closed; if you’re hot just push the wings back. And it can be twirled about, which helps the showmanship part of the show.
And of course you can always use it to distract any loose bulls in the neighborhood 
- The group is called a tuna; each musician is a tuno or tuna.
My father was in a wheelchair for several years, and I found a cape/cloak that was specifically designed for use with one. It could go over the arms and back of the chair, so his hands and back stayed covered and out of the rain and snow. There was also no having to wrestle his arms in to sleeves, as with a coat. It reached past his knees, and was quite handy.
Something like this, except it zipped all the way up the front.
How does that avoid getting tangled in the wheels?
I once tried to ride a bike in a cape. Once.
FDR managed it.
Tuck the sides in between the chair and yourself, instead of having it floating around.
You know, before the Gore-Tex revolution, waterproof capes (well, ponchos, basically the same thing as far as wheel-tangling goes) were the standard rainwear for cyclists. I missed that era, so don’t have experience myself, but it’s evidently quite possible to ride in a poncho without too much trouble.
I’ve looked, and I can find pics of him in a cape, and pics of him in a wheelchair, but none of him in a cape in a wheelchair.
Cyclist ponchos tend not to sit on the wheels like that wheelchair cape linked to previously.
Capes (well, my cape, anyway) draped completely differently from a poncho. Heavy wool, and longer, too.
Capes hide the female body, especially when a woman is obviously pregnant which, once upon a time, was considered shameful.
You’ve come a long way, baby.
Poncho doesn’t imply “flimsy plastic”, it’s a type of cape; the original ones were from the Andes and made of alpaca wool.
Of course, that would work - I was referring to how it was in the linked picture.
In the picture he’s not moving, he’s modeling the cape.
Do you pull up your pants’ legs when you sit down? I do; depending on which pair of pants, I also straighten them when I stand up. We’re talking about gestures which become equally automatic for those who need to use them.
Nor I. I thought surely there would be one at one of the “Big Three” conferences, but he is always in a chair. Perhaps he didn’t want to appear “weak” in a picture with Stalin and Churchill.